The Vapers Guide to

Voltage, Watts & Ohms

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Not so long ago a reader told me she was still completely confused about voltage, watts
and ohms, and I have a feeling shes not the only one. (In fact, since Tom and I started
writing this post, weve had at least five emails from readers asking for an explanation!)
So weve put together this tutorial for our E-Cigarette Academy.
Before we get started, its worth noting if you are starting off with variable voltage, and
even with different resistance atomisers, you can get a very good vaping experience
without a deep understanding of the science behind it.
At its simplest level, its simply a matter of adjusting the voltage of the battery until you get
the vapour, flavour and throat hit you desire. You can also experiment with using different
resistance atomisers and combining them with different voltages.
Some people want to know more, though, in order to get the perfect vaping experience. If
youre one of those, this post is for you.
When we started writing this post, we did find that it was rapidly getting complicated.
Getting a balance between a really good explanation of the science and something that
everybody could understand was proving impossible. So weve created two parts to this
blog post: A Introduction to Voltage, Watts and Ohms as well as a more advanced
explanation which covers Ohms Law.

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Menu
An Introduction to Voltage Watts and Ohms
Resistance (Ohms)
Which resistance should I use?
Variable Voltage
Variable Voltage v. Variable Wattage
mAh Explained
Sub Ohming
Advanced Explanation
Amp Hour (Milli Amp Hour (mAh)) Battery capacity
Volts Electrical Pressure
Amps Electrical Volume
Watts Measurement of total amount of electricity consumed
Ohms Law

What Are Ohms?

An ohm is a unit of resistance. Essentially, the
lower the resistance of your atomiser, the more
electricity will flow through it. Increase the amount
of resistance and less electricity will flow through.
So when you use a lower resistance atomiser,
and more electricity flows through, you will find
the following:
more heat is generated at the coil
more vapour is generated
you may experience a more intense flavour
(however, flavours perform differently with
different resistance atomisers)
vapour will be warmer
Depending on your tastes, the above may all be positives!
On the negative side:
your battery will be drained more quickly
battery life may be reduced
e-juice will be used more quickly
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atomiser life will be reduced (very low ohm atomisers may only last 2-3 days)
you are more likely to experience a dry hit
Obviously, when you use a high resistance atomiser the opposite will happen:
less electricity flow
creating a reduced atomiser heat
a reduced amount of vaper
cooler vaper
and you may experience a less intense flavour
But on the plus side:
battery life will be longer
less ejuice will be used
you will be less likely to get a dry hit

What Ohm Resistance Should I Use In My Clearomiser?

Theres no one answer (although click here for a chart which might help) it depends on
you, the vapour and throat hit you prefer, as well as the voltage you
combine with the ohms. Youll also find that different e-liquids react differently, and that
the resistance used has a big impact on flavour, so its definitely an area for
experimentation.
For further information on how to use different resistance clearomisers see The Ultimate
Guide to Clearomisers.

Variable Voltage E-Cigs Explained

The resistance of your atomiser is not the only
thing which controls the amount of vapour, flavour
and throat hit that are produced. It also depends
on the amount of power flowing through your
atomiser.
There are two common types of ecig batteries
which allow different amounts of power to flow
through your atomiser, which are known as
variable voltage (such as the Vision Spinner 2 or the Evod Variable Voltage) and variable
wattage.

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As weve seen, you can get a more intense experience by lowering the resistance of your
atomiser. You can also do the same by increasing the amount of power flowing through
your e-cigarette.
That may sound complicated, but usually theres nothing more to it than pressing an
up/down button or rotating a dial.
But what if you want more vapour again? Then you can combine a low resistance
atomiser with a higher voltage to get even more vapour. But this does come with
problems you are far more likely to burn through atomisers or get a dry hit, and
atomiser life will be dramatically reduced.
Also see The Ultimate Guide to Batteries and The Vision Spinner VV: A Tutorial.

