What are e-cigarettes? If you’re here, you’re probably at least a bit familiar with the smoking device that has swept the world in the past few years. Instead of burning tobacco, an e-cigarette vaporizes a liquid solution of nicotine, flavors and a carrier such as vegetable glycerin. By eliminating combustion, e-cigarettes eliminate smoke, carbon monoxide, tar and all of the nasty smells that go along with cigarettes. The e-cigarette gives you the freedom to have pinpoint control over your nicotine consumption while ridding your house, clothes and car of the lingering smells that all smokers hate. When you’re through reading this article, you may want to take a look at our feature describing the best e-cigarettes. Enjoy!
The Components of an E-Cigarette
E-cigarettes come in a wide array of sizes, shapes and configurations. Some have large tanks that hold a vast amount of e-liquid and others are made to be designer smoking devices. While they may all differ slightly, every e-cigarette has the same basic components: a battery, an atomizing device and a nicotine liquid or “e-liquid.”
We’ll go over each component in detail so that you can really understand just what e-cigarettes are and how they work.
E-Liquid: Flavor and Nicotine
The e-liquid is the primary consumable component of an e-cigarette. It contains the nicotine as well as the natural or artificial flavors that makes it taste similar to tobacco or menthol cigarettes — or just about anything else you might like. When you switch to e-smoking, buying e-liquid or pre-filled atomized cartridges will be much like buying cigarettes is for you now. You’ll most likely go through 1-2 ml of e-liquid — or 1-2 pre-filled cartridges — per day.
E-liquid is has three ingredients in it: nicotine, flavoring and a carrier liquid consisting of vegetable glycerin and/or propylene glycol.
Propylene glycol is a food additive that the United States Food and Drug Administration classifies as “generally recognized as safe (GRAS).” The downside of propylene glycol is that a few people may be allergic or sensitive to it — or they may prefer consuming natural and plant-based ingredients only. This is why vegetable glycerin exists as an alternative.
Understanding E-Liquid Measurements
It’s important to understand how e-liquid works and how much nicotine that you’re getting when you e-smoke. E-liquids come with varying amounts of nicotine added in. Nicotine is rated in milligrams (mg) per milliliter (ml). That allows nicotine to be provided in quantities of “No Nicotine”, which would be 0 mg, to “Full Flavor”, which tends to be around the 18 mg range but can be higher or lower for some companies. Most e-liquid is sold by the bottle in sizes around 10-15 ml, but it’s possible to buy bottles of e-liquid in sizes of 30 mL or more.
Pre-filled atomized cartridges or “cartomizers” go by the same measurements, but e-cigarette companies generally don’t disclose exactly how much e-liquid their cartridges contain. On average, it’s a little over 1 ml per cartridge.
The Atomizer: All Vapor, No Smoke
E-cigarette atomizers are what make e-cigarettes completely different from regular cigarettes. The atomizer is a very small device that heats up to vaporize the e-liquid on the spot when you puff or press a button. In the past, the atomizer was a semi-permanent component that would remain on the e-cigarette while you used plastic cartridges or hollow “drip tips” to add e-liquid. These days, though, many companies sell the atomizer and e-liquid together in a self-contained unit called a “cartomizer.” When your e-cigarette starts to produce less vapor, you can simply throw your cartomizer away and replace it with another one.
For people who prefer to buy their e-liquids by the bottle from one of the many small boutique suppliers around the world, empty cartomizers are available and generally cost around $1-2 each. You can expect a cartomizer to last up to a month if you periodically remove the cap and add e-liquid to keep the heating coil wet. Some people, however, prefer to buy “cartomizer tanks” — these large devices have reservoirs that can hold 4 ml or more of e-liquid; enough to last almost any smoker all day. Cartomizer tanks are generally very easy to refill — just twist off the top and add e-liquid.
E-Cigarette Batteries: Automatic or Manual?
The last component in an e-cigarette is the battery. There are two types: automatic and manual.
Most e-cigarette starter kits come with an automatic battery, which automatically turns on and vaporizes the e-liquid when you draw on it. If you’re concerned that it will be difficult to switch to e-cigarettes because it won’t “feel” like smoking, this is the type of battery you should use.
If automatic e-cigarette batteries are so good, you might ask yourself why anyone would bother using manual batteries. The answer lies in the fact that a manual battery gives you full control over vapor production; press the button and the atomizer heats up. If you hold the button and wait a moment before puffing on the e-cigarette, you’ll get a little more vapor than you would with an automatic battery, which has a very slight delay. Our preference lies in manual batteries due to the amount of control that they offer, but we encourage you to try both types to find the best e-smoking style that suits you.
Jason Artman is the founder of eCigOne.com, where he helps vape and alternative nicotine brands grow through SEO and digital marketing. Jason's work has been featured in major media and cited in peer-reviewed research. He has helped to drive growth for well-known vape brands such as JUUL, NJOY, VaporFi, South Beach Smoke and V2 Cigs.
