How Much does Vaping Cost?

How Much Does Vaping Cost?

Do you know how much vaping costs? Many smokers have started looking into vaping as a healthier alternative, but one of the questions that often comes up is cost. There are equipment and consumables to buy, which begs more questions. How long do those consumables last? How expensive is the right vaping device for my needs? In this article, we’ll discuss and compare the costs of vaping with the costs of smoking.

Price Comparison Between Smoking and Vaping

As a general rule, if you are an avid tobacco cigarette smoker, you will most likely be spending less on vaping than you did on smoking. Tobacco is expensive and in some places like America and Australia, tobacco products are heavily taxed (sometimes called a “sin tax”), increasing their costs significantly. E-cigarettes, vaping devices and many vaping consumables are exempted from taxation because they don’t contain tobacco.

Vapers are increasing in number because ex-smokers can still enjoy the hit they get from nicotine without inhaling smoke and the chemicals that are in standard cigarettes. In order to start vaping, you will need to purchase a vaping device, whether that be a vape pen, and e-cigarette, or a box mod. You will also be purchasing consumables, and from time to time replacing parts on your vape device to keep it running smoothly and safely.

Breaking Down the Math

The Smoker’s Scenario

If a pack of standard cigarettes cost you $8 and you smoke a pack a day, your annual smoking cost would be $2920. Obviously, cigarette costs vary greatly based on your location, but this will help us get a rough idea to compare costs. So with that estimate in mind, let’s break down the costs of vaping.

Vaping Device Costs

Vape devices can vary greatly in cost. There are the older style e-cigs, which actually look like a cigarette, and more stylish vape pens, that can be a bit more discreet. The lower end of the range for these products is around $30. If you want to go pro style, with a box mod or a squonk mod, the range might be between $80 and $150, although those numbers are often changing as new products come out and vaping increases in popularity.

Ejuice Costs

A normal comparison to a pack of cigs a day in the vaping world is about 4 ml a day of vape e-juice. So, if you are vaping 4 ml a day, that would come out to 1460 ml for a year. A normal bottle of e-liquid comes in 30ml bottles. You will be needing total 49 e-liquid bottles (1460 / 30), and each bottle will cost $20 or less. Multiply that out, and you get $980 to spend on e-liquid in a year.

Coil Replacement Costs

Another thing you must consider when determining the cost of vaping is the coil. Coils are part of a normal vaping system, and they need to be replaced from time to time. How often you replace them depends on use (and to some extend on what you vape and temperatures at which you vape). With pretty heavy usage, we can estimate that a coil will last for about 2 weeks. A standard replacement coil will be around $5, so doing the math, coil replacement costs will be about $130 per year. We have an article with the best coils for flavor here to get you started.

Putting it All Together

If you figure in the cost of one of the higher end devices at $100, all the consumables and the coil replacements, the total cost of vaping would come out to about $1210 for a year! That’s a whole lot better than the $2920 a year that a-pack-a-day smoking will cost. Furthermore, you don’t necessarily have to buy a new vaping device every year, so your costs could go down after year 1. Even if you do get a new vaping device each year, Vaping is about 80% cheaper. Factor in the fact that vaping has been reported to be 95% safer than cigarette smoking, and you’ve got a major win. Even if you use high-end products you will still save over 50% compared to cigarettes.

So to get the best experience, check out our Vape 101 article which will explain the ins and out of vaping, its technologies and products, and lots, lots more.