Vaping Vs. Smoking: Cost Comparison
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Time to read 6 min
Compare the costs of vaping and smoking with this in-depth breakdown of long-term expenses and financial impacts.
Is vaping cheaper than smoking? The answer is a resounding yes! If you are considering making the switch between cigarettes and vape devices, you could stand to save in a big way. Looking to save money on your monthly budget? Making the switch could help.
Since vaping has repeatedly proven to be less harmful to your health than smoking cigarettes has been, the average smoker can never have too many reasons to quit. In the current economy a cost comparison to find out if vaping is cheaper than smoking makes perfect financial sense.
This article will break down the financial aspects of both habits, factor in initial costs, ongoing expenses, and long term financial implications should you decide to make the switch. Hopefully, discovering how much you could save by switching from cigarettes to vape could be the final factor that convinces you that it is time to give up smoking.
Initial Costs of Vaping Vs. Smoking
Both smoking and vaping have upfront costs to get yourself started. These can be broken down as such:
Vaping Upfront Costs
The initial costs of vaping depends on what type of vape device you like.
If you were to start vaping by using a pod kit, disposable device, or very basic refillable device, then your initial vaping costs could be under £10 and should be under £20.
Examples of vape devices with the lowest upfront costs include:
· The SKE Crystal Plus Pod Kits
· SKE Crystal Bar disposables (until June 2025)
· Elfa Pro Pod Kits
· Elf Bar disposables (until June 2025)
· Vaporesso Eco Nano Pod Vape Kit
And others.
Vape devices which are higher end could involve a start up cost from £50-£100. This is a one-off payment. If you choose a more advanced vape device which is refillable then you will also need to buy vape juice to get started. We recommend starting out with a pod kit instead, since these are easy to refill, use, and store in your pocket.
Smoking Upfront Costs
Smoking has the upfront cost of a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. You can no longer buy 10 packs of cigarettes. According to Ash Scotland, the average UK price of a pack of 20 cigarettes is £16.45. A Lighter costs around £1 or thereabouts.
With the average UK smoker puffing up to 12 cigarettes a day, you will need to buy a new pack of cigarettes almost every day.
Let’s look at those recurring costs stacked up against one another to get a more accurate answer to the question: “is vaping cheaper than smoking.”
The Ongoing Costs of Vaping Vs Smoking
When you start to look at the ongoing costs of vaping versus smoking, you start to see exactly how much cheaper it can be for you long term. If you are trying to quit smoking to save money, vaping is a viable alternative which is cheaper and can wean you off tobacco over time.
Vaping Ongoing Costs
Once you invest in your initial vape device, you will happily use it for the first few months – or even years – of vaping. There are three ongoing costs you can associate with vaping. These are buying Vape juice or pods, spending money on replacement parts once in a while, and the price of disposable vapes if that is the route you chose.
How Much Does Vape Juice Cost?
Think of the cots of vape juice as the same as going out to buy a new pack of cigarettes. Even the heaviest smoker will get through no more than one 10ml bottle of 20mg strength vape juice every other day.
To put a real price on this, you can buy 6 10ml bottles of nicotine salts vape juice for £20. We also offer 3 bottles for £12 or 4 for £10, depending upon your budget and brand likes and dislikes.
Refillable Vapes Ongoing Cost
If you smoked 20 cigarettes a day and switch to a vape, ignoring the upfront costs, you can expect to go through between three and four bottles of vape juice per week. At 4 for £10, your ongoing cost for a refillable vape device would be a weekly total of between £10 and £12.
This would make your initial cost for a refillable vape anything from £15-£100 depending upon your budget, with an ongoing weekly cost of £12.
Disposable Vapes Ongoing Cost
If you use disposables and smoked heavily, you can expect to spend between £4.99 and £7.99 per 2ml disposable vape. If we use the example of Lost Mary disposable vapes these cost £4.99 each. Again, you might get through one of these a day or every other day. We sell three of these disposable vapes for £12.
This would make your initial cost for disposable vapes £4.99, with around £12-15 per week ongoing.
These figures are based on an ex-smoker turned vape device user, who used to smoke 20 cigarettes per day.
Pod Kit Vape Device Ongoing Costs
When you pay for your pod kit, you use up the pod which comes free with the device. Then you have to buy new pods to replace the old one. If we take the example of the Riot Connex pod kit, we can pick up pre-filled pods at 4 for £10. Even the heaviest former cigarette smoker will get through no more than that per week.
This would make the initial cost of your pod kit between £5.99-40, depending on your budget. Ongoing costs would be around £10 per week.
These figures are based on an ex-smoker who smoked 20 cigarettes per day.
Smoking Ongoing Costs
If we look at the ongoing costs of smoking it becomes so expensive that we are even willing to discount the £1 for the lighter.
If you smoke 20 per day, you will smoke 140 cigarettes per week.
This would make the initial cost of smoking £16.45 and the ongoing cost of smoking cigarettes £115.15 per week.
These figures assume that the subject smokes 20 cigarettes per day.
Long Term Costs and Health Implications
When you add all this up in the long term, vaping is the clear winner. Over the course of a month, you would smoke your way through almost £500 worth of cigarettes. By that same math, you could vape your way through only one fifth of that using disposable vapes.
In fact, even if you spent £100 on a top-of-the-range vape device that had all the mod cons, you would still amount to a cheaper monthly cost than smoking when you include that first month and the upfront price. You would still be under £200 for that first month of vaping, and ongoing you would only pay for your vape juice.
Let us not forget to include the ongoing cost of parts and maintenance for you vape device. You may need to buy coils once or perhaps twice per month if you have a refillable vape device. These typically cost between £10 and £15.
Vaping vs. smoking isn’t just about money, either. Smoking is far worse for your health and leads to lung conditions, cancers, and premature death. Vaping is not associated with the majority of the diseases caused by smoking. Vaping is cheaper both in cost and in health toll.
Which Habit is More Expensive in the Long Run?
So, is vaping cheaper than smoking in the long run?
Yes – vaping can cost as little as a fifth of what smoking does in a typical month even for the heaviest smokers.
Should you make the switch?
Yes – vaping is both cheaper and better for your lung health long term.
Smoking Vs Vaping: You Could Make a Huge Saving!
If you switch from smoking 20 cigarettes per day to vaping all week, you could save yourself as much as £400 per month. Imagine what you could do with an extra £400 in your pocket? You would improve your quality of life while also giving yourself more spending money. That’s a saving of over £4,000 per year.
That’s a saving equal to the price of a small car.
