The idea that vaping is cheaper than smoking has long been a major selling point for vape products, but with the new excise tax on vaping products in Canada, is it even true that the cost of smoking cigarettes is more than the average cost of vaping?
First, let’s break down the basics of the new excise tax. For bulk e-liquids, there is now $1 added for every 2 mL up to the first 10 mL, so a 10 mL bottle of e-liquid would have $5 of tax added no matter the cost of the bottle. Anything larger than 10 mL gets another $1 of tax added on for each additional 10 mL of e-liquid, so if you’re using a mod or other refillable system, buying in bulk is the cheapest way to go.
Disposable vapes are taxed based on the same outline, the only difference being that even the largest disposables on the market have less than 20 mL of e-liquid in them, so there isn’t really a way to take advantage of the lower rate of tax that applies after the 10 mL mark. If you did find a disposable over 10 mL though, it would only have an extra $1 on top of the $5 already applied for the first 10 mL.
Since pods are, by definition, small, individually packaged vape products that don’t normally exceed the 2 mL level, they are simply taxed at the minimum amount of $1 for each individual pod. If a pod did exceed 2 mL it would get an additional $1 of tax the same as bulk liquids and disposables.
For more on the excise tax and what it means for you, check out Vaping Products Excise Tax and What That Means for Consumers.
What Does it Cost to Smoke Cigarettes?
According to Statista, the average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes in 2022 in each province and territory ranged from $10.65 in Quebec all the way up to $15.71 in Newfoundland. Based on the numbers for each region, the average price of a pack of cigarettes in Canada is $14.09. While this figure is relatively easy to come by, the number of cigarettes that a person smokes can vary widely from person to person or even day by day.
However, a study in 2020 from the University of Waterloo found that daily cigarette users were smoking an average of 12.5 cigarettes per day. So let’s look at the cost of a half a pack a day smoker and that of heavy smokers going through a full pack of 20 every day. Smoking a pack a day would cost an average of $14.09 across Canada so half a pack a day would work out to be approximately $7.05 per day. On an annual basis, that puts the average cost of smoking a pack per day at $5,142.85 with half a pack a day costing you $2,571.43 each year. If we take the average of these two yearly costs as our benchmark for the cost of smoking in Canada, that’s $3,857.14. Now let’s take a look at how STLTH vape products compare.
What Does it Cost to Vape STLTH Pods
When considering the cost of using STLTH pod systems, there are two factors to take into account: the pods themselves and the battery device. STLTH battery devices are designed to last over a year if charged and maintained correctly. In fact, we’re so confident in our batteries that each one is backed by a 1-year limited warranty. At an initial cost of $14.99, the cost of a STLTH battery system over a year is less than $0.05 a day.
Calculating the cost of pods gets a little more complicated as not everyone vapes the same amount. To make things simple, we’ll assume an average use of one pod every 2 days. STLTH pods are pre-filled with 2 mL of e-liquid each and come in packs of 3 pods each priced at $17.99 a pack or roughly $6 a pod. The cost of the excise tax is already included in this price. The average vape user would need to purchase 61 packs to last them for a whole year which comes to a total of $1097.39. Even if you are a heavy vape user going through a whole 2 mL pod every day, you would need 122 packs of STLTH pods for a total of $2,194.78.
When we consider the combined cost of the pods and the battery device, using the STLTH pod system costs an average of $1,115.64per year or $3.06a day. Compared to the average yearly cost of smoking in Canada, that is an 71% savings compared to the average cost of cigarette smoking in Canada putting $2,741.50 back in your pocket. Even heavy vape users going through a pod a day will still see a 43% savings of $1,662.36 every year as a result of switching from smoking to vaping with STLTH pods.
What Does it Cost to Vape STLTH Disposables
To get an estimate on the average use of disposables, we’ll use the same metric that we did for the pods, so 2 mL of liquid for every 3 days. STLTH 3K disposable vape pens hold 6 mL of 20 mg/mL e-liquid while the 5K disposables contain 10 mL. This would put the average number of days to empty a STLTH 3K disposable at 6 days and the average number of days to go through a STLTH 5K disposable at 10 days.
Using these numbers, a STLTH 3K device priced at $17.99, lasting 6 days, would average out to about $3 per day or $1095 a year. That translates to a savings of $2,762.14 a year or 72% off the cost of smoking.
For the 5K disposables, each unit costs $22.99 and lasts 10 days putting the average cost per day at $2.30 or $839.50 a year. With this option, not only do you get a rechargeable device so you know you’re getting every last drop of e-liquid from your device, but you’re also going to save an average of $3,017 compared to the price of cigarettes for a year. That’s 78% less than the average cost of smoking in Canada.
So, no matter if you prefer pod-style vaping devices or disposables, switching from cigarettes to STLTH vape products will help put some money back in your pocket.