How Does Wattage Affect My Vape?

Many of the most popular vapes on the market today don’t give users the option to change settings like wattage - but box mods give users almost endless options. That means mod users need to know how wattage affects their vape - and their vaping experience.

In this short guide, we’re going to go over some of the ways that wattage affects e-liquids, as well as the vape itself. There’s a lot to cover, so strap in.

The basics of wattage and vaping

More wattage means more electricity flowing through your coil. Think about light bulbs - higher wattage light bulbs use more electricity and give off a brighter light. The same idea applies to vape coils - higher wattages flowing through them mean more energy, which in turn means more heat.

As you can imagine, the temperature of a coil affects how your vape will hit. Temperature also affects the lifespan of your coil. Let’s examine both of those points in greater detail:

How wattage affects how vapes hit

Higher temperature means more vapour

A higher temperature means more juice is vapourized when it hits the coil. If you love huge clouds, try increasing the wattage of your vape.

Higher wattage leads to harsher throat hits

When the wattage of your vape is increased, you won’t just get more vapour - you’ll get hotter vapour, too. That makes high wattage vaping a great choice for people who want to emulate the experience of smoking a cigarette.

Different wattages for different flavours

Are you vaping cinnamon bun flavoured juice? You might want to increase the wattage of your vape. Pud-style flavoured juices tend to respond well to higher temperature coils - some people even report a greater depth of flavour when vaping at higher wattages.

Juice with menthol flavours, on the other hand, is usually best vaped with lower wattages. Menthol is meant to provide a cooling sensation, after all, and the contrast between hot vapour and a cool flavour can be off-putting for some people. 

Of course, there’s no accounting for taste. You might love vaping menthol at super-high wattages, or prefer a cool sensation when you’re enjoying vanilla vape juice. Choose the wattage that makes each juice taste best to you.

Higher wattage and vaping style

Do you take long, deep hits? You might find that very high wattages lead to a burnt taste. After all, you’re running a lot of power through your coil.

You can reduce your wattage when you want to take very long hits. We also recommend a more open airflow ring for high wattage vaping - it will provide some cooling for your coil. 

Wattage and your vape

How wattage affects your coil

There’s a pretty simple correlation between wattage and coil lifespan: the higher the wattage, the more quickly your coil will burn out. Coils are actually rated for different wattages - for best performance (and a longer lifespan), try to vape within the wattage range of your coil.

How wattage affects your battery

More electricity going to your coil drains your battery’s power more quickly. No surprise here - expect to recharge your battery more often if you’re vaping at higher wattages. 

A quick note on wattage and temperatures

Wattage may not be the only thing affecting your coil’s temperature. When some metals heat up, their resistance increases predictably - and more resistance means the relationship between wattage and temperature changes.

For Kanthal and nichrome coils, there’s no relationship between heat and resistance, so wattage should predictably increase heat. Other metals, on the other hand, may need to be vaped on temperature control (TC) mode instead of wattage mode in order to provide consistent heat.

Come to Cold Turkey for coils, mod vapes, and more

We hope this guide has helped you understand the relationship between wattage and vaping! Do you have any other questions? Are you looking for new coils for higher wattage vaping, or maybe a whole new vape?