Are you a smoker who would like to quit? A smoker who would like to switch to a potentially safer alternative? Not a smoker, but know someone who is that you care about?

Read on to find out more about a potentially safer alternative to tobacco cigarettes.

What is an Electronic Cigarette?

Although there are several different types, or styles of electronic cigarette, most are constructed and operate in the same basic way. Using a rechargeable battery, a little electronics, and a refillable cartridge, they atomize a sugar water and nicotine solution, producing a vapor that’s inhaled by the “smoker”.

Atomize sugar water and nicotine huh? That doesn’t sound too bad… But wait a second. It sounds like electronic cigarettes don’t actually burn anything…

That’s right. Electronic cigarettes don’t actually burn anything at all, but instead produce a fine mist, just a little finer than that produced by a perfume bottle, or spray can. Technically speaking, the vapor e-cigs produce is a “fog”, not a “smoke”.

And sugar water, what’s up with that? The majority of e-cigarettes on the market use propylene glycol to produce the “smoke” effect. Propylene glycol is a sugar like food additive (which has been approved by the FDA). It’s used in many common food products, and is also used in commercial “fog machines” such as those used at rock and roll shows (propylene glycol is often used to make the smoke-like fog that pours off the stage).

And nicotine, hmmm, doesn’t nicotine cause cancer? Most people find the following fact surprising: nicotine does not cause cancer. And since electronic cigarettes don’t burn tobacco (they don’t even contain any), that means that there is no tar, no carbon monoxide, no arsenic, no ammonia, no cadmium, and none of the other toxic chemicals that are found in tobacco smoke.

Which leaves us with the nicotine to consider. Since nicotine is highly addictive, the electronic cigarette does not solve a smoker’s nicotine addiction issue. However, an important thing to keep in mind is that the e-cig does appear to eliminate the exposure to all of the cancer causing agents found in tobacco cigarettes (and there is no second hand smoke to deal with either, the fog literally "evaporates").

In addition to the potential health benefits of e-cigarettes, if you refill your own “cartridges”, the cost “per pack” equivalent can be as low as 50 cents. With tobacco cigarettes costing over seven dollars a pack in my state, an e-cigarette can recoup its cost for most smokers in less than a month.

And let’s not forget another advantage of e-cigarettes over traditional cigarettes; since they don’t produce heat/flame, ashes, smoke or any toxic emissions, they often can be used in places where tobacco cigarettes are banned.

Since e-cigarettes are a brand new technology, it’s too early to say that they’re completely safe, but given some understanding of what they are and how they work, e-cigarettes are looking like a realistic alternative to tobacco for many smokers.

E-cigarette components.

Electronic cigarettes are typically composed of three main components; a rechargeable battery, an atomizer, and a nicotine cartridge.

The battery is pretty self explanatory. In most e-cigs it’s the longest segment, representing the tobacco portion of the cigarette. Typically they’re recharged via a wall charger; much like a cell phone is recharged. Some manufacturers also sell car chargers, and even USB chargers.

The atomizer component is usually placed in the middle of the electronic cigarette, in between the cartridge and the battery. In addition to the atomizer, whose job it is to convert the glycol/nicotine liquid into a fog, the atomizer component also contains a “switch” to detect you puffing on it, and a small computer chip to make minor decisions regarding turning on or off the atomizer and potentially activating a self cleaning cycle (very infrequent).

Finally, there’s the nicotine cartridge. Containing propylene glycol, nicotine, and potentially a “flavoring”, typical cartridges contain about one tobacco cigarette packs worth of nicotine. Available in different strengths (even zero nicotine strength), “e-liquid” is also available in different flavors (using FDA approved food additives). Flavors range from “tobacco” to vanilla, cherry, crème brulee, and more.

Break-in period for a new e-cigarette.

One thing I’ve never seen written about is the break in period required for many e-cigarettes. I’ve tried a couple different styles, and I noticed that for the first day or two of using a new e-cig I wasn’t always getting a good reliable “hit”. After some trial and error with various new e-cigarettes, I finally figured out why.