Variable Voltage vs Variable Wattage Devices

Essentially, the difference the difference between
variable voltage and variable wattage is a bit like the
difference between an automatic and a manual car.
With a variable voltage device you manually control the
amount of power (voltage) going through your device.
The amount of energy that is actually output will depend
on how the resistance of your atomiser interacts with
that power flowing through it.
With a variable wattage device, however, rather than
telling the device how much power you want to flow through your atomiser, you tell it how
much power (wattage) you want it to output.
The variable wattage device will then automatically adjust the power going through the
atomiser (the voltage) to produce the power output you need (the wattage).
To put it another way, watts is essentially how much power the e-cig produces and
voltage is how much power is put through the device. So, as you increase the wattage the
voltage also increases and vice versa.
Voltage is not the only factor which affects wattage you also need to take into account
the resistance of the coils.
Lower resistance coils produce more flavour, vapour and heat at a lower voltage than

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higher ohm coils because they use more watts. For example, if you have a 1.8ohm coil
running on 3.7 volts youll get an output of around 7.3 watts a decent vape. However, if
you change the coil to a higher resistance of 2.8ohms you will notice a considerable
decrease in flavour, vapour production and heat, as the wattage will be lower (around 4.4
watts) and you will need to increase the voltage to increase the wattage and thus get a
better vape.
Because lower resistance coils use more wattage, they tend to generate more heat and
can burn out quicker than a higher resistance coil would.
[Currently we only provide variable voltage devices online, but you can purchase variable
wattage devices at any of our shops.]

What Does mAh in E-Cig Batteries Mean?

390
mAh

650
mAh

1100
mAh

1650
mAh

2000
mAh

Youve probably seen mAh used to describe electronic cigarette batteries. mAh is
important because it measures how long a battery lasts. Going back to our car analogy, if
voltage is the fuel then mAh is the size of the fuel tank the bigger the tank the longer the
car will go before it needs refuelling.
mAh stands for Milliamps per hour, but well go more into that below.

What Is Sub Ohm Vaping?

So, weve seen that by lowering the resistance and increasing the voltage we get more
vapour, more throat hit and sometimes more flavour.
Sub-ohming takes this to extremes by vaping at a resistance of less than 1 ohm. While
this can produce massive amounts of vapour, it also puts stress on both the battery and
the coil in your clearomiser. Its often done on a mechanical mod, which has no electrical
safety switch and may increase the risk of an exploding battery if not used correctly.
Until recently, sub-ohm vaping has been reserved for experienced vapers who want to
push the boundaries with rebuildable atomisers. The new Aspire CF Sub battery and
Atlantis clearomiser, is part of a new breed of devices that allow you to enjoy sub ohm
vaping with the safety, convenience and serviceability of regular Tank devices.
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Advanced Explanation of Voltage, Watts and Ohms for Vapers

Electronic cigarettes are incredibly simple circuits that contain a battery, a switch and a
heating coil. The circuit is effectively a controlled short, with the power being output from
the battery being used to create heat.
mAh
A milliampere hour (mAh) is 1000th of an ampere hour (Ah). Both are used as a measure
of battery capacity, a higher mAh rating means more capacity. mAh only measures
capacity and should not be confused with power.
Amps
The Amp (short for ampere) is a measure of current. An ampere is defined as 6.241*10
18 electrons (1 Coulomb) per second passing through a point in a circuit.
Voltage
Voltage is the amount of potential energy between two points in a circuit. One point will
have more charge than the other. This difference in electrical charge between the two
points is called voltage.
Watts
Watt is a measure of the amount of power consumed by an electrical device.
Ohms Law
Ohms law refers to the calculations used to show the relationship between voltage,
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current and resistance. There are three of them, which weve listed below.
V = Voltage measures in volts
I = Current measures in amperes (Amps)
R = Resistance measured in ohms
By knowing any two of the three values, you can calculate the third using ohms law;
V = I x R (Voltage = Current Multiplied by Resistance)
R = V/I (Resistance = Voltage divided by Current)
I V/R (Current =Voltage Divided by Resistance)
So, if you are using a 0.5ohm coil on a battery that gives 4.2 volts, you use the following
sum to work out how many amps the circuit is draining from the battery.
I = 4.2/0.5 = 8.4A
This is useful for vapers to know, particularly if they are making their own coils. The sum
above is the most useful, as you should not be vaping on a coil when you do not know its
resistance, or on a battery with unknown voltage output.
For those who prefer video, click here to see a stellar explanation from New Amsterdam
Vape.
Youll find an excellent calculator which you can use to calculate ohms law here.
Update: Shawn Hoefer has suggested also using the Ohmaster and CigToy apps. Given
the importance of battery safety, he recommends using both rather than one or the other.

Hopefully this guide will have provided you with

everything you need to know about voltage, watts and
ohms.
Dont forget to check out the E-Cigarette Academy for
more useful guides and tutorials!
Click here to view the E-Cigarette Academy.
Happy vaping!
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