Water level in humidifying tank

I notice the water level in the humidification tank has barely dropped (maybe a couple of mm at most) since I started re-using it.

Is that to be expected? Or would you expect more water to be gone? It is so long since I last used it that I have forgotten what happened last time.

Chalkie wrote:I notice the water level in the humidification tank has barely dropped (maybe a couple of mm at most) since I started re-using it.

Is that to be expected? Or would you expect more water to be gone? It is so long since I last used it that I have forgotten what happened last time.

It depends on your settings in the machine... perhaps you have it set to 0? My tank drops about 75% every night.

Chalkie wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:41 am

I notice the water level in the humidification tank has barely dropped (maybe a couple of mm at most) since I started re-using it.

Is that to be expected? Or would you expect more water to be gone? It is so long since I last used it that I have forgotten what happened last time.

I use not quite a tank full each night. My humidity level is set to 5

It depends on where you live, the local climate - I'm in a relatively humid place near water so never use it while someone in Ariz. or Colo. might use it on high every night and need to refill every a.m.

Water consumption depends on the setting used and the ambient local humidity in your bedroom.
If the ambient humidity is relatively high the machine won't need to add much water so not much water will be used.
If the ambient humidity is relatively dry then the machine will need to add more moisture to the air to maintain whatever level you have the humidifier set at.
If you have it set low...it won't need to add much.

Example...for me my nose likes lots of added moisture so I have the humidifier set for nearly maximum delivered humidity.
On nights where the ambient humidity is relatively high....like it's been raining outside and I might have the windows open so the inside the house humidity is higher....won't use much water at all.
On the nights where the ambient humidity is on the dry side...windows closed...furnace on....I might use up almost all the water at the same settings.

I never change the setting...some nights I use up almost all the water and the next night might use half the water and the next night might barely see a drop in the water level. It all depends mainly on ambient humidity and partly because of pressures or leaks.

If you have a night with a lot of really big leaks (and sometimes you do) then expect more water to be used.

The climate here is pretty much permanently humid - it's the UK after all And I am on the coast. Since I started using the tank the parchedness seems better. I will raise this issue at my review in a month.

To the OP:

As already stated, the humidity setting on the machine is probably the most important single variable. Also, if you use a heated hose, you can expect to use more water than a non-heated hose (the higher the setting for the hose, the more water you will use). Also, the ambient humidity and room temperature play a role (even could be different at opposite ends of the same room).

If you have leaks, you will use more water than if you don't. Unless the leak is massive, the machine will compensate.

Also, the higher your pressure settings (i.e. your "prescription"), the more water you'll use.

However, the one reliable test is that the water in the tank should be warm to the touch after an hour or more of use.

Hi Chalkie,

As my old geography teacher used to remind us, there isn't any part of the UK that's more than 100 miles from the sea. Which means: it doesn't matter which direction the wind is blowing from, there's usually quite a bit of moisture in it.

As I understand it, there is an ambient humidity detector in the machine, and it detects the percentage saturation of the air coming in the back of the machine and then the on-board chip calculates how much more humidity needs adding to it.

I live near Gloucester and I have a Philips Respironics humidifier. If I fill the tank right up to the mark, and then sleep for six hours at setting 2, I use only a fifth of the water that was in the tank.

I could, in theory, use the humidifier for another four nights straight without putting any more water in. (As long as I stay in this area.) But I change the water at least every second day because I don't want anything growing in it.

Some people might say, "Well, if where you live is already so humid, why bother with the humidifier at all?"

The answer is this: the plate underneath the tank warms the water, and then - when the in-drawn air is blown over the water - that environment warms the air, even if it doesn't add much moisture to it.

And it's that which makes for more comfort. (I can remember what it was like for the year I used a 551 - before PR humidifiers became available in the UK. Very cold and just the passage of cold air caused throat drying.)

So you can relax. Ain't nuthin' wrong. You could even turn that amplifier up to eleven - sorry, I mean the PR dial up to 5 - where you live, and you still wouldn't use more than half a tankful.

rick blaine wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:16 pm

(I can remember what it was like for the year I used a 551 - before PR humidifiers became available in the UK. Very cold and just the passage of cold air caused throat drying.

I remember it also...max humidity setting of 5 on my 550 machine and the air was still so cold it woke me up hurting my nose.
I called it ice cube nose syndrome. Hose cozy helped but not enough. Way back then I just broke down and bought one of the stand alone heated hoses like the Hybernite.
Once the machine with integrated heated hoses came out I got one and never looked back.
Even if I didn't need the moisture...in the winter my house gets down right cold and I was losing sleep because of cold nose.
At the time that stand alone heated hose in the winter was the best money I had ever spent on a comfort feature for my cpap.

D.H. wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 06, 2018 7:11 am

..
Also, if you use a heated hose, you can expect to use more water than a non-heated hose (the higher the setting for the hose, the more water you will use).
..

I don't understand how a heated hose will impact the humidity.

The hose heat is applied after the air has passed over the water and therefore can't impact how much water vapour is delivered.

The heated hose is important for comfort levels, and preventing rain-out but I don't think it increases humidity.

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 06, 2018 10:18 pm

I don't understand how a heated hose will impact the humidity

Perhaps just semantics. If you have a heated hose you can set the humidifier higher without getting rainout.

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 06, 2018 10:18 pm

. wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 06, 2018 7:11 am

..
Also, if you use a heated hose, you can expect to use more water than a non-heated hose (the higher the setting for the hose, the more water you will use).
..

I don't understand how a heated hose will impact the humidity.

The hose heat is applied after the air has passed over the water and therefore can't impact how much water vapour is delivered.

The heated hose is important for comfort levels, and preventing rain-out but I don't think it increases humidity.

Basically, you're trying to make sense out of something one of the more nonsensical members of the forum babbled out.

Sometimes there are nuggets of truth in what comes from that account, but it's rare.

And rarely worth looking.

Ron AKA wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 06, 2018 10:22 pm

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 06, 2018 10:18 pm

I don't understand how a heated hose will impact the humidity

Perhaps just semantics. If you have a heated hose you can set the humidifier higher without getting rainout.

Actually, most of the machines with the heated hoses have a feature that will regulate the humidity such as to prevent rain-out. Thus, if you have the humidifier on a high setting, it can go higher (without your doing anything) if you're using a heated hose. Also, if you have a non-heated hose and it drains back into the tank, more will drain back to the tank with a non-heated hose even if the temperature of the hotplate is not changed. That would leave the water level higher in the morning.

D.H. wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 09, 2018 8:23 am

Actually, most of the machines with the heated hoses have a feature that will regulate the humidity such as to prevent rain-out.

Actually that is the "Auto" setting and it doesn't always work so great depending on the ambient temperature of the bedroom and the humidity selected.
Speaking from personal experience here with rain out happening at the Auto setting.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 09, 2018 8:32 am

Actually that is the "Auto" setting and it doesn't always work so great depending on the ambient temperature of the bedroom and the humidity selected.
Speaking from personal experience here with rain out happening at the Auto setting.

Have you tried those hose cozy covers? They may help you especially when humidity is high and temperature in your bedroom is lower. It will in effect keep the hose warmer.