• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Herbonaut

Show Search
Hide Search
  • Vaporizers
    • Dry Herb Vaporizers
      • Portable Vaporizers
      • Desktop Vaporizers
      • Vaping Temperatures
      • Vaporizer Safety
      • Individual Vaporizer Reviews
      • Weed Grinders
      • Vaping vs Smoking Weed
      • Bongs & Bubblers
      • Wax & Oil Pens
      • Dry Herb Vape Pens
      • Cheap Dry Herb Vaporizers
      • How A Dry Herb Vaporizer Works
      • When Is Dry Herb Done In Vaporizer
      • Side Effects of Dry Herb Vaping
      • Tips on Using Dry Herb Vaporizers
      • Convection vs Conduction Vapes
    • Vape Mods, Tanks, Juices
      • Vape Juices
      • Box Mods
      • Squonk Mods
      • Vape Tanks
      • Vape Pens
      • Cig-A-Likes & Pods
      • RDAs
      • Is Vaping Bad for You?
      • Quit Smoking
      • Online Vape Stores
  • CBD
    • CBD Reviews
      • Best CBD Oils
      • Cheapest CBD Products
      • Best Full-Spectrum CBD Oils
      • Best CBD Oil for Sleep
      • Best CBD Oil for Anxiety
      • Best CBD Oils for Pain
      • CBD Vape Oils
      • CBD Gummies
      • CBD Softgels, Capsules and Pills
      • CBD Creams
      • CBD Isolate Products
      • High-CBD Strains
      • CBN Oil
      • CBG Oil
      • CBDA Oil
      • Delta-9 THC Gummies
      • Delta-8 Brands
    • CBD Science
      • What Is CBD Oil
      • Benefits CBD Oil
      • Is CBD Oil Safe?
      • How to Use CBD Oil
      • How to Use CBD Oil for Pain
      • How to Use CBD Oil for Anxiety
      • CBD and Terpenes
      • CBD Legality
      • Does CBD Get You High?
      • CBD and Blood Pressure
      • CBD and the Brain
      • CBD vs THC
      • CBD and COVID-19
      • CBD and the Liver
      • CBD and Sex
      • Most Effective Form of CBD
      • CBD and Weight Loss
      • CBD and Pregnancy
      • CBD Causes Anxiety?
      • CBD and Sleep
      • CBD and Autism
      • CBD Half-life
      • CBD & Drug Tests
      • CBD and Hangovers
  • THC
    • All THC Isomers Compared (D9, D8, D10, -O, HHC)
    • Delta-9 THC Gummies
    • Delta-8 Brands
    • THC vs CBD
  • Cannabis
    • Growing Marijuana
      • Growing Supplies
      • How to Grow Marijuana
      • Marijuana Seeds
      • LED Grow Lights
      • Grow Tents
      • Hydroponic Systems
    • Cannabis Science
      • Benefits of Marijuana
      • Marijuana & the Brain
      • Marijuana Legality

By

Winston Peki

Does Vaping Weed Smell? + Tips on How to Reduce Vaped Cannabis Smell

Does Vaping Weed Smell

Although vaping cannabis doesn’t smell as strong as smoking it, it still produces a noticeable smell.

But there are ways to reduce the smell of vaped cannabis.

Today, you will learn what type of weed vaporizers produce the least amount of smell. And also:

What you can do to reduce the smell with any vaporizer.

Keep reading!

Table of contents:

Difference in Smell Between Smoking vs Vaping Cannabis

What Vaporizers Produce the Least Amount of Cannabis Smell?

What You Can Do to Reduce the Smell with any Vaporizer

The Difference In Smell Between Vaping Cannabis vs Smoking It

Before we get into ways to reduce the smell of vaped cannabis, it’s important to understand what makes up the smell of smoked or vaped cannabis.

The characteristic smell of cannabis is produced by specific combinations of various terpenes inside the plant. And whether you smoke or vape, this characteristic smell will always be there.

Now, here’s the kicker:

Although both vaping cannabis and smoking it produces a characteristic cannabis smell, both the strength and quality of the smell are different in both cases.

Here’s why:

When you smoke cannabis you literally burn the plant and this combustion process creates hundreds of toxic byproducts that all come with their unique smell.

And while vaping doesn’t reduce the creation of these toxic by-products completely, it can do so by up to 90%.

This means that cannabis vapor has a significantly ‘cleaner’ smell than cannabis smoke. What you smell with cannabis vapor are mostly terpenes. With cannabis smoke, a large portion of the smell also is made up of the toxic by-products created by the combustion process.

This is also exactly the reason why cannabis smoke smells much stronger and lingers around for much longer. Tar, which is a by-product of burnt plant material, sticks on surfaces and fabrics, and if not removed can stay there for years.

Cannabis vapor doesn’t contain any tar and has a much less potent smell because it lacks the majority of these toxic by-products. Cannabis vapor dissipates into the air significantly faster than smoke.

The bottom line:

Although vaping weed isn’t without any smell, it produces a smell that’s significantly weaker and dissipates significantly faster into the air than cannabis smoke.

What Vaporizers Produce the Least Odor?

All vaporizers produce a smell, but some more than others. If smell really is important to you, look for a vaporizer with the characteristics explained below.

Session vs On-Demand Vaporizers

Generally speaking, session vaporizers produce a stronger smell than on-demand vaporizers, simply because of the fact that they cook your herb for longer periods of time. A session-vaporizers usually stays on for around 10 minutes, all the time cooking your herb.

An on-demand vaporizer only heats your herb in intervals of 5-10 seconds. Basically, it only heats up your cannabis when you click the heating button.

