Your complete guide to choosing the right temperature to vape your dry herb or botanical wax, oil, or liquid.
Many vaporizers available on the market today offer variable heat settings, giving you a choice in temperature at which to vaporize your favorite material, including dry herb, as well as botanicals extracts like wax, oil, liquid. But how do you know which temperature or temp setting is best?
Here we look at the science behind vaporization, reveal the temperature range for vaporization, and help you to find your own ideal vape temperature.
Why Vape Temperature Matters
The temperature of your vape affects the type and quality of the vapor you inhale, including how thick the vapor is, how flavorful the vapor is, and whether or not there are harmful chemicals in the vapor.
If a vaporizer creates too little heat, it can fail to fully vaporize your vape material, leading to waste and very little vapor to inhale. However, lower temperatures prevent terpenes from combusting, preserving the flavor of your material.
If a vaporizer creates too much heat, it can combust your vape material, creating an unpleasant, burnt flavor. Even temperatures below combustion can diminish the flavor of your material by burning the terpenes.
Another concern about using too high a heat setting when vaping is carcinogens like benzene, many of which begin to be released in trace amounts around 392°F and continue in higher amounts as temperatures increase to combustion.
When choosing the right temperature for vaping consider what you want to get out of your vaping experience, including taste, potency, and health.
What is the Right Temp for Vaping?
There has been much debate as to the perfect temperature for vaping, with opinions and science failing to agree on a single best temp. This can lead to some confusion for some beginners. Knowing the best range of temperatures at which to vape can help you choose the one that is right for you.
The active ingredients in your favorite dry botanicals begin to vaporize around 315-320°F, so this is the minimum at which you will want to vape. Research points to temperatures between 380°F and 410°F being the ideal for releasing the most active ingredients.
If you are using dry herb, try a temperature in the lower end of this range. If you have a wax, oil, or liquid vape, you will want to be on the high end of this range.
The perfect vape temperature is the one that works best for you. Some consumers prefer the dense vapor created by vaping with high heat. Others enjoy the pure flavors provided by vaping at a low temperature. As long as you fall between 320°F and 450°F, you are vaping, and not combusting your material. However, anything above this range brings with it the danger burning your material and releasing high levels of harmful chemicals.
A variable temperature vaporizer will allow you to choose a temperature that you like best. Some variable vapes have a number of preset temperatures. Others will allow you to choose a specific temperature. Regardless of which you choose, you might need to experiment a bit to find a setting that works best for you.
To recap:
- Vaporization occurs between 320°F and 450°F.
- Higher temperatures create thicker, fuller clouds of vapor and stronger effects.
- Higher temperatures can create more toxic chemicals.
- Lower temperatures create thinner clouds of vapor and less powerful effects.
- Lower temperatures can be more flavorful.
Variable Heat Vapes
Many vaporizers available in the Medical Marijuana, Inc. store offer variable heat options. Some vapes allow you to dial in a specific temperature between a certain range; others give your an option between several preset temperature settings. Most vapers will find preset temp options give them enough customization for an ideal experience; however, some users appreciate the ability to set their vaporizer to specific temps that fall between preset options.
Here are some of the vaporizers in our store that allow you to adjust your heat settings.
350°, 390°, 430°F
300°, 350°, 390°, 430°F
104°F to 410°F
Volcano-digital,
104°F to 446°F
266°F to 396°F
375°F, 400°F, 428°F
356°F to 446°F
5 Preset Temperatures (356°to 428°F)
100°F to 430°F
Want to Learn More?
Visit our Cannabis 101 page to learn more about a range of topics, from choosing the best way to consume your cannabis, to how to grow your own cannabis at home, to choosing the best vaporizer for your needs.
Ready to purchase a vaporizer? Shop our store now for a wide selection of tabletop, handheld, and portable vapes.
The vape products and vaping advice featured in Medical Marijuana, Inc. posts are specifically for people looking to support their health with legal natural botanicals and are not created with nicotine or tobacco users in mind.
