Variable Wattage And Variable Voltage Vaping
Variable Voltage (VV) and Variable Wattage (VW) are two terms that create a lot of confusion for new vapers. If you are brand new to anything there is a learning curve, sometimes steep, sometimes not, but any first experience is going to be met with some mystery. Although the two are very similar, see “taking the mystery out of variable wattage“, there are some ways in which variable wattage clearly the better path a great vape.
When vapers start talking about ohms, voltage and wattage it’s a sign that says they are beginning to take their vaping experience seriously. Suddenly the desire to be an “advanced vaper” is very real.
These topics tend to separate the casual vaper from the hobbyist or dedicated vaper. To put it another way, its going from the novice to pro.
Variable Voltage and Variable Wattage – Are They Different?
New vapers might be asking, “what is variable voltage and variable wattage, and is there a difference between the two?” The answer is…. Yes, But Not really.
Variable Voltage and Variable Wattage electronic cigarettes fundamentally do precisely what their name suggests—they allow vapers to fine-tune the voltage or wattage of their vaping device in such a way as to maximize the vape experience. For instance, they can realize the vapor production and throat hit experience the they want to experience it by manipulating the settings of variable voltage OR variable wattage (never both).
The kinds of vaping instruments that most people start out with are normally good enough for the beginner, especially if the ex-smoker is trying to partially transition to e-cigarettes and want something as close to the traditional cigarette experience as possible. This does not last, however, and sooner rather than later, new vapers become not-so-new vapers, and they begin to seek out a better vaping experience.
They soon discover that certain e-liquid flavors taste better on lower voltage, or when the atomizer is vaporizing on a low setting, and other flavors really ‘pop’ on high voltage, when the atomizer is vaporizing on a higher setting.
Every e-liquid flavor has its own “sweet spot,” and by using a device equipped with VV/VW circuitry lets the vaper control the amount of power output from the battery to help reach that perfect setting every time.
Example:
I’ve been vaping an eliquid that I discovered a few months back that is so good that at some point every day I have to vape it.
If I use a vaping instrument that outputs 3.7 volts and I use an atomizer with a 1.5-ohm resistance (rather high resistance for me these days), the flavor might taste okay since this flavor don’t require much heat in order to taste good and deliver a decent vape experience.
But, this particular eliquid really pops when I send more power, or heat, to it through the atomizer. If I was using a device that had one output mode, say 3.7v, then I could not get the most out of this eliquid, and I would be stuck with an “okay” or “decent” vape experience.
That’s where variable voltage/variable wattage devices save the day. VV and VW mods give us greater control over the amount of power we send to the atomizer, which allows the coils inside the atomizer to become hotter, thus vaporizing the eliquid faster, and more efficiently, so that more flavor is released in the vapor, and the vapor output also expands.
Essentially, it makes no difference whether you use the Variable Voltage setting or the Variable Wattage setting to accomplish the same goal. That said, many new vapers believe that VV and VW can both be set independently, and it’s an either/or decision. You can use one, not both, to find the sweet spot for your vaping pleasure.
This is the simplest way to explain, or take the mystery out of variable wattage vaping. However, as you learn more about vaping you might want to know that there are some differences between variable voltage and variable wattage, but these differences really get into the minutiae of advanced vaping, and come into play in a big way when you begin to deal with resistance of the coils you use. When that time comes, if it comes, you’ll find those differences in another article in Spinfuel, called “Advanced Variable Voltage/Wattage”. Find it here.
Jason Little