What to do in case of power failures?

[chunkyfrog]

When does insurance kick in for auxiliary power?

[rested gal]

Rested Gal, don't you have a Fisher & Paykel CPAP that will kick in a battery if you loose power over night? We lost power the other night, I didn't even know it until I generated my Encore Report. **I had a UPS that would sound off an alarm. Need to come up with a better idea**

Rested Gal, how well does that work??

Hope your perusing!

Thanks,

SG

SG, the machine I've got that does what you describe is Aeiomed's Everest. I use it whenever we're expecting overnight thunderstorms. Normally, I use another brand of machine for comfy bilevel therapy. The Everest can be plugged into the wall, and if power goes out, it automatically switches to its battery operation. When power comes back on, it trickle charges the battery.

I don't think Fisher & Paykel (or any other mfgr) makes a cpap that can work that way.

I doubt if many DMEs have ever heard of the Everest CPAP machine, or have even heard the name of the good small company (Aeiomed) that makes it.

Here's info about Aeiomed's nifty little Everest machine. They also make my favorite mask, the "Headrest":

http://www.aeiomed.com

If you go to the cpap.com product page about the Everest:
https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/aeiom ... chine.html

The price of $235 is for machine only -- does not include its battery pack.

If you click the "Customize and Buy" button (where you'd expect to see the battery pack listed) the battery pack is not offered there at all. As I understand it, Aeiomed's battery pack is not available at this time -- which is why it's not listed in the items where you could "customize" (bundle...add) things with the machine order. Aeiomed's heated humidifier is listed and is available.

There's a battery pack listed on the "customize" page, but that is not Aeiomed's battery. It's a Respironics battery kit...considerably more expensive than Aeiomed's own battery when available. I don't know if the Respironics battery would automatically switch over to battery operation the way Aeiomed's battery does... I know next to nothing about battery stuff.

Since I've used the Everest on stormy nights, I do know that the Aeiomed battery does switch over automatically to "battery" if the power goes out during the night. I've waked up in the morning to no electricity in the house, but still getting my CPAP therapy just fine. Power went out sometime in the night, unbeknownst to me. I slept (and got my CPAP treatment) right through it.

While you cannnot see an Aeiomed battery in the "customize" list for the Aeiomed machine, you can see the Aeiomed battery pack here at cpap.com:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/Evo-AE ... -Pack.html
"This product is not for sale at this time"
A replacement battery cell is still available, but the essential connect-to-the-CPAP-machine part...the battery base (which includes a cell)... is not.

Aeiomed's battery pack is listed there for $169.00. Time will tell if its the same price when it becomes available again.
I would imagine cpap.com probably has a ton of back orders piling up for that battery pack.

The Everest is a bit loud (compared to the ultra quiet Philips Respironics System One and ResMed S9 machines) but is a very good simple CPAP machine. There's no exhalation relief feature and no data other than hours of use with it.

I like the Everest (and its battery) very much for the sole purpose I wanted it -- for potential power outage nights.

If I were into short camping trips, it would be handy for, say, two nights of that without a recharge.

[Camping CPAPer]

I can vouch for the AEIOMed Everest 2 and its battery. In fact, I've used it and a pair of batteries for 3 weeks at a time far off the grid while on a sea kayaking trip, recharging during the day using a 60 watt Powerfilm folding solar charger. I adapted the wire from the 12 volt (auto) converter by inserting a matched pair of jacks so it would tie into the output from the solar charger. Then I just connected it to the battery pack -no need to use the 12 volt adapter. The solar charger puts out 17-19 volts, which is sufficient to drive and recharge the battery pack. It even will run the Everest 2 directly -no battery needed (if you want to sleep during the day, that is). Running at 8 psi, I generally got about 2+ nights per full charge, and the solar charger would recharge a battery, in full sun, in about 4 hours. So I was able to keep the CPAP going by changing batteries when there wasn't enough time or sunlight for a recharge, so long as I was able to get a sunny day while not packed up and kayaking once every 4 days. I normally use 11 psi, but at 8 psi I get a lot more battery life and the apnea at 8 psi is very mild -some occasional snoring. The folding solar charger uses a canvas fabric backing and is about the size of a fat notebook when folded. Open, it's about 3x5 ft.

Now for the bad news: In July, 2010, AEIMed suffered a factory fire that essentially put them out of business. But if you're lucky enough to already have the Everest 2 (or 3) and a battery pack, or if you can find them -new or used- and you need CPAP support off the grid, try adapting a solar charger like I did. One word of warning: don't cheap out and try to get away using a lower voltage or lower wattage charger. Unless the voltage is high enough, it won't cause the battery pack's adapter to kick on, even though the little green light is glowing (I tried a lesser charger first). And lower wattage means longer recharge times. Mine cost me over $700, but I could breathe all night 70 miles from the nearest wall outlet.

Added note: After a near catastrophic kayaking accident (4 miles from shore) involving a Coast Guard rescue (always take a personal locator beacon) and loss of the kayak at sea, the CPAP and batteries were recovered (thoroughly drowned) along with the kayak 5 days later when they washed up on a beach 50 miles away. Amazingly, after diligent dissection of the CPAP and assiduous ministrations of a hair dryer, the Everest 2 still works! One of the batteries also was recoverable. The other -the one in the battery pack- and the associated adapter portion of the battery pack did not fare so well -probably because the charge of the battery fried out the adapter element. Now I just have to find a new battery pack.

Now how do we convince AEIOMed to restart?

[newyorknative]

I have a whole house generator that kicks in when it detects a power failure. It costs about $5,000 installed thru home depot. I love it!

[nanwilson]

Simple way to get by in a power outage..............
a 12 volt marine battery (no fumes) about $130 canadian
a modified sine wave inverter about $49 canadian
I have used mine for up to 4 days without recharging, used my humidifier in pass over mode. Those prices as you can see are in canadian $ so it would probably be about 3/4 of that in u.s. $.
I am a single old lady that doesn't understand anything geeky but I can figure out the above back up system. I keep my battery and inverter on a small hand dolly in a corner of my bedroom and I make sure its charged up at least once a month. If the power goes out I just hook up and go back to bed. I've only had to use it once at home but I have used it a lot in my motorhome I can also plug in my coffeemaker or tv if I want, just have to watch how much time between charges I have left or how many days I'm going to be camping.
If an old lady can figure this out (with the help from the geeks on this forum or course) any one can.
Cheers
Nan

[navyvet]

IMHO, it's a bit academic. When was the last time you had a power outage lasting more than a couple of hours?

Last year, 5 days. Florida is not the only state out there and many do have ice storms. Some of us need to be prepared, it's a big country with different climates. Sure 5 days is extreme, but more than just a couple of hours is not uncommon.

[Mimmie]

I have a whole house generator that kicks in when it detects a power failure. It costs about $5,000 installed thru home depot. I love it!

Me too. Had it put in this year. I am not gonna be caught in a week long ice storm again!

[solarforu]

If you have a solar charger, you won't be worried about this problem. A good solar charger for laptop http://www.espow.com/wholesale-electric ... aptop.html solar charger for laptop can not only charge your laptop, but available for any kind of you little electronic devices such as your cell phone, ipod, radio,mp3,pm4 and so on. All you need is the free and green sun power. Isn't it so cool?