Electronic Cigarette FAQ’s

  • What is an electronic cigarette?

    Electronic cigarettes have been designed to mimic the actions of a tobacco cigarette delivering the nicotine that the smoker craves in a vapour form. This Vapour simulates the smoke that tobacco products produce, but doesn’t contain the tar and other 400 chemicals found in tobacco smoke. They allow the user to continue going through the motions of smoking, but without the tobacco smoke and it’s associated health risks.
  • Are electronic cigarettes safe?

    There have been no long term medical health studies performed on electronic cigarettes so it's not possible to say that they are 100% safe. However a clinical trial has been performed in New Zealand on the Ruyan brand of electronic (Sold by NICOCIG) and found that it is very safe relative to cigarettes. The report can be read here - http://www.healthnz.co.nz/RuyanCartridgeReport30-Oct-08.pdf.

    Excerpt from the report:

    Findings. Ruyan® e-cigarette is designed to be a safe alternative to smoking. The various test results confirm this is the case. It is very safe relative to cigarettes, and also safe in absolute terms on all measurements we have applied. Using micro-electronics it vaporizes, separately for each puff, very small quantities of nicotine dissolved in propylene glycol, two small well-known molecules with excellent safety profiles, – into a fine aerosol. Each puff contains one third to one half the nicotine in a tobacco cigarette’s puff. The cartridge liquid is tobacco-free and no combustion occurs.


    However, as no long term studies have yet to be done, it is impossible to say what the long effects on the body may be. All we know for sure is that we aren't inhaling the harmful smoke produced by Tobacco and its associated mix of 4,000 or so chemicals.

  • How do electronic cigarettes work?

    The average electronic cigarette is made up of 3 parts:

    Rechargeable Battery
    Atomiser Device
    Nicotine Cartridge

    Electronic Cigarette Parts

    When the user inhales on the nicotine cartridge, it causes a flow of air to pass through the body of the unit triggering the battery to heat the atomiser device, this in-turn heats the nicotine solution inside the cartridge which produces the nicotine and water vapour that simulates smoke, and provides the nicotine hit that smokers crave. Many models of electronic cigarette are now supplied with manual batteries though, where you have to depress a small button to activate the battery.

  • Is using an electronic cigarette exactly the same as a tobacco cigarette?

    The quick answer is no not exactly. Whilst the process is the same, in that you inhale a vapour that simulates the effect of smoke, there are some differences.

    Depending on the size of the electronic cigarette you choose, the first thing you’ll notice is that they are slightly heavier than a tobacco product. This is due to fact an electronic cigarette contains a battery contained in a metal tube.

    Another difference is in the length of draw that you take on an electronic cigarette will be longer than on a tobacco cigarette. This is due to it taking longer for the heating coil in an electronic cigarette to heat enough of the nicotine liquid, to produce an equivalent amount of vapour to the amount of smoke produced on a quicker drag on a tobacco cigarette.

    There are also two types of battery, one is an automatic which activates when you inhale on the cartridge / cartomiser, the other uses a manual button which needs to be pressed while you inhale. Automatic batteries are mainly used on the smaller cigarette styled devices, while manual buttons tend to used mainly on larger battery electronic cigarettes, although there is some crossover. Automatic batteries are more natural for new users.

    All in all though the differences don’t take to long to get used to, and many people make the switch from tobacco to electronic cigarettes fairly quickly.

  • Can Electronic Cigarettes be used in enclosed public spaces?

    Electronic cigarettes aren’t governed by the current smoking ban as they don’t produce any smoke, but you should still seek permission before using an electronic cigarette in an enclosed public space out of courtesy and to avoid any confusion.

    According to the Health Act of 2006 the definition of smoking is:

    “smoking refers to smoking tobacco or anything which contains tobacco, or smoking any other substance, and smoking includes being in possession of lit tobacco or of anything lit which contains tobacco, or being in possession of any other lit substance in a form in which it could be smoked”

    Electronic cigarettes contain no tobacco and contain no burning parts and do not need to be lit, so there is no legal reason as to why why they cannot be used in an enclosed public area.

  • How many cigarettes is a cartridge / cartomiser equivalent to?

    With so many different sizes and makes available today it has to give an exact equivalent value of cigarettes to cartridge. However if you see a site saying that cigarette style is equivalent 20 or more cigarette I’d take it with a pinch of salt, as these types of figures are a marketing ploy worked out with some rather questionable maths.

