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Cost & savings

Vape Cost Calculator: Disposable vs Refillable

Disposables and big-puff vapes feel cheap because you buy them a fiver at a time. Add it up across a year and the picture changes fast. This calculator shows you exactly what your current habit costs, what the same nicotine costs from a refillable pod kit, and what you stop throwing in the bin when you make the switch.

We have run the numbers on both. Tell us what you get through, whether that is three Elf Bar style pods a week or a big puff every couple of days, and we will show you the refillable equivalent using a beginner-friendly kit like the OXVA Xlim Go 2. You will see the yearly cost saving, the plastic and e-waste you keep out of landfill, and the lithium batteries you stop binning.

There is a toggle for pre-duty and duty-paid prices, because shops can sell pre-duty stock until 31 March 2027, so the figures stay honest whichever price you are actually paying. No sign-up, no catch, just the maths.

How do you want to tell us?

What are you getting through?

2ml of liquid at £5.50 each.

Advanced: nicotine strength

We compare on e-liquid volume, so strength does not change the cost. A 20mg nic salt matches a standard prefilled pod at the 20mg TPD limit.

Prices

Yearly cost saving

£690

switching to the OXVA Xlim Go 2, every year after the first.

Your current habit

£858/yr

Refillable (ongoing)

£168/yr

Year 1 saving, including the £16.00 kit: £674

Saving, pre-duty prices:
£690
Saving, duty-paid prices:
£688

Cumulative saving (pre-duty prices)

Year 1
£674
Year 2
£1,364
Year 3
£2,054

Plastic & e-waste

135

devices kept out of landfill a year, against a handful of pods.

Around 2.3kg of plastic and e-waste saved.

Lithium batteries

155

lithium batteries kept out of landfill a year. The kit battery lasts a year or more.

About 23.3g of lithium. Around 6.3 million vapes and pods get binned in the UK every week. That is yours off the pile.

How we work this out

We compare on e-liquid volume, because that is the fair like-for-like. A 2ml prefilled pod at 20mg holds the same liquid and the same nicotine as 2ml of 20mg nic salt in a refillable pod. Three prefilled pods a week is 6ml a week, which is 312ml a year. We cost that 312ml two ways: as prefilled devices, and as 10ml nic salt bottles refilled into a pod kit.

The refillable side includes the kit as a one-off in Year 1, plus bottles and replacement pods. We assume a pod lasts around 15ml of liquid before it needs swapping. Push them longer and you save more, change them sooner and you save a little less. We have kept it conservative on purpose.

A word on the vape tax

The Vaping Products Duty adds £2.20 per 10ml, or £2.64 with VAT, since 1 October 2026. It is charged on liquid volume, so it lands on both prefilled pods and refill bottles at the same rate per ml. That means the tax does not magically widen the gap. The saving you see comes from escaping the markup baked into single prefilled devices, not from the duty. The format the tax really punishes is the 100ml shortfill, and that is a different conversation.

Waste figures

Every prefilled device is a lithium cell, a circuit board and a lump of plastic, binned in days. A refillable kit is one battery for a year or more. We count the devices you avoid, weigh them at roughly 15g each, and credit roughly 0.15g of lithium per device. National figures on vape waste come from Material Focus. The duty rate comes from HMRC. Prices are typical UK retail, checked and updated regularly.

Frequently asked questions

Are refillable vapes actually cheaper than disposables?
Yes, and it is not close. The liquid itself costs a fraction per ml once you are refilling a pod rather than buying it sealed inside a new device every time. Our worked example, three prefilled pods a week, comes out around £690 a year cheaper on a refillable kit.
Does the 2026 vape tax change the saving?
Barely, for this comparison. The duty is charged per ml of liquid, so it adds a similar amount to both prefilled pods and refill bottles. Both go up as duty-paid stock reaches the shelves, the gap between them holds. Shortfill and longfill formats are hit much harder, which is a separate calculation.
How much plastic and battery waste does switching save?
If you get through three devices a week, that is 156 lithium batteries and around 2.3kg of plastic and e-waste a year that you stop binning. A refillable kit is one battery for a year or more.
Which kit are the figures based on?
A beginner-friendly refillable, the OXVA Xlim Go 2, with 20mg nic salt and standard replacement pods. The maths holds for most entry-level pod kits, the Xlim is simply our worked example.
Is the nicotine the same as my disposable?
Yes. A 20mg nic salt in a refillable pod gives you the same strength as a standard prefilled pod, which sits at the 20mg TPD limit. Same nicotine, same 2ml pods, far less plastic.

Related guides and tools

UK Vape Tax Calculator See exactly what the Vaping Products Duty, in force since 1 October 2026, adds to your spend. Open the calculator Vape Tax 2026 Guide What the Vaping Products Duty is, when your prices actually move, and how to spot early hikes. Read the guide Beginners' Guide New to refillables? How pod kits work and which to buy first. Read the guide Devices Guide Pod kits, coils and batteries explained, including the Xlim range. Read the guide