First off is the battery. Virtually all of them use rechargeable batteries. It turns out that for the first few battery charge/discharge cycles, rechargeable batteries provide “uneven” performance, providing a slightly lower voltage and operating for an unpredictable time period before they require a full recharge. (Read as, not providing as much smoke)

The second break-in issue is the atomizer. Most e-cigarettes use an atomizer which is fed by a “wick” like device which is inserted into the nicotine cartridge. However a new e-cig contains a brand new, dry wick. It takes some time for the new wick to soak up the liquid and become fully saturated (so it can provide a lot of fog).

These two factors (battery and wick) can make a new e-cigarette perform very unevenly, or just always not provide a lot of smoke. However, after 2-3 full recharge cycles, and a couple of cartridge changes, the batteries level off and the wicks saturate… Then they can perform like champs.

Nicotine cartridges and E-Liquid.

Most vendors sell new (full) cartridges for their particular model of e-cigarettes (they’re not necc. Interchangeable between vendors/brands). Some also sell bottles of glycol/nicotine liquid (eLiquid) as well.

Although new/full cartridges typically sell from 1-2 dollars each and are usually a savings over buying traditional cigarettes, the real savings comes when buying eLiquid and refilling the cartridges yourself. Depending on where you purchase the eLiquid, legend has it that the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes can be had for even less than fifty cents.

Keep in mind though, refilling cartridges takes a little more time, patience, and even requires a somewhat steady hand (to hold the bottle and add a few drops to the cartridge). If you’re not up for taking a couple minutes in the morning to prepare a couple cartridges for the day, then perhaps paying a little more and just tossing your used cartridges is the way to go.

What are the common types of e-Cigarettes?

While there’s many different ways to categorize them, for this primer I’ll break them down into two types: Those that mimic the appearance of a tobacco cigarette, and those that don’t.

Pictured above is a “Smoking Everywhere Gold” brand electronic cigarette. As you can see, it closely resembles a real cigarette (the tip even has a LED in it, and glows red when puffed). It sells for 100-150 dollars depending on some options (such as a spare battery), and the kit includes 5 cartridges (about 5 packs of smokes worth). However, this brand doesn’t recommend refilling the cartridges yourself (and they charge some of the highest prices on the market for their refills!).

The other model, simply named the DSE 801, is called a “pen style” electronic cigarette (because it resembles a pen more than a cigarette). Although it’s still made of the same basic parts (battery, atomizer, and cartridge), each component is a little larger in this model, increasing the time of use between refills (the smaller e-cig might go 8 hours before the battery or cartridge run out, these larger pen style ones can go 12 hours or more). Another big plus for the DSE 801 is that it can be purchased, with two batteries and four "cartons" worth of eLiquid for under 85 dollars! in my state, that would be about three hundred dollars of cigarettes! (I'd recommend buying the "high" strength, not medium, the first time you buy eLiquid, or when first making the switch from tobacco cigarettes).

General impressions.

Although there seem to be many benefits to electronic cigarettes, they’re still relatively new, and somewhat un-refined. For example, there is virtually no warning when the cartridge or battery are about to run out, which could leave you suddenly without smoke (a cathartic moment for some of us smokers)!

Also, to really save a pile of dough, you’ll want to refill your own cartridges. However, this can be a little messy, sometimes leaving a few drops of fluid on your fingers, or the outside of the e-cig.

And finally, one of its virtues, the lack of all those other chemicals and real ‘smoke’, is also one of its detriments; all that “junk” in tobacco cigarettes has a complex “taste” and “feel” as you inhale it. While electronic cigarettes do provide nicotine, they just don’t (and probably never can) provide that same “punch in the throat” and complex taste that a tobacco cigarette does.

But they do provide that nicotine, and very well may save a lot of lives. Time will tell.

And my final thought is this: If this is how version 1.0 of the electronic cigarette starts out, the next generation is sure to really catch some attention.