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how many watts does your cpap draw?

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:21 am
by yardbird
Here's a device that you might want to take a look at. I'm sure there are others out there, but this one looks like it's fairly inexpensive. You could conceivably use this to determine the power requirements of your CPAP equipment in case you're trying to figure out what you'd need for battery backup.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/7657/


Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:30 am
by derek
I've done measurements on the REMStar Auto running on dc. It draws about 0.75 amps, which corresponds to 9 watts (12 x .75) without the humidifier. It probably draws a bit more on ac. This is about 1/6 of the power of a 60 watt light bulb!

I don't know how much the humidifier draws, but its probably 30 - 50 watts max.

The current ratings given by the manufacturers are the maximum values, and do not represent the average draw.

The point is that a cpap is not a significant energy user.


Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:43 am
by yardbird
derek-

interesting... I'm seeing pure sine wave inverters going for about $60 on ebay in the 300-500watt range. That seems like it'd be plenty big enough to handle an autopap including the heater.

I'm not going to chase the battery backup thing just yet, personally. I mean if I see pieces and/or parts that I can get for a bargain I may squirrel some stuff away, but I have a 5000 watt standby generator and I'm more inclined to convert that to using natural gas, than I am to try and get set up to run my machine on battery.

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 4:23 pm
by chrisp
All you need to do is buy the M connecter 9$6)and a battery. Seems alot easier than running out to start that ole stinky generator @ 2 gallons an hour. And hope you dont get electrocuted or die from carbon monoxide .

:twis ted:

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:41 pm
by yardbird
chrisp.... propane. The generator is getting converted... no bad fumes.
I was gonna do natural gas ..... I'm still considering that as another alternative. The natural gas stays on when the power is out and I'd never have to worry about whether the tank is getting low on propane. However propane burns ALMOST as hot as gasoline and natural gas is quite a bit cooler burning .... just not there yet.

I agree about the battery though. If I lost my humidifier, but kept my xPAP machine running I think that'd be fine in an emergency.


Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:30 am
by sthnreb
I contacted Respironics about the Bipap pro 2 and they replied that it would pull about 80 watts of power.


Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:59 am
by CharlesJ
derek wrote:I've done measurements on the REMStar Auto running on dc. It draws about 0.75 amps, which corresponds to 9 watts (12 x .75) without the humidifier.
Derek >>> Kudos on your knowledge of Ohm's Law!

To be accurate, current is drawn. Power is measured in watts.

Chuck


Re:

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 12:45 pm
by Wizbang72
CharlesJ wrote:
derek wrote:I've done measurements on the REMStar Auto running on dc. It draws about 0.75 amps, which corresponds to 9 watts (12 x .75) without the humidifier.
Derek >>> Kudos on your knowledge of Ohm's Law!

To be accurate, current is drawn. Power is measured in watts.

Chuck
To be accurate, he used Watt's Law, not Ohm's!

Re: Re:

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 12:48 pm
by Wizbang72
Wizbang72 wrote:
CharlesJ wrote:
derek wrote:I've done measurements on the REMStar Auto running on dc. It draws about 0.75 amps, which corresponds to 9 watts (12 x .75) without the humidifier.
Derek >>> Kudos on your knowledge of Ohm's Law!

To be accurate, current is drawn. Power is measured in watts.

Chuck
To be accurate, he used Watt's Law, not Ohm's!
To be even more accurate, I just replied to a 10 year old post!! A timely response....

Re: how many watts does your cpap draw?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 1:22 pm
by chunkyfrog
Today we might use a Kill-a-Watt device, sometimes found at affordable prices at Harbor Freight.

Re: how many watts does your cpap draw?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 2:01 pm
by poppi2
Wizbang72 wrote:. . . To be even more accurate, I just replied to a 10 year old post!! A timely response....
You did give me a good laugh. Thanks, Earl

Re: how many watts does your cpap draw?

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 1:10 pm
by Guest
I have a PR System one (DS S50 HS) and am trying to figure out the best battery back up solution for power outages, and have a simple question: why is is to darned difficult to find out how much power the cpap and the humidifier draw? Nothing in the manufacturer's paperwork or web site (is this a secret? why?). The bottom of the cpap says 12 v - 5 A, which guess means is uses roughly 60 watts. But a previous post notes that a Remstar was using 9 watts (no humidifier). That's a big difference! ALSO, regarding the humidifier: to minimize power draw, does it need to be disconnected (run the tube right into the cpap)?, or can it just be set to zero? Thanks for any answers.

Re: how many watts does your cpap draw?

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 2:16 pm
by CapnLoki
Guest wrote:I have a PR System one (DS S50 HS) and am trying to figure out the best battery back up solution for power outages, and have a simple question: why is is to darned difficult to find out how much power the cpap and the humidifier draw? Nothing in the manufacturer's paperwork or web site (is this a secret? why?). The bottom of the cpap says 12 v - 5 A, which guess means is uses roughly 60 watts. But a previous post notes that a Remstar was using 9 watts (no humidifier). That's a big difference! ALSO, regarding the humidifier: to minimize power draw, does it need to be disconnected (run the tube right into the cpap)?, or can it just be set to zero? Thanks for any answers.
This should answer your question, though these measurements are for the newer model 560. I think the 550 uses "classic" humidity, without the heated hose.
viewtopic.php?t=102179

This is my setup for a backup system:
viewtopic.php?t=102775

And if anyone wants to take detailed measurements:
http://www.amazon.com/Watts-Meter-Analy ... 001B6N2WK/