Our life is always affected by decisions we make. But we never know if our decision is right or wrong, indeed we always go for something that we think is right for us: cook yourself at home or go to the restaurant? Catch a bus or order a taxi? Heat-Not-Burn or e-cigarette? Hmmm.... Fortunately, we got your back!
First of all, let's understand the concept of Heat-Not-Burn products and e-cigarettes.
What are Heat-Not-Burn Products?
Basically, there are 2 things you need: a heating device and a heating tobacco unit, often referred as Heat sticks. Heat sticks look like short cigarettes, but it's not as simple as you might think. Generally, it contains a uniquely processed tobacco plug designed for heating. The tobacco plug is made of tobacco leaves, which are ground and re-constituted into tobacco sheets, called cast-leaf. These sheets are then crimped and made into a tobacco plug.
But what do heat sticks contain exactly:
- Outer paper layer with aluminum foil;
- Tobacco sheets with glycerin containing of certain amount of nicotine each;
- Hollow cellulose acetate mouthpiece;
- And heat-absorbing biopolymer firm filter.
So How Does Heat-Not-Burn Products Work?
The heating device, or usually referred as a holder, into which the heated tobacco unit is inserted, heats the tobacco via an electronically controlling heating blade. The blade simultaneously heats the tobacco to temperatures of up to 350℃, while monitoring its temperature to ensure consistent taste and to avoid burning. It also has an over-heating protection mechanism, which turns itself off if necessary. The holder supplies heat to the heated tobacco unit via the heating blade.
The process of smoking is very easy. You simply insert a heat stick into the holder, push the button to turn the heater on, wait for 20 seconds until the holder gives you a sign that you can start smoking (usually it is vibration, but some devices use sound effects as well), and you smoke. Simple, right? But it's even more simple with e-cigarettes.
E-Cigarettes
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that work by heating a liquid into an aerosol that the user inhales and exhales. The e-cigarette liquid typically contains nicotine salt, propylene glycol, glycerin, flavorings, and other chemicals. But what is actually inside of an e-cigarette?
- Rechargeable lithium battery that powers the device and can be recharged many times during its life cycle.
- A vaporization chamber - a hollow tube that contains electronic controls and an atomizer which creates the vapor.
- A cartridge containing nicotine liquid that should be attached to the vaporization chamber.
- LED that lights up when the nicotine liquid is being vaporized (or simply when a user draws on an e-cig).
You smoke it like a normal cigarette, inhaling the vapor to the lungs and exhaling it. When exhaling the vapor, it looks much like a cloud of cigarette smoke.
Heat-Not-Burn vs. E-Cigarette.
So know as we know what are Heat-Not-Burn products and e-cigs, which one should you choose? Well, let's compare it this way.
- HNB products taste more like a cigarette rather than e-cigarette. It's due to Heating sticks use the actual tobacco leaves while e-cigs use flavorings to make it taste like a tobacco.
- Depending on how heavy smoker you are, e-cigarettes last much longer than HNB. One cartridge with liquid in e-cigs may last for 3 days if you smoke a lot, while if you do so with HNB, a pack of heating sticks consist of 20 pieces, and you can easily finish it within a day.
- You can smoke both HNB and e-cigs indoors. E-cigs don't make any smell, however HNB does, but it's specific and it's easily dissolves in the air unlike traditional cigarette smell.
So now as you got some understanding of these two, we hope it will be much easier to you to decide which one to choose. However, we strongly discourage non-smokers to go for any of these options. Better not to start rather than finding ways to break the habit.
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