Vapor Cigarettes – What Are Volts, Amps, Ohms, and Watts?

If you just got into vapor cigarettes and are browsing the e-cigarette forums (like the rest of us), you’re going to hear four terms used frequently:

• Volts (Voltage)
• Amps (short for Amperes)
• Ohms
• Watts (Wattage)

These are all important terms you need to know about if you want the perfect vaping experience.  Otherwise, you could just adjust the voltage on your battery and get a “better” experience. But you don’t want that – you need perfection. As such, the Artisan Vapor Company is prepared to offer you all the information you have to know in the following paragraphs.

#1 Volt

Volt is the unit of electric potential. Mostly, voltage shows how much power is getting to your atomizer from your battery. By controlling that number, you can improve flavor, vapor quantity, and the quality of your throat hits. There are two types of batteries which you can use to control power flow to your atomizer:

• Variable voltage;
• Variable wattage (more on this later);

Usually, vapor cigarettes will have a button or dial with which you can control the device voltage.

#2 Ohm

Ohm is the name for the unit of electrical resistance. Lowering and increasing the amount of resistance regulates how much electrical current goes through your vapor cigarettes. For really big vape clouds and intense flavors, the best e-cig tank you can get is one that supports lower Ohmage. You can find these tanks by the fact that they usually have “Sub-Ohm” in their names. The feeling of warmer, more flavorful and thick clouds of vapor is great. Just some words of advice: your e-juice and battery will run out much quicker than in the case of higher Ohmage. Plus, you could experience a hard hit if you are not careful. Others might feel the need to have a lower amount of vapor. Whether it’s because you vape at work, or don’t want to disturb anyone while vaping in public, a higher Ohm count will help you with that. Just keep in mind that the flavor might not be as intense as before. At least you save a lot of battery and cheap good quality e-juice in the process!

#3 Watt

Watt is the unit of electrical power. We mentioned variable wattage in the section about the Volt, so it’s time to explain what it is. For vapers, the difference between variable voltage and variable wattage is insignificant:

• Voltage – you control how much power goes through the device;
• Wattage – you control how much power your device puts out;

Most often, vapor devices have a dial through which you control this variable. On the dial, there will be some adjustment points that show you how much voltage you put through your e-cig. Usually, under the Volt measurement, you will find a Wattage output as well. On the other hand, the resistance of your atomizer (in Ohms) also influences the power output of the device. The higher the Ohm value on your atomizer, the more you need to “dial up” the Voltage to get a higher Wattage. This, in turn, will give you a better vape. Now, what about Amps? Where do they come into play in all this? More info in the final section.

#4 Ampere (Amps)

Ampere is the unit of electrical current. You won’t see “Amps” used alone for vapor cigarettes, except as slang for what comes next. What you will see in the names or descriptions of the devices will be mAh – or miliamperes per hour. The mAh unit tells you how much your e-cig battery will last. As such, the higher the mAh value, the more time you get to vape before you need to recharge. It is also influenced by how you mod your device, and how you combine Volt/Watt/Ohm usage and output. There are plenty of aspects to take into consideration when it comes to these things. But these should serve as an excellent starting point towards a better vape. Keep an eye out on our blog if you want to learn more about vaping!