What's the Best Wattage for Vaping?

Getting the most out of your vapes means using the best wattage for your device. Here’s what you need to consider.

Most vapes are pretty straightforward: just push a button to fire it up or draw to activate the device, and you're good to go. But as you start using more sophisticated vape gear, things begin to get a bit more complicated and challenging. This is especially the case with box mods. Even though they have lots of electronics controlling how they work, you still may need to make some manual changes of your own, to get the kind of vaping experience you want. 

One of the main things you need to keep an eye on with box mods is the temperature at which you use them because if you don't set the best vaping wattage for your device, it can have lots of effects on your vaping experience — not least on flavour and taste. Menthol e-liquid is best vaped at low wattage, so you get those cool notes, while dessert-type juices give the most satisfaction at higher wattages, as they rely on higher heat to extract their delicious blends.

This is why it's important to know what the best vaping wattage is and to apply it to your device. Here’s what else can go awry if you don’t have the optimal wattage on your vapes.

The Effects Wattage Has on Vaping

The Hit

Getting the hit right with a box mod can be a tricky business, which is why you need to get the wattage just right. The more power you're delivering to the coil, the more vapour you're creating and things really start to hot up — giving you a great, big throat hit, which you may or may not like. If you're not a fan of big hits, you'll need to lower the wattage on your device and you'll then get a smoother one, which may be more enjoyable for you. As with many things to do with box mods, it's all about personal preferences, which is why these highly customisable pieces of vape gear are so great. 

Your E-liquid

Something else to bear in mind when you're tweaking your vape wattage is the e-liquid in your box mod. Draw more juice out of the battery and you also deplete the other juice in your vape: your precious e-liquid. That's because when the coil is running at a higher temperature, due to the increased watts, it heats more e-liquid that's then converted into vapour — great for clouds, but possibly not for your e-juice supplies if you do it too much. So if you want to prolong your e-liquid stocks, you’ll need to turn the juice down a bit. 

 Box Mod Coils 

The coils that heat the liquid in your vapes only have a certain lifespan and it’s not that long before they start to give out and you have to replace them. One to two weeks is the average lifespan of a coil, depending on how much you use your vape — although you can prolong their life with some tender, loving care. You'll hasten the coils demise if you up the wattage, and if you start getting a burnt taste, you'll know you're in trouble and have to replace the coil, or turn the power down, so you get a bit more life out of it.

The Battery

It doesn't take a genius to work out the basic fact that if you turn the wattage on your vape right up, you're going to take far more power out of it. So higher wattage means you're going to run the battery down much quicker. But it all depends on how powerful the battery in your device is. Does it give you a day or more of vaping, or less? And how long are you willing to go before having to charge it up again? Spare batteries always help with high-wattage vaping, however, as you can just swap them out, as are box mods with rapid charging of an hour or so.

Your Airflow

One other thing to be aware of when you're considering the wattage of your vape is the airflow on your box mod. Due to the extra heat generated by higher wattages, it's good to keep the airflow ring open as much as possible, so the coil doesn't overheat and burn. This will affect the draw and if you like a tighter one, you're going to have to keep the wattage down and the airflow ring almost closed. 

So What Is the Best Wattage for Vaping?

Deciding on the best wattage for your vapes depends on several issues, as we've outlined above, and most especially your preferences. But you also need to think about the vape itself and its performance — as well as its lifespan. You can consult the manufacturer's product information and user guide that may come with your device, to see if it recommends the best wattage to use, but as a general guide, it's a good idea to keep within the 80-100W range. 

You can go lower, of course. But you're likely to get the best performance from your box mod at this wattage level, protecting your vape's components, like the coil and battery, while also ensuring you get some life out of your e-liquid, instead of it running out quickly. Sometimes, however, you can leave it up to the "intelligent" design of vapes. If we look at one popular box mod, for instance — the Innokin Adept Zlide — it has four wattage settings that automatically adapt to the type of coil in the device. So if you install a low-resistance coil, the box mod will give you higher output and lots more vapour. 

Plus, in more good news, today's variety of box mods come with all sorts of in-built protection to stop them from coming to harm and ensuring they last. They include systems designed to prevent overheating and overcharging as well as stopping the vape from short-circuiting and activation cut-off. If you do like to vape with high wattage, and you're worried about your battery running out, you can always opt for a box mod with a powerful one. The Adept Zlide has 3000mAh of power packed into its battery, for instance — that's usually enough for a couple of days' vaping. 

Using the best wattage for vaping is a fine balance between the enjoyment you get from your vapes and the performance of the device — and the life of its components and supplies, like your e-liquid. Get it right and you'll have the best vaping experience possible.  

Looking to use a box mod for the first time and not sure which one to buy? Browse our vape kits section and find a box mod with free e-liquid that you can order right now. Free and fast shipping on UK and European orders over various amounts!