Anyone who has taken two seconds to survey the breadth of the vaporizer market quickly realises that various brands tout their heating element as “the best available” while pointing out health hazards associated with their competitors’ models. Evaluating all these (sometimes conflicting) statements can be quite a task. The intention of this article is not to suggest a specific type of heating element, but instead to assemble the available information about heating elements in one destination for a aid people in making informed decisions when buying a vaporizer.

Why Do Heating Elements Matter? The heating element is the most integral part of any vaporizer. It adjusts the temperature of the air that catalyzes the ingredients as the air passes through it. A note: the air passing through the heating element may be either propelled by a pump in balloon-style models i. e. the Volcano Vaporizer or by one’s own in direct-inhalation style vaporizers i. e. the VaporCannon. Some models, such as the herbalAire, are Kardinal Stick capable of both balloon and direct-inhale style vaporization. A primary dependence on all heating elements is precision — you want your vaporizer to essentially be at the temperature you set — but health considerations may also play when people go shopping for vaporizers.

Types of Heating Elements:

Ceramic heating elements are the most commonly type of heating elements. Their proponents claim that they are the cleanest and therefore healthiest option. This statement holds some truth: ceramics can withstand very high temperatures (about 3000*F) before the material starts to transform to a gas and are therefore very clean and healthy. Some companies take this judgement a step further and claim that since other styles of heating elements have lower “boiling points” they are dirtier and less healthy. This argument is somewhat problematic: while other heating elements have lower cooking points, these points are usually still well in excess of typical vaporizing temperatures. Read about the particular types below take a look at.

Another important consideration when evaluation vaporizers with ceramic heating elements is the standard of the ceramic unit because the term “ceramic” is used to describe types of elements that are quite different in design. This is due to the fact that “ceramic” merely refers to whether or not the unit incorporates some ceramic into the heating element’s design, it does not mean that the air only details ceramic material. This makes buying vaporizers with ceramic heating elements difficult unless one knows the particulars of the designs employed by each manufacturer. As a general rule of thumb cheaper vaporizers may have exposed low-quality cord or solder within the heating element’s ceramic structure that can produce toxins. So steer clear of that digi vape if you want quality watery vapor. While the only definitive test is to take a central part completely apart to see how it is constructed, some manufacturers will address these questions if you contact them. The manufacturers of the poor models will dodge them.

Poor ceramic elements reflect badly on all ceramic heating elements, which is unfortunate because a well-designed ceramic element is very clean. Top of the line ceramic heating elements are very precise too, although precision is also a function of the circuitry and computer computer chip technology used in combination with the heating element.

Examples of vaporizers with good ceramic heating elements: VaporBrothers, Phedor and Hotbox

Some of the best vaporizers on the market use aluminum heating elements. Manufacturers say that aluminum is more precise than ceramic elements because it takes action faster the temperature changes:

“One reason the Volcano maintains such perfect temperature control happens because it uses an aluminum element and block, and aluminum has different properties than potential practical designs using ceramics. An aluminum element and block can more quickly adjust for effects of air pressure and flow over plant material… the key to vaporization is maintaining control over temperature and flow, which ultimately leads to more perfect control over watery vapor solidity. inch

Critics of vaporizers with aluminum heating elements tell of health hazards associated with contact with aluminum, that is an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. It is important to note two things here. You are from the Storz & Bickel COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS page:

“Q. Does the aluminum heating block produce any substances which are subsequently inhaled by the user?

A. No. the top temperature reached in the heating block 240°C (464°F) is by far below the temperature that is necessary to produce any substances out of the aluminum alloy AlMgSi, reduction point 660°C (1220°F); cooking point 2519°C (4566°F) employed by us. This is documented by an analysis of the air produced by the Volcano on top temperature created by the University of Leiden, Netherlands. inch

So a well designed aluminum heating elements seem to be quite clean.

As for the increased risk of Alzheimer’s: it’s hard to make sure whether something does or does not play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s because the illness itself is not completely understood, but aluminum does not appear to significantly increase a person’s susceptibility. These articles from Scientific American and Alzheimer’s. org discuss this conclusion in depth.