How Many Cigarettes in a Vape?

Vapes or e-cigarettes have become a popular stop smoking aid in the UK as they’re far less harmful and pose a small fraction of the risks compared to traditional combustible cigarette smoking. When you smoke you can monitor how many cigarettes you are smoking each day, but when it comes to vaping it can be confusing, and may lead you to consuming more nicotine. This leads us to the question “How many cigarettes does my vape equate to?”.

Our bodies absorb nicotine in a different way to smoking cigarettes, so this commonly asked question isn’t that straightforward to answer, but we’ll give it a go to give you a clearer understanding of the equivalent of cigarettes you are consuming while vaping.

Leading studies in the UK suggest that smoking one traditional cigarette results in your body absorbing 1-2mg or nicotine.

• 10 cigarettes a day smoker would absorb roughly the equivalent of 10-20mg of nicotine
• 20 cigarettes a day smoker would absorb roughly the equivalent of 20-40mg of nicotine

The ‘How many cigarettes are in my vape?’ question becomes rather complicated when you start to factor in, nicotine strengths, how frequently you vape, length of draw, e-liquid style, inhaling technique, type of device you’re using and nicotine per dose.

Nicotine Strengths

UK regulated vapes come in a wide selection of nicotine strengths ranging from 0mg (nicotine-free) to a maximum e-liquid nicotine level of 20mg/ml. Pods and tanks are also limited to a maximum volume of 2ml.

• 20mg/ml of nicotine in 2ml of e-liquid contains approximately 40mg of nicotine, of around 50% is absorbed by the body. This roughly equates to 20mg of nicotine, similar to a regular strength pack of 20 cigarettes.

A regular pack of 20 cigarettes contains 200 to 300mg of nicotine. This delivers approximately, 20mg to 30mg of nicotine to the smoker.

Source: NHS - Vaping Myths and the Facts.

Vape Frequency

It is normal to vape more frequently than you previously smoked, and it’s not more harmful to your health. Vaping and smoking are two completely different things, smoking burns dried tobacco leaf and vaping involves heating e-liquid and turning it into an aerosol or vapour.

Vaping often requires more frequent puffs than smoking because it delivers nicotine at a slower rate. This is normal and not more harmful to your health, as smoking and vaping involve different processes. Smoking provides a quick nicotine hit in a short time, while vaping requires longer and more frequent puffs.

Nicotine Absorption

Nicotine absorption varies between vapes and cigarettes due to the difference in how they are used. Smoking delivers a rapid nicotine hit in just a few puffs, while vaping delivers nicotine more gradually, meaning more frequent or longer puffs are needed to achieve the same nicotine level.

Puff Length and Device Type

Your device type plays a significant role in nicotine delivery. High-powered sub-ohm vapes produce larger clouds and can deliver more nicotine per puff than smaller, low-powered or disposable vaping devices. Puff length also influences how much nicotine you inhale. Longer draws mean more nicotine per puff, while short puffs deliver less.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the number of cigarettes your vape equates to depends on your device, nicotine strength, and vaping habits. To avoid overconsumption of nicotine, it's important to monitor how often you vape and adjust your nicotine strength accordingly.

Smoking gives you nicotine by burning tobacco, which creates many harmful toxins that can cause serious illnesses including cancer, lung disease, heart disease and stroke.

Vaping gives you nicotine by heating e-liquid, which is much less harmful. Vaping exposes users to far fewer toxins and at lower levels than smoking cigarettes.

You should vape as much as you need to help manage your nicotine cravings, and ensure you don’t revert back to smoking as a result of trying to lessen the amount you vape.