Choosing the right coil is one of the most important decisions you make when buying or setting up your vape. In many ways, the coil is the beating heart of your device.
You can set up your device in many different ways, so it works well with your personal preferences and circumstances. And the coil is the most important part.
It will determine how much vapour you produce and how you will inhale into the device to pull the vapour into your lungs, as well as what wattage you should be running and the kind of liquid you will need to use.
The most important thing to keep in mind when picking which coil is suitable for you is the coil’s resistance rating, or Ohms. The resistance rating will be written on both the coil itself and the box it comes in. it will always be a number, usually ranging from 1.8 to 0.15 and will have a Ω symbol next to it.
The first thing you need to ask yourself when picking the right resistance rating for you is, what style of vaping do I want? Do I want my vape to behave just like a cigarette with a tight pull and minimal vapour production? If so, you will want a coil rated 0.8 or higher.
These coils recreate the sensation of smoking by forcing you to pull the vapour into your mouth and then inhaling a second time to take the vapour into the lungs. This style of vaping is usefully referred to as mouth-to-lung vaping and is perfect for people who are new to vaping and want to get as close as possible to the feeling of smoking.
If, instead, you want to produce large clouds that come with the maximum flavour, you will want a coil rated 0.6 or lower. These types of coils push the vapour into the mouth much quicker and are taken straight into the lungs in one deep inhale. This style of vaping is commonly referred to as direct-to-lung vaping.
Once you have decided what style of vaping you prefer, you next need to choose a coil that fits you perfectly. The first thing to know is the lower the resistance, the higher you need to turn the wattage up. Keep in mind, the higher the wattage is, the quicker your device will need to be recharged.
A general rule of thumb is the lower you can go, the better your vaping experience will be in terms of flavour and vapour production, but as we saw above, lower is not always better, depending on your preference.
So, a coil rated at 0.2Ohm will need much more wattage (upwards of 40 watts) than a 1.7Ohm (typically between 12-15 watts). This means you will need a powerful device to produce that much power. If you are unsure what wattage to run your coils, the manufacturers will often put a handy recommendation for the wattage on the coil itself, highlighting what they feel is the optimal range for that coil.
Other factors that will help determine which coil is best for you are the heating element’s design and what kind of E-liquids you want to use.
Regarding the design of the heating element, there are two main differences between most coils. First is the heating element, a single solid piece of wrapped wire or a mesh of multiple overlapping wires. Traditionally, most coils have a single piece of wrapped wire, but more companies are starting to use a mesh as a heating element.
The difference is that mesh coils tend to heat the coil’s wick more evenly, so the coils last a bit longer. Some coils even have two or three mesh chambers. The trade-off is that single piece wire coils tend to be a bit more punchy, delivering a stronger throat hit. So don’t get intimidated when seeing companies advertising their coils as meshed. They are just showing they are keeping up with the trends.
So now you know everything you need to know to get the perfect coil. You just need to ask yourself a few questions:
- How experienced am I? direct-to-lung coils can be a bit trickier to get running perfectly, and so we often recommend them to more experienced vapers. But don’t be put off if you are new. Just be ready to get over that slightly steeper learning curve.
- When will I be vaping? If you are vaping outside a lot where you might be near other members of the public, then maybe a mouth-to-lung coil that doesn’t produce as much vapour might be better as it won’t put people nearby off.
Hopefully, this little guide has left you feeling less intimidated when it’s time to buy your first couple of coils. Feel free to refer to this guide if you ever need a quick refresher on your coil knowledge.
