Heated Tobacco Isn’t Vaping.

A look at heated tobacco and its key differences to vaping.

Health & Wellbeing Vaping Lifestyle

Heated tobacco, or heat-not-burn is sometimes seen as a cigarette alternative. In worst case scenarios it’s even confused with vaping. But, while there are claims that they’re healthier than smoking, they’re still nowhere near as safe as vaping. Let’s take a look at why heated tobacco isn’t vaping.

What is heated tobacco?

Heated tobacco products like IQOS, Ploom or Glo are devices that slowly heat tobacco instead of igniting it. The purpose of this is to lower the amount of harmful chemicals released when cigarettes burn. Although they are apparently safer, they still contain tobacco and therefore still carry the long-term effects of smoking. This includes the carcinogens that can cause cancers.

These products work by inserting a sort of mini cigarette into a battery which has a filament that heats it. As tobacco doesn’t produce much vapour on its own, Propylene Glycol is added to it which makes the the cloud.

Heated tobacco vs vaping.

There are many key differences between heated tobacco and vaping, let’s go over some of the main ones.

Flavour

With heat-not-burn products it’s always going to be tobacco flavour. There are several inserts that are available that have different tastes added, but at the end of the day they’re all variations of one flavour. With e-liquid there are hundreds of choices that are sure to take the fancy of anyone quitting smoking. There are even tobacco ones, if that’s what you’re after.

Cost

The cost difference between vaping and heated tobacco is quite significant, but they’re both still a lot cheaper than smoking. A packet of Heets, which contains 20 tips, is around £5.50. This is comparable to a 10ml bottle of e-liquid, which can cost as little as £2.80 each. So, switching to heat-not-burn products halves the cost of smoking, but vaping further slashes this cost in half.

Nicotine

Heated tobacco products will always contain nicotine, as you can’t extract it from the plant. This makes these kits a smoking alternative, but not as effective as a stop smoking tool. With e-liquid, on the other hand, you can choose a starting strength that suits your smoking level and then lower it gradually. Also, you can get nicotine free juice. This makes vaping a much more useful aid for quitting cigarettes. In fact, you’re twice as likely to quit smoking with an e-cig.

Safety

A study in 2018 compared the emissions from an IQOS, an e-cig and cigarettes. While the heated tobacco device was a lot lower than cigarettes, it was nowhere near as low as vaping.

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (formerly Public Health England) concluded that vaping is 95% healthier than smoking.

The best tobacco flavoured e-liquids.

If you’re looking for a cigarette like taste, here’s 6 of the most popular tobacco flavoured e-liquids.

And that’s it for our look at why heated tobacco isn’t vaping. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.