Your One Stop Guide to Buying Vaporizers
Posted by ADRIAN V
A vaporizers is a device that allows you to inhale the vapor of organic substances through heating them up without setting them alight. They are rapidly becoming one of the most popular ways to enjoy dry herb. You’d have to be blind not to see why, they’re easy to use, they’re compact, they’re efficient, and they’re healthy.
Anybody who is serious about getting the best out of their stash needs to add a vaporizer to their collection. Unfortunately like other types of consumer electronics, they can be incredibly difficult to decipher for anyone new to the market.
Whether discretion is key or whether flavor is paramount, we will help you decide what type of vaporizer is best for you. We have broken down the most common features of different vaporizers and hopefully with this information you’ll be able to peruse the market at your leisure knowing exactly what type of vaporizer you require.
Portable or Desktop Vaporizers
The first major decision and the easiest one to answer for most people. Do you want a pocket-sized vaporizer you can carry around with you or do you want a vaporizer that stays at home. They initially fall into two main categories - Portable or Desktop - and each type has their own merits.
Desktop vaporizers are usually much larger than their portable counterparts. They generally require a constant power source, much like a desktop PC does compared to a portable laptop.
They are intended for use in longer sessions or within groups. They are more complex and consist of more parts, but once set up they can take pride of place in your home (usually next to your couch or somewhere else comfy). Because they aren’t built for travel, they on the whole have more complex heating systems and can hold more dry herb in their heating chambers, but as such, require a bigger initial outlay compared to a portable.
Portable vapes on the other hand are small, compact and meant for use on the go - the definition of portable. Using the computer analogy from before, portables are comparable to a portable laptop. As such, they rely on battery power, so if engaging in constant use you must ensure they are always charged.
Portables are designed to be small and light so the features in which designers have room for start to become limited, to save on weight and space. As such, they have smaller chambers and less complex heating elements and are therefore generally cheaper than their desktop counterparts.
Having said that, the portables are much easier to use. Just because you are only planning to vape at home doesn’t mean you shouldn't consider a portable vape. Many people choose a portable vape even if it never leaves the house.
Convection or Conduction
Convection or Conduction? Both words which takes a lot of us back to science class. However, the difference between the two couldn’t be simpler and the benefits and drawbacks of each are easy to explain.
Vaporizers work by heating up organic matter, until the chemicals present within that organic matter hit their vaporization point (or boiling point). Each individual chemical within your dry herb will have different points at which they vaporize.
Therefore, the main function of a vaporizer is to house your dry herbs inside and then to heat them up to temperature. Some vapes come with a huge range of temperature settings meaning they can be used for an array of different strains of dry herbs.
The two main ways in which vaporizers operate by heating up your dry herbs are - convection and conduction..
Convection heating is commonly seen in desktop vaporizers and higher end portable vapes. Convection systems gradually heats your herb by constantly blowing hot air across it.
This leads to a thick, and dense vapor but usually at the expense of speed. Your vapor will be very potent and tasty, but you may have to wait longer for it.
Convection works in a similar manner to a fan oven, so your herb is essentially baked. Conduction is the main method of heating used by portable vapes. It works in a similar way to a kitchen stove, putting your herb into direct contact with the heating system.
It heats the surface area of your dry herb, yielding vapor fast, this is why it is so great for portable vapes!
Conduction systems work better by packing the conduction ovens with material and convection systems work by having the material quite loosely distributed so the air can flow across. Therefore, in the same sized oven but using the two different heating methods, you can pack more into a conduction oven than in a convection vape.
Concentrate or Dry Herb
Finally, you should decide what types of material you will commonly be vaporizing. There are an array of vape which specialize in heating different materials, however, the two main types are for dry herb or for concentrates.
The most common type on the market, whether portable / desktop or convection / conduction are Dry Herb Vaporizers are ones you will most likely recognize. Dry herb is just dried and broken down plant material.
Almost all vapes you see will be built to work with dry herbs. However, not all vapes are and it is something that must be looked out for.
Some work with concentrates, which is when dry herb has all of the good stuff extracted from the plant material and condensed into its concentrated form. As such, a similar weight of concentrate packs much more of a punch when compared to dry herb.
Concentrate vaporizers are becoming increasingly popular, so more and more are entering the market. So, most vapes with work with dry herb, some will work for concentrates and an even smaller amount will work for both dry herb and concentrates, but will generally cost more.
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