Guest post by Zoe Price
If you’ve recently gotten into vaping, you’ll be well aware at how costly it can seem from the offset. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s generally cheaper than smoking, depending on how many cigarettes you smoked a day, of course. The point is, once you’ve purchased your vape pen and you take good care of it, it’s unlikely you’ll have to replace it anytime soon. There is still the matter of buying new e-liquids and replacing burned out coils, but you can reduce these costs with a few tricks and making savvy choices.
Coil Preparation
One of the most irritating things you can experience as a vaper, as many can attest to, is having a brand-new coil burn out after you start using it. Coils don’t last forever anyway, however, you’re going to want to make sure the coil is properly prepared before activating your device. This is often referred to as priming, and it’s where you soak the coil’s wick in the vape liquid before heating it up. You can put a few drops directly in the holes of the coil head to begin this process quickly and then once the coil is inserted into the vape, take a hit of the vape without activating the firing mechanism. This ensures that the wick has soaked up enough liquid to prevent it from burning. If you have a device with customisation options, like a box mod, you could even try turning the temperature down a bit at first and turn it up as the coil gets settled.
Good Vape Practices
Along with regulating the temperature of your device, it’s important for you to make sure you’re practicing good techniques and using you vape properly to ensure longer lasting coils and liquids. Things like over-firing the vape, which is when you activate it too often and too quickly, can cause the coils to burn and provide you with a “dry hit” as the liquid can’t run through the coil quick enough. Another thing to think about is keeping your vape tank filled so the coil doesn’t dry out and once again burn. For prolonged usage, sticking to lower temperatures is the best idea, although this may lead to a lower quality cloud and flavour. It’s also important to conduct your own research on whether vaping is a good choice for you or not using reliable and trusted sources. Consider speaking to your doctor too as they will be able to provide helpful advice and information on this topic. At the end of the day, nicotine is still a highly addictive substance and it’s important to understand every aspect of this and to vape responsibly.
Maintenance For Your Device
Keep your vape in good condition with regular cleaning of both the coils and the tank can help for a longer lifespan on the device. You can even rinse coils under hot water and then leave them aside to try—you might not even need to replace your coils as a burning or unpleasant taste could be down to your liquid as opposed to the coil itself. Rinsing this old liquid off could revitalise the coil, saving you some money in the long run. Just make sure you let your coils dry out completely after washing them.
Use A Vape Pen Or Pod
If you’re using a hefty, powerful box mod, you’re going to find that you burn through your e-liquid like there’s no tomorrow. Using power hungry devices that create large clouds of vapour are going to use up much more liquid, similar to a big gas-guzzling four-wheel drive. Instead, if you’re looking to reduce that over consumption of vape liquid, you may want to consider switching to a smaller device like a pod or regular pen. These less powerful options will use much less liquid and can still provide you with the hit you’re after.
Higher Nicotine Levels
If you do switch to a smaller device, or if you feel like you’re still using your vape too much, you could consider switching to a higher concentration of nicotine, potentially reducing your cravings. It can be difficult to decide on the right concentration of nicotine or even the correct type of vape liquid to use altogether. Check out this ultimate guide to vapes and vape liquids to avoid confusion and the risk of choosing the wrong liquid for your device. Certain liquids are designed for certain vapes and using the wrong one in yours can result in an unpleasant experience with bad flavour, reduced cloud production, and a lower nicotine hit than what you’d expect.
High Resistance Coils
Low resistance coils or sub-ohm coils, are designed to heat up much faster and create a much larger cloud. You’ll see these in many box mod designs as they also require less power to use. Switching to a high resistance coil, however, may require more power from your vape pen, but it’s also said that these tend to provide the vaper with a warmer hit of vapour which can be much more enjoyable. Using these high resistance options tends to require much less liquid and so should slow down the amount you use up.
Reduce Your Power
It can be tempting for some vapers to crank their device up to its maximum potential for huge hits and vapour clouds, but this can be incredibly wasteful. If you’re trying to be careful with how much liquid you purchase, reducing your power, if you have the option to do so, can be a great way of saving your liquid. The less power your device uses, the less liquid is going to be vaporised. This is especially useful if you’re running low on refills and need to make it last as long as possible.
Short Fills And Mixing
To save some extra money when it comes to buying liquids, consider buying short fills liquids that are just flavoured liquids that you can mix with your own nicotine, giving you control over the strength. These tend to be much cheaper and buying a wider selection of flavours to mix with your nicotine is a good way of keeping things fresh and interesting over time. You could even experiment with mixing certain flavours together to find a unique taste for you.
Bargains And Deals
As with most things, it’s a great idea to always be on the lookout for deals and bargains on vape supplies. Finding special offers on new e-liquids or multibuy options can be incredibly rewarding. If you can make use of some bulk purchase offers, you’re going to be saving money in the long run compared to if you were buying a new liquid every time you run out. Not only that, but you’re also going to be cutting down on the time spent having to go out and buy new liquids or waiting for deliveries.
Don’t Skimp On Your Device
While it can be great to find a bargain vape pen, be wary as cheaper devices can be at a higher risk of malfunctioning. You have to ask yourself, why is this particular device so cheap? Check online reviews of the device to see what other vapers have experienced with it and be prepared to move on from that deal. At the end of the day, spending more on a resilient and efficient device will prevent you from having to replace broken vapes regularly.
