Anybody have any information about the electronic cigarettes?

At the moment I am an occasional cigar smoker (one cigar about every other day). I am not looking to quit smoking all together because I actually started for health reasons, I know sounds stupid but I have done a lot of research on the matter and the nicotine has some positive side effects for me. The problem is that I am a health conscious person and it concerns me that I'm going to be a smoker for the rest of my life. I chose cigars over cigarettes because I don't want to inhale anything and destroy my lungs because I am a runner. I have started doing research to see if there are any alternatives to smoking and most of what came up are e-cigarettes. It seems that these are designed for the purpose of quitting and since that's not my intent are they worth it? Are they honestly healthier than smoking and would they be harder on my lungs than cigars since I would have to actually inhale? I understand the basic idea of how they work but not enough to know if they would work for what I would be using them for. Are they designed to be smoked every few days for years and years? My other concern with this is I can buy a months worth of cheap cigars for under $20 and would rather not quadruple this expense by buying electronic cigarettes or electronic cartridges. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!