Are You Supposed To Inhale When You Vape?

The answer to the question of whether you’re supposed to inhale when using a vaporizer or not might seem obvious to some, but the answer isn’t a clean cut yes or no. We’ll explain.

With some vaporizers, direct inhalation vaporizers to be specific, they are in fact designed for their user to inhale the vapor or aerosol that they produce. However, with some vaporizers, such as aromatherapy vaporizers, the intent is not necessarily to have the user inhale the vapor directly, but rather to release the vapor ambiently into the surrounding space.

In other words, the vapor produced by direct inhalation vaporizers is intended to be inhaled as it’s produced. But with aromatherapy vapes, the vapor is intended to mix with the air around, creating an enjoyable atmosphere filled with pleasant aromas.

Some vaporizers serve both purposes. An example of such a vaporizer is the Arizer Extreme Q, which has three vapor delivery methods:

Ambient
Whip
Balloon

With the ambient delivery, a potpourri dish is used to vaporize aromatherapy blends and release them into the air around.

The whip is essentially a tube that carries the vapor directly to the user for direct inhalation.

The balloon, or bag as some refer to it, is somewhat of an indirect method of inhaling the vapor as the vaporizer first fills the balloon with vapor and once captured, the user can then inhale it at their leisure.

Not Everyone Inhales

For some user of direct inhale style vaporizers such as herbal vaporizers, vape mods, and electronic cigarettes, inhalation is not necessary – at least, that’s how they see it. In some cases, the users just want to enjoy the taste of the vapor, which isn’t all that surprising given the various candy-flavored concoctions that we see in the e-liquid space. And given that some vape nicotine-free blends, it’s really more about the taste than anything else.

Inhalation Techniques

For those that do inhale, there are two primary methods of inhaling that vapers employ. These are known as mouth to lung and direct to lung. With mouth to lung hits, vapers first suck the vapor into their mouth before inhaling it into their lungs. With direct to lung hits, users draw the vapor directly into their lungs without collecting it first in their mouth. You can read this guide here on Vaporizer Wire to learn more about these two different techniques for inhaling vapor.

What type of vape user are you – one that inhales or one that just draws it into their mouth and then blows it out?