Choosing a Vaporizer: Convection vs. Conduction

Choosing the right vape for you isn't an easy task. With cannabis on the rise across the country, more vaporizers are hitting the shores and it can be overwhelming when you’re trying to sift through what’s going to fit your needs. How do we look through all the options available so that you get the perfect vape that covers all of your requirements?

Well, you need to figure out whether you want a conduction or convection heating method for your vaporizer. Once you decide on this important piece of information, it becomes a lot easier to find out what kind of vaporizer is right for you.

What is Conduction Vaping?

Conduction involves passing heat around an item to heat it up. In vaporizers, this means that the heating source is usually at the bottom of a chamber and your herb is loaded directly on top of the heat. Basically, the heat is coming into direct contact with your herb. Many portable vapes use the conduction heating method with a temperature regulator allowing you to use higher temps when used with herbs that have a bit more moisture while lower temps can be used with material that is extra dry. It is almost like "convection style" and it happens to be the most popular on the market. Often conduction vaporizers can use an open coil which we recommend only be used with concentrates. It is common for a vape pen to use this heating method because these devices are generally used for waxes and oils.

Pros of Conduction Vaporizers

Typically vapes that are conduction based come with a lower price tag. So if you don’t want to break the bank with your first vape, conduction might be the way to go. These vapes also tend to heat up to desired temperatures quickly. This means at the click of a button your vape can be ready to go in just a matter of seconds. These are very user-friendly vapes, especially for beginners.

Cons of Conduction Vaporizers

Since conduction style heating comes into direct contact with your herb you do run the risk of combusting your product. Because of this, you’ll have to move around your product more so it doesn’t combust. Unfortunately, combustion can happen pretty easily with conduction vapes, so keep that in mind when you’re looking at these kinds of vapes.

What is Convection Vaping?

Convection heating functions by circulating hot air throughout the oven. This means that when you use a convection vape, heat surrounds and passes through your material. The heat source does not make direct contact with your product or herb. This type of heating mechanism is amazing for a dry herb vaporizer, however any other type of material such as wax and oil will not properly vaporize due to requiring a much higher temperature setting.

When looking for a vape that will work well with wax, crumble, hash or thick oil, you will want to look at devices that use coils. These types of concentrates are great with ceramic coils, quartz coils and donut coils. With thick oils, you may want to stick with donut coils which also come in either cermaic or quartz. These are all considerred "wax vaporizers".

Pros of Convection Vaporizers

Convection vaporizers typically give users a more accurate temperature regulator, heat your herb more evenly, and tend to give a better flavor then conduction style heating vapes. If flavor and taste are important to you, then convection style vapes are definitely the way to go.

Cons of Convection Vaporizers

Probably the biggest drawback of convection style vapes is the price tag. Since the wiring for convection heating is more complicated, that means that the price is going to be naturally higher. While dropping a little extra money on a good vape isn’t always bad, sometimes the deal breaker can be heat up time. You can still buy a lower priced unit using this heating mechanism as long as you don't require precise temperature controls. Convection vapes do typically take a bit longer to heat up, but if can hold out, the flavor can be worth the wait.