You have a couple of questions here. They’ve been asked before in different ways, so let’s try to tackle them here with an overall summary…
Can I actually use the 5V 1A charger to charge it? Or would it do more harm than good if this is insufficient?
You never mentioned what type of 5V 1A charger you’re using. I’m assuming it’s just a generic “wall wart” with a USB interface of some type. It cannot harm your battery but I don’t recommend using it.
Always use a charger greater than you need
First, current is drawn from the adapter, not pushed to the device. So, having a higher wattage charger will do absolutely no harm to your device/battery. So, if you have a 30W charger and a phone with a 10W draw, you’ll only use 10W leaving 20W in reserve. In fact, investing in a higher wattage charger allows you to:
- Fast Charge your device(s)
- Support multiple devices
- Have more “time to grow” as newer devices with higher power demands come onto market, you’re power adapter will be able to keep up.
- Fast Charging requires at least 2x the current that your 5V 1A charger can deliver - you lose this feature.
Will using higher wattage chargers degrade iPhone battery more quickly?
I don’t recommend using a lower wattage charger because…
- It will charge your devices slower
- Cheaper adapters will have no protection from a device drawing too much power - this could be a fire hazard.
I have not used wireless charging before; is wireless charging something I can rely on for the long term, or does it wear the phone out faster than standard charging?
Wireless charging is convenient, not efficient.
You get a smaller wattage rating with a wireless (Qi) charger than you do a cable charger; one major reason is converting electrical current to magnetic fields to only convert them back to electrical current. This conversion from-to-then-back is very inefficient; there’s going to be loss.
Can you use it every day? Sure!
Is there anything to be concerned with? Not at all!
Whether you use wireless charging or a standard charger, you’re just moving electrons across wires and into a battery. The only difference is the speed at which this occurs
When you move electrons across a medium (copper wire, chemical layers in a battery, etc.) it creates heat. The heat referenced in the other answer would be related to a faulty battery and not wireless charging process.
Just be aware that if you wireless charge a device, it will charge slower than if plugged in. If you need to rapid charge something, don’t depend on wireless; plug it in.
TL;DR (My Recommendation)
Get a proper USB-PD (Power Delivery) spec charger and use the wireless charging for “throughout the day use”.
The USB-PD charger will be able to *negotiate the current that gets delivered to your device which means it will work with both old and new devices. It has more universality than that old 5V 1A charger. You can still plug a wireless charger into it.
Use the wireless charger at or near your desk so that when you put it down, you’ll always put it on a charger so the battery will be fresh when you grab-n-go. That’s the convenience factor.
As for the 5V 1A charger, throw it in your bag as a backup or save it for when you need to replace one somewhere else.
