As you already know, a vaporizer is a device used for smokeless inhalation of herbal mixtures. The market offers a wide range of models that feature various options.
All of them have one thing in common – the aim of smoking from a vaporizer is to bring the herbs to the state of vaporization in order to evaporate the active substances with no burning that might result in the production of smoke and many harmful substances. You can still ask, however, about how a vaporizer works. The experts from VapeFully give you the answer below.
Vaporizers can be divided into many various groups, depending on the criteria. There are electronic, gas, electric, stationary, portable, convection and conduction, session and on-demand vaporizers…
What’s more, these features can come in many various combinations – so many that a layman can easily feel lost. We won’t get into a detailed classification of vaporizers, but we’ll have a closer look at how a vaporizer works and how it’s possible that it heats the herbs without burning it.
How does a vaporizer work?
Every vaporizer operates based on the same rule – it heats the herbs to the temperature required for vaporization in order to release the active substances with no side effect of toxins production, which would be the case if the herbs were burnt. To make it possible, a vaporizer must deliver enough heat to the herbs placed inside the chamber.
At a certain temperature (varies depending on the type of herbs you use) the heat releases the active substances that begin to boil and evaporate, generating vapor that is inhaled by the user. The vapor can be inhaled directly through the mouthpiece in the device (portable vaporizer) or through a silicone tube or a balloon (stationary vaporizer).
This is basically how smoking with the use of a vaporizer looks. But how is the heat delivered to the chamber? The source of the heat is usually an electric heater or the flame from a flame lighter. What is more important, however, is how the heat is passed onto the herbs. There are three ways to do it. Let’s have a closer look at each of them.
Conduction vaporizers – what are they?
Conduction heating takes place when the herbs come in a direct contact with a hot surface. Usually, the walls of the heating chamber are brought to a higher temperature by a heater. The heating chamber (usually steel or ceramic), once heated to the required temperature, transfers the heat onto the herbs located inside and these, in turn, begin to evaporate.
Conduction has many advantages. First of all, it is technologically simple and doesn’t require a large amount of energy, which allows for the conduction vaporizers to be small and much more affordable than convection heating devices (described below).
Secondly, as soon as the vaporizer reaches the temperature needed, you can start inhaling and the flavor and aroma of the first few breaths are usually the best. This gives a huge advantage over convection devices, where the initial breaths normally give very little or no vapor.
A session – a full chamber vaporization – lasts much longer in the case of conduction devices than in those which heat the herbs through convection, which makes a big difference to some people. One of the drawbacks of conduction is lower efficiency and flavor than in the case of convection devices. The best portable conduction vaporizers currently available on the market are PAX 2, Haze V3 and Goboof Alfa.
Convection vaporizers – how are they different from the conduction devices?
In the case of convection vaporizer, the herbs are heated only by the hot air that flows through it. The air heats the herbs, which results in the production of vapor. This technology is a bit more complicated so it’s more difficult to apply it to portable vaporizers.
Almost every stationary vaporizer is based on convection but there are very few portable convection devices. One of the benefits of convection is a better flavor of the vapor (as compared to conduction vaporizers), higher efficiency (a larger amount of active substances is released from the herbs) and generally a bigger strength of the vapor.
As for the disadvantages, convection vaporizers usually take more time to heat up and they are much more expensive (especially the portable models). Also, the first few breaths normally don’t give any outstanding results. It’s only after a few breaths, once the hot air properly heats the herbs, that the vapor production reaches its maximum.
What’s also important is the length of the breaths – in the case of convection devices, the breaths should last at least 10 seconds. The sessions are usually shorter so the same amount of herbs requires a smaller amount of breaths than in the case of a conduction vaporizer.
Some of the best convection stationary devices are Volcano, Cloud EVO and Plenty. Among the portable convection devices, the most popular ones are FireFly (first and second generation), Grasshopper and Milaana and Firewood 4 – the last two still not available on the Polish market.
Hybrid vaporizers – a win win solution
Hybrid devices are a mix of conduction and convection heating – they take what’s best from both of the two worlds. In vaporizers of this type, the herbs are heated both by hot air and the walls of the heating chamber. This lets you make the most of the benefits of both conduction and convection.
The hybrids provide a lot a vapor from the very beginning of the inhalation (like all conduction vaporizers) and the active substances are released from the herbs as effectively as in convection vaporizers. To many users, this is the optimal compromise between the two ways of herbs heating. Some of the best hybrid vaporizers are Crafty, Mighty, Boundless CFX and Odin.
This is a brief description of how various types of vaporizers work. If you have any questions about vaporizers and how they work, send us a message! Our experts will be happy to answer your questions.
If you have doubts whether your vaporizer is suitable for aromatherapy or you would like to get more information about it – contact us, our experts will be happy to give you professional and free advice!