What’s the best temperature to vaporise marijuana?

One of the main benefits of vaping cannabis is that you have full control over the temperature. When you smoke, there is nothing you can do to prevent the buds from reaching up to 2200 °C due to combustion. However, when it comes to vaporising your cannabis, you can adapt the heat to your liking. If you’re unsure about which temperature is best for you, keep reading… We will give you the answer in this article.

Many users believe that customising the effects of cannabis is limited to playing with the properties of the strains that they consume. However, temperature is an equally important factor. When you light a joint, you’re burning the plant matter, which creates smoke, carbon dioxide, and other harmful by-products. Temperature gets high enough to activate THC and other compounds, but this approach is terribly inefficient, as high temperatures can also destroy cannabinoids and terpenes, which are incredibly volatile.

Vaporising cannabis can be a much better alternative to the traditional combustion-based approach. The vapour that is produced with this method contains fewer harmful substances than smoke, and delivers a cleaner experience as you absorb more of ‘the good stuff’. Therefore, the right temperature during vaping can make a big difference in the taste and effects of cannabis.

Remember that the best cannabis experience is the one produced by the mechanism known as the ‘entourage effect’, or the synergistic combination of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant. Nonetheless, every cannabinoid and every terpene have their own boiling points, and the chemical composition of your vapour will be different depending on what you’re vaporising on each occasion.

To determine the best vaping temperature for your favourite cannabis strain, you should first ask yourself what it is that you want to achieve. Do you need a productive day to complete a to-do list? Are you a medical user looking for the effects of specific cannabinoids and terpenes? Or are you ready to escape the mundane noise after a long week?

Depending on the effects that you’re looking for, you will benefit more from the presence or absence of certain compounds. And you can control them with specific temperature ranges.

In general terms:

• Higher temperatures (above 200 °C) provide a higher amount of the type of cannabinoids that have a more direct effect on the body (CBD, CBN, CBC, etc).
• Lower temperatures provide a higher ratio of the type of cannabinoids that have a more noticeable effect on the mind and consciousness (THC).

However, if you vaporise your weed at too high a temperature, the experience won’t be as pleasant. Hence, the temperature that works best depends on a few different things. Let’s explore the benefits of each temperature range:

Vaping at lower temperatures: 160 °C – 180 °C

THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, has a boiling point of 157 °C. You don’t want to go much lower than 160°C, especially if you really want to feel something. Low temperatures can be appealing if you want to get the best taste out of your buds. Besides, the vapour will also be much cooler and less hard on the throat. Possible side effects such as paranoia, red eyes, and cotton mouth will be less severe as well. This is also the perfect scenario for beginners and lightweights who don’t want to get too high.

Vaping at medium temperatures: 180 °C – 200 °C

In this temperature range, you will find a balanced ratio of the types of cannabinoids that have an effect on the mind and body. ‘Physical’ cannabinoids and terpenes such as CBD, CBN, linalool, and α-Terpineol start being more present in the vapour at these temperatures. CBD tends to boil at a slightly higher temperature than THC (at 180 ºC), so keep this in mind if you’re using cannabis for medicinal purposes. But the psychoactive effects will also be noticeably stronger, mainly because more THC is vaporised faster. This temperature range represents the middle ground and offers the best of both worlds in terms of taste and effects.

Vaping at the highest temperatures: 200 ºC – 230 ºC

This is the range you need for maximum cannabinoid extraction (THC, CBG, or CBD). The vapour will be warmer and less tasty, but the psychotropic effects will be more powerful. This range is the most suitable for night sessions because of its ability to make you feel sleepy. The activation of the compounds THCv and humulene can also help suppress appetite. However, many terpenes will quickly run out at these temperatures. This is as close as you can get to combustion without smoking, although this method can also cause coughing.

How to find the right temperature to vape cannabis

Still don’t know at what temperature you should set your vaporiser? It may prove difficult to find the settings that work best for you. Besides, each vaporiser is different. The best way to experiment is to start in the range of 180 ºC to 200 °C, and then increase or decrease 5 to 10 degrees at a time. Having said that, you should also keep in mind the following factors:

– In general terms, convection vaporisers are considered more accurate than conduction vaporisers. Convection vaporisers circulate hot air through the cannabis, preventing it from coming into direct contact with the heat source. With conduction vaporisers, the weed is placed directly on the heat source, so there’s a higher chance that the plant matter could get burnt.

– If your weed is too wet, most of the heat will be wasted drying it. You can always let your buds aerate for a few hours, or even overnight. Crushing them first will speed up the process.

– Modern vaporisers can now vaporise concentrates as well. The best temperatures for dabs and concentrates are generally higher than for dry weed. The same general principle applies: less heat = better taste.

– Lower temperatures are more suitable for morning and day use; higher temperatures are better for evening and night sessions.

– If you’re vaping in the lowest temperature setting, don’t throw away your buds after your vaping sesh. If they’re still greenish, or even light brown, they probably still contain valuable cannabinoids. As they’re already decarboxylated, you can use them to make tea or edibles straight away.

– You will usually have to vape at 1 degree higher than the average boiling point of your chosen terpenes and/or cannabinoids. So, depending on what you’re looking for, these will be the boiling points of these compounds and the temperatures you’ll have to play with:

Cannabinoids:

• CBG: 52 °C
• TCa: 104 °C
• CBDa: 120 °C
• Δ9THC: 157 °C
• Δ8THC: 177 °C
• CBD: 180 °C
• CBN: 185 °C
• THCv: 220 °C
• CBC: 220 °C

Terpenes:

• α-pinene: 155 °C
• β- caryophyllene: 165 °C
• β-myrcene: 168 °C
• d-limonene: 176 °C
• Eucalyptol: 176 °C
• Terpinolene: 185 °C
• Linalool: 198 °C
• Humulene: 198 °C
• Phytol: 204 °C
• Citronellol: 225 °C
• Caryophyllene oxide: 257 °C

In summary, don’t forget that, as temperature is increased, more essential compounds will be vaporised. However, if you heat your weed too much, you may be destroying some of those delicate cannabinoids and terpenes. We all have our own preferences and it’s up to you to find your ideal temperature, but knowing exactly what is becoming vaporised at those temperatures is of course critical for your experience to be as close to your expectations as possible.