    I rather prefer to think of the amount of liquid the average 20 a day smoker, like I was, would use in a day. On average I’d say this would be between 1.5 to 2ml per day, there are a few details that would affect this but on average I’d say it would be about right.

    The smaller cartomisers used by say a tobacco cigarette sized device will probably only hold about 0.5ml so if you are a 20 a day smoker your going to want 3 or 4 cartomisers / cartridges a day. Some larger cartridges will hold around 1.5ml of liquid but these are around 40 or 50mm in length.

    As I say there are variables, like how effective the cartridges / cartomisers are at delivering the liquid to the heating coil, and how hot the coil gets. But I wouldn’t expect to get more than the equivalent of around 8 cigarettes from the smaller cartridges, although there may difference in opinion on exactly how the figures are calculated.

  • What is in the liquid or cartridges sold for electronic cigarettes?

    The basic ingredients to an electronic cigarette liquid that that you will find in the cartridges / cartomisers or sold separately in bottles, is a mix of liquid nicotine held in a suspension of propylene glycol (PG) along with a food grade flavouring of some sort.

    Many manufactures will also add some vegetable glycerine as this helps to produce more vapour. The most common mix ratio is about 80% Propylene Glycol & 20% Vegetable Glycerine. Occasionally though, you may find some electronic cigarette liquids that only use use vegetable glycerine as the suspension agent for the nicotine, as some people prefer an all vegetable glycerine liquid.

    Another suspension agent for the nicotine you may come across is PEG 400, but this is much rarer to see.

  • What nicotine strength e-liquid should I start with?

    This is a hard question to answer as everyone has there own smoking habits and what is right for one person may not be right for another. Personally I recommend starting at a strength of about 18mg which is probably suitable for people that smoke about 20 cigarettes a day, for people who smoke over a 20 pack per day then 24mg may be more suitable.

    If you find the strength doesn’t satisfy your cravings, then you may want to try the next strength up. If on the other hand you find yourself getting headaches or feeling nauseous, then this is generally a sign that your nicotine strength is to high and you should try a lower strength.

  • Do electronic cigarettes smell?

    Most electronic cigarettes will have some sort of aroma to the vapour, but unlike tobacco smoke that lingers and clings to anything it touches, the vapour electronic cigarette vapour dissipates fairly quickly leaving no smell or residue behind.

    The basic mixture in the electronic cigarette liquid is propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine and nicotine, which on it's own is virtually odourless but doesn't particularly taste that good. To make these liquids more palatable, food grade flavours are added to the mixture, and it is these flavours that create the aroma with some smelling better than others. For instance if you used a coffee flavour, you'd more than likely end up with the vapour smelling of coffee. My personal favourite flavour is butterscotch and produces a sweet butterscotch candy aroma, which most people find quite pleasant.

  • What does the resistance (ohms) mean on atomisers & cartomisers?

    The resistance of a cartomiser can be related to the harshness or smoothness of the smoking experience. The lower the resistance the warmer the vapour will be and harsher the feeling at the back of the throat when you inhale. Inversely the higher the resistance the cooler the vapour and smoother the feeling at the back of the throat.

    A more detailed explanation has to do with electricity & ohms law. The coil in an atomiser or cartomiser is similar to that in an incandescent light bulb, the brightness of which depends on the heat of the coil and is measured in watts. With electronic cigarettes the higher the watts the hotter the heating coil gets. This is calculated by a simple calculation:

    volts squared divided by resistance

    Lets say we are using a battery that runs at 3.7v and a 2ohm cartomiser. Using the formula above we end up with:

    3.7² ÷ 2 = 6.845 watts

    If we used a lower resistance at about 3ohms and the same battery we end up with:

    3.7² ÷ 3 = 4.563 watts

    A simple ohms law calculator can be found at http://www.crownaudio.com/apps_htm/designtools/ohms-law.htm

  • My Electronic Cigarette makes a strange sound. Is this normal?

    Most electronic cigarettes make some sort of noise when you inhale on them, the type of noise varies between models. The noise is caused by either air being pulled through the liquid when you inhale or by the action of the atomiser heating the liquid and vaporising it causing a crackling or fizzing noise.

    If you directly drip e-liquid onto the atomiser, a gurgling noise could indicate that you have flooded the atomiser and the noise will go away once some of the liquid has been vaporised or blown out.