It’s well known that vaping your weed is healthier than smoking your weed. Which type of vaporizer should you choose: a conduction vaporizer or a convection vaporizer? Both types of vapes are wildly popular and both have their advantages and disadvantages. In this guide, the team at your favorite vape shop in Denver are going to take a close look at both vaporizers, explain the differences between them and hopefully provide you with enough useful information to make an informed choice.
What Is A Conduction Vaporizer?
With a conduction vaporizer, your herb comes into direct contact with a heated surface where it is literally cooked. In many ways it’s like frying eggs in a pan, with the difference being that you don’t eat the fried herb, instead, you inhale the vapors produced by the “frying” process.
Pros of Conduction Vapes
Portability is the #1 advantage conduction units have over their convection cousins. Table top convection vapes are pretty big devices that plug right into the wall. While there are portable convection vapes on the market they too tend to be larger than their conduction counterparts.
Conduction vaporizers are known for their reliability and durability and from a technical standpoint, they are easier to manufacture than convection devices. The simplicity of the engineering is the main reason these vapes last so long and offer such reliability.
Conduction vapes also tend to heat up faster than convection units. This can be a big plus if you’re outside and don’t want to wait around for the convection “oven” to reach its optimal temperature.
While there are exceptions to any rule, conduction vapes tend to be less expensive than convection vapes as well. This attribute can also be traced back to the simplicity of the engineering.
Cons of Conduction Vapes
Conduction vapes tend to produce a stronger smell than a convection vape. In some cases, the difference in the amount of odor released can be significant. This is because the device is designed to continuously cook the herb, regardless of whether or not you happen to be drawing vapor.
Because of this conduction vaping may not be the best choice if you want to remain discreet while enjoying your herb. With a big aromatic cloud hanging around you that would be difficult.
Because the herb in a conduction vape is heated by direct contact with the heating surface the whole process can be uneven. Herb at the periphery where contact is direct may be overcooked (i.e. burned) and weed at the center of the pack may not be fully exploited.
Another aspect of that continuous cooking is that, with no control over the process, you are bound to watch some of your expensive herb literally go up in smoke (or more accurately, vapor).
What Is A Convection Vaporizer?
If a conduction vaporizer is the rough equivalent to a frying pan, a convection vaporizer can be best compared to an oven. With a convection vaporizer, your herb is “cooked” using heated air, just like a roast or a chicken in the oven. The herb never comes into direct contact with the heat source like it does with a conduction vaporizer.
Pros of Convection Vapes
Convection vaporizers are known for doing a better job preserving the taste and aroma of the weed. So if that part of the experience is important to you (and it is to a lot of people), you may want to opt for a convection vape.
Convection units are also more efficient than their conduction counterparts. By efficient we mean that there won’t be any of the uneven cooking you’ll sometimes find in a conduction vape. All of your herb will be fully baked with little if any waste.
A desktop convection unit can produce impressive vapor clouds that will dwarf anything you’ll get from a portable conduction unit.
Because you plug a desktop convection unit right into the wall you never have to worry about the batteries dying on you. You’ll always enjoy a robust flow of power to the unit (unless, of course, you’re in California with its rolling blackouts).
Cons of Convection Vapes
If you really want to enjoy everything convection has to offer you really need to get a desktop unit. And of course, you can’t carry a desktop unit around in your pocket. So when it comes to portability conduction wins hands down.
“But wait”, you say, “there are a lot of portable convection vapes on the market. You guys even sell some in your online vape shop.” That’s true. But almost every portable convection unit is actually a hybrid employing a combination of convection and conduction technology.
If you opt for a convection unit, table top or portable, you can expect to pay more than you would for a conduction unit. That’s because, as we mentioned earlier, the engineering needed to produce convection is more involved than that needed to produce conduction.
The Bottom Line on Vaporizers
There is no beating a table top convection unit when it comes to efficiency and the volume of the vapor clouds it can produce. So if you plan on doing most of your vaping in your Denver home you should definitely consider a table top convection unit. An added benefit is that your parties will become the stuff of legend.
If, on the other hand, “vagabond” best describes your personality you may want to opt for the convenience and portability of a first-class conduction vaporizer. While portable convection units have made serious strides in recent years they still fall a bit short in head-to-head comparisons with the best conduction units.