Now, because an on-demand vaporizer usually has a stronger heater than a session-vaporizer, the initial smell in the first minute or so, is still strong and can even be stronger than the first minute of a session vaporizer. But after 10 minutes, a session vaporizer will have created significantly more cannabis smell than an on-demand vaporizer.

On-demand vaporizers produce significantly less cannabis smell than session-vaporizers.

Classic example on-demand vaporizer:

VapCap M

VapCap M

Conduction vs Convection Vaporizers

Conduction vaporizers create a slightly stronger smell than convection vaporizers. It’s a bit similar to regular cooking: frying creates a stronger smell than baking in a hot-air oven. A conduction vaporizer ‘fries’ your herb and a convection vaporizer ‘bake’ your herb with hot air.

Convection vaporizers produce significantly less cannabis smell than conduction-vaporizers.

While there’s a difference in smell between convection and conduction vaporizers, in my experience, this is the least significant factor in getting a vaporizer that produced the least amount of cannabis smell.

Classic example convection vaporizer:

E-Nano

E-Nano Log Vaporizer

The Oven

Vaporizers with a tightly closed oven (or herb chamber) will emit less of an odor than ovens or herb chambers that have open parts.

This, anyone can understand:

A closed herb chamber can’t direct the vapor anywhere else than the next part of the vapor path. An oven that isn’t tightly closed will leak vapor to other areas than your mouth.

Vaporizers with a tightly sealed oven produce significantly less cannabis smell than vaporizers with ovens that have open parts.

Classic example vaporizer with a tightly sealed oven:

MIGHTY

MIGHTY Vaporizer

Vaporizer Finder: Answer a Few Questions and Let Us Find the Best Vaporizer for You in Less Than a Minute

vaporizer-quiz

Yes, I Want to Find the Best Vaporizer for My Specific Situation →

The bottom line is:

An on-demand convection-style vaporizer with a closed herb chamber will produce the least smell of all types of vaporizers.

A session-based conduction vaporizer with a (partially) opened herb chamber will produce the most smell of all types of vaporizers.

But keep in mind that every vaporizer will produce at least some cannabis smell.

What You Can Do to Reduce the Smell With Any Vaporizer

Getting a vaporizer that’s designed in a way to produce the least amount of smell is the first step in reducing cannabis smell.

The next step is making sure you use the guidelines below, independent of the vaporizer you have.

Avoid Vaping In a Closed Space

The first and most important advice I can give you with regards to avoiding smell is: never vape in a completely closed space. Even if it’s your sleeping room, open a window. The better the flow of fresh air into your room, the less of a cannabis smell you’ll have.

Even a small opening and small flow of fresh air can make a huge difference in how fast the vapor dissipates.

Mask the Smell

Lavender SprayNow, if you’re going to vape in a closed space anyway, there are ways to mask the smell. For example, one of the best ways to mask cannabis smell is with an essential oil like lavender oil.

You could also get lavender spray. While this method won’t immediately get rid of the smell completely, it will significantly speed up the process of making your room cannabis-smell-free.

Keep Your Vaporizer Clean

dirty vaporizer screenAnother important way to keep cannabis odor to a minimum with your vaporizer is to keep it clean. See, when you vape, cannabis resin sticks to various parts of your vaporizer.

This cannabis resin has a pungent smell and if it sticks to your vaporizer in large amounts…

Every time you pull out your vaporizer, it will lead to cannabis smell spreading through the area. That’s the case even without you turning your vaporizer on.

What’s Next

More vaporizer guides:

  • Best Temperature to Vape Weed
  • How to Use a Dry Herb Vaporizer
  • Are Dry Herb Vaporizers Safe
  • Convection vs Conduction Vaporizers
  • Vaping vs Smoking Cannabis
  • How to Know When Dry Herb Inside a Vaporizer Is Done

Post last updated on: October 26, 2022

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Winston Peki

Reviewing vaporizers, growing supplies, CBD products and scientific articles about cannabis, cannabinoids, and vaping since 2012. Read more about Winston here. LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

More Vaporizer Articles

  • Portable Vaporizers
  • Desktop Vaporizers
  • Wax/Dab Pens
  • Vaping Temperatures
  • Are Vaporizers Safe?
  • Weed Grinders
  • Individual Vaporizer Reviews
  • Disclaimers
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • SiteMap

© Copyright www.herbonaut.com · All Rights Reserved. The content on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Medical advice should always be obtained from a qualified medical professional for any health conditions or symptoms associated with them. Every possible effort has been made in preparing and researching this material. We make no warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability of its contents or any omissions.

Science Based

This article is based on scientific studies, written by Winston Peki and fact-checked by experts.

Inside this article, you can find references to peer-reviewed scientific studies. The numbers in the parentheses (1, 2, …) are clickable links to these peer-reviewed scientific studies. In some cases, the link will give you direct access to the study, while in other cases if you want to read the full study, you either have to pay the publisher a fee or find a free version of the study elsewhere.

Herbonaut is a review and discussion platform that highly values honesty, integrity, and objectivity. We always strive to highlight the benefits, as well as the risks of a specific product or service.

Any topic can be approached from various angles, at Herbonaut we strive to highlight all these angles and will often examine and compare research with contradicting results.

Affiliate Disclosure

When we recommend products we link out to them. Most of the time this will be through an affiliate link. If you decide to buy a product through our affiliate links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. By using these links, we can continue to grow this website by testing new products and writing new articles/reviews, and keep the website ad-free.

In no way do these affiliate links influence the products that we recommend. This website is first and foremost built on trust and honesty. We are 100% convinced that you’ll come to the same conclusion by following up on our advice. In case you feel our advice was not what you expected, please do contact us, as we would love to hear from you and have a friendly discussion with you about your experiences and findings!

Scientific References