Vape Juice - Nicotine, Calories and Cigarettes

Vaping is the number one smoking alternative in the UK, with over 5.5 million vapers currently. Thousands of smokers are looking to take up vaping as a way to quit and move to a more health-conscious nicotine delivery system. But how many of them know all the facts about vaping, and what are some of the burning questions?

In this blog, we’re going to focus on vape liquids and all the key information about them so that smokers looking to quit can find answers to all their essential queries.

First off, What is in a Vape?

A vape kit consists of a battery device and pods—quite simple, right? The battery device has a USB-C port for charging, usually an airflow control system, a connection port for the vape pods, and, optionally, a display screen and button(s). The vape pods are replaceable cartridges that hold the vape juice, which can be refillable, and the vape coils, which are the heating elements that turn the liquid into delicious vapour.

This is a simple rundown of a vape device, but this article focuses on vape liquids. So, without further ado, let’s get into it.

What is Vape Juice?

Vape juice, or e-liquid, is a specially created liquid that you vaporise and inhale through your vape kit. It has four main ingredients: vegetable glycerine, propylene glycol, flavourings, and optionally, nicotine.

It’s not as harmful as some people may believe; all vape liquid ingredients except nicotine are food-grade components and are used in everyday products. Plus, nicotine on its own is not that harmful; when it comes to smoking, it’s the thousands of other toxic chemicals that cause diseases and cancers.

And yes, nicotine is an optional ingredient, as both disposables and vape liquids can be nicotine-free. Nicotine-free disposables are quite popular, as many vapers have now cut down on their nicotine intake.

But what about the vape liquids that have nicotine in them? Let’s get into that.

How Much Nicotine is in a Vape?

Vape liquids can range in strength from 0mg to 20mg. When disposables became popular, they were all 2% (20mg/ml) but weren’t available in lower strengths until years later. However, since most new vapers started on disposable vapes, they got used to that strength.

You may wonder why vape liquids come in a 2% strength and if they can go higher. Well, no, they can’t. This is because of the TPD Regulation, which restricts the volume of nicotine-containing e-liquids to a maximum of 10ml and 20mg/ml in strength.

So, 10ml of vape juice contains 200mg of nicotine, as it’s 20mg per millilitre of liquid (2% strength). A disposable vape would have 40mg of nicotine from 2ml of vape liquid.

So, with 20mg being the maximum concentration, is it enough? Yes, of course it is. Vaping allows you to control your nicotine intake, and starting off on a higher strength is the best way to go when you first switch from smoking to vaping. After a while, most vapers will lower their strength to maybe 10mg or 5mg as they get used to vaping and managing their cravings.

The great thing about vaping is that you can control your puffs as well per session. With smoking, you get around 15 puffs per cigarette, and you always finish a cigarette, right? Well, with vaping, you only have to take as many puffs as you need to manage your nicotine cravings, although it may be hard with all the tasty flavours available.

Well, what happens if you do find yourself vaping just because you enjoy it? Are there calories in vape juice? How many puffs equal one cigarette? Are you vaping safely? Let’s go ahead and answer all these questions.

How to Vape Safely

Here is a quick debrief on how to start your vaping journey and how to do it safely.

Additional Warnings When Vaping

How Many Calories Are in a Vape?

Fortunately, for all those watching their calories, vapes have barely any calories in them, especially as you’re only inhaling the vapour created from heating vape liquid.

Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerine are the only ingredients in vape juice with perceptible calories, at around 4 per gram. However, when you put this into perspective, you’re vapourising the e-liquid, not eating it like food or drinks. This means you’re consuming less than a calorie in a vaping session, which is almost none.

How Many Cigarettes Are in a Vape?

This question can be answered in two ways - you can compare the amount of puffs you get from a cigarette to a vape, or you can compare how much nicotine you’re consuming from cigarettes and vapes. For your benefit, I’ll answer from both perspectives.

How Many Puffs Are in a Cigarette Versus a Vape?

Depending on your habit, you can expect around 15 puffs and 5-10 minutes of use from a cigarette. When you compare this to vaping, the benchmark is usually disposable vapes.

Single-use disposable vapes usually come with an advertised ‘up to 600 puffs’. While this is achievable, it’s heavily dependent on your vaping habit; if you take longer draws more frequently, you can expect that number to halve.

While saying this, a single-use disposable can easily last you over a day. When you compare this to smoking, you can smoke a pack of 20 cigarettes in a day and rack up around 300 puffs. Putting this into perspective, you’re essentially getting a pack of cigarettes worth of puffs in a single-use disposable.

What about vape liquid?

If you take single-use disposables, they’re filled with 2ml of e-liquid. When you compare this to refillable or prefilled vape pods, they’re legally limited to the same capacity. So one filled-up 2ml vape pod should equal a couple of hundred puffs lasting you around a day, equalling a pack of cigarettes puff-wise.

How Many Puffs of a Vape Equal to a Cigarette?

To put it simply, a 2% strength vape delivers about the same nicotine as a cigarette with 15–30 puffs.

Although a single cigarette can contain 8mg-20mg of nicotine, you’re only consuming around 1mg-2mg, as you lose out on some of it while exhaling and letting the cigarette burn in between puffs. With this, we can say that a pack of 20 cigarettes add up to a total of 40mg of nicotine.

40mg of nicotine is equal to 2ml of 20mg vape juice, which is the total capacity of a single-use disposable vape, equalling around 300 puffs. To understand this in the easiest way possible without all the vaping jargon, vape puffs and cigarette puffs almost match in nicotine delivery if you’re using a 20mg vape.

The reason they’re comparable, but not the same, is because vaping absorbs nicotine into your system more gradually, which may feel different to smoking, even if the nicotine content is similar. Plus, with all the different vaping styles, kits, e-liquids, vaping habits, and the length of each draw you take, the only way to know how many puffs of a vape equal to a cigarette is to give it a go yourself.

People have different smoking habits, just like people have different vaping habits, and we know which one is the better option for your health as a smoker.

The image below compares smoking and vaping, highlighting key points and acts as a guideline for vaping as a beginner looking to move on from smoking. However, it's based on our best estimates and may not be entirely accurate.

Which Vape Juice to Choose as a First-Time Vaper?

The table below outlines the basic guidelines for choosing a vape juice type and strength depending on your smoking habit. The important thing to remember is to pair these vape liquids with low-powered pod vape kits for the best experience.

What’s Next?

Hopefully, we’ve answered your burning questions, and you will feel more inclined to trust vaping as a trustworthy smoking cessation tool. If you have any other questions or you’re still unsure about something, check out our help centre for all the ins and outs about vaping or our blogs and guides, where we dive deeper into all things vaping.

If you need any more help, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our team of experts is always happy to help and get you on the right track.