Heated Tube: Transition from Auto to Manual Settings

[Pugsy]

guess I will experiment and see if I can find a setting that is comfortable AND is able to eliminate moisture in the mask.

Yep...that's what we have to do. Find a compromise that gives us the desired results.
Doesn't really matter what the compromise amounts to .... all that matters is it works for the individual and not necessarily what might work for someone else. You are the only person you need to make happy.

Back when I realized the amount of moisture that my own nasal mucosa needed to keep them happy I had to have a long hard heart to heart discussion with myself about my own personal preferences because I really don't care for the warm air with hose air temps exceeding 80 degrees. I had to decide which was more annoying to me or disruptive to my sleep....the warmer air or the condensation giving me cold showers out the vent holes and waking me up. I compromised by adding a short hose cozy and keeping the bulk of the mask under my bed covers. It's a compromise I can live with.

You have options and now you know the effects of those options you get to decide what you want to try in an effort to meet your own personal preferences.

Side note and question....if you take a hot steamy shower does it help reduce any nasal congestion you might be having?

[MikeekiM]

Side note and question....if you take a hot steamy shower does it help reduce any nasal congestion you might be having?

Good question. Maybe?

It isn't a cold/flu kinda congestion. It was just a normal semi-routine "my nose feels a little restrictive today" kind of feeling.

I bet the answer is yes.

BTW, my comment about Vicks Vaporub. Do you have any real world experience with using that as a solution for any congestion issues?

[Pugsy]

BTW, my comment about Vicks Vaporub. Do you have any real world experience with using that as a solution for any congestion issues?

Nope. Sorry. It's something I never use or have used in the past but I can see where it might help some people.
Partly from lack of need and partly because I personally never really found that Vicks did much to help me with congestion when I had some congestion.

Other than when I have an upper respiratory infection (like recently my husband shared his bad cold with me)
or the mask issue that I have with any mask touching the bridge of my nose....I really don't have much of a congestion problem. I don't have a history of seasonal allergy issues of any real significance either.

Now I have used something placed at the air intake of the machine to help deliver something that is good smelling to give me a bit of aroma therapy but I used it for a floral scent because I just happen to like floral scents and find them relaxing.

So.....give the Vicks a try and just see how it works or doesn't work for you. Some people use it as some sort of aroma therapy and like it but I never have particularly liked the Vicks aroma myself.

[MikeekiM]

I just thought of something. I have my humidity level set at 3 (as you know), and it takes my humidity chamber from the Max line, down to the Low Level line. I have even had my humidity tank has gone bone dry one time.

With your need/preference for high humidity and set at a level 8, don't you deplete your humidity chamber down to nothing every single day?

[Pugsy]

With your need/preference for high humidity and set at a level 8, don't you deplete your humidity chamber down to nothing every single day?

Nope. Come close a handful of times when I happen to get lucky and get more hours of use than normal.
Now I do top off the water chamber every night.

I just now checked things.
9 hours of use last night which is unusual for me as I usually get about 7 hours if I am lucky but night before last I had a really short number of hours of use because of some insomnia issues.

Humidity in the bedroom is about 35 %....the furnace seems to dry the air out a bit as usually I am between 40 and 50% for ambient bedroom humidity where I live. It's been cold here lately so the furnace has been running more and this weekend it will likely run even more because we are forecasted to see temps to 10 below zero.

And my water level remaining this morning was right above the line at the bottom of the chamber...so roughly 1/4 of the chamber remaining even with using max setting of 8 all night long for 9 hours. I was surprised as I thought that with 9 hours of use the water level would be a bit lower.

I haven't run bone dry in years and when I have it has been because I forgot to top off the water chamber the night before.
I don't forget very often....been doing this over 14 years now. Topping off the water chamber daily is simply a habit that I don't forget very often.

I don't overfill the water chamber either because the few times I have done that I found that the air going over the water blew water into the hose and that of course created the freight train noise in the hose and sometimes blew water out the vent holes and I got a cold shower.

Will I use more water because of less ambient humidity this weekend and first of next week because of the furnace drying out the air a bit more???? Maybe but if it does I will deal with it. The likelihood of me getting another 9 hour night is pretty slim. I got some issues going on that are likely to make my insomnia issues worse so most likely I will be lucky to get 7 hours of use.

[Ebonyeyez]

I reviewed this posting to YouTube earlier this evening. Perhaps it’ll help. https://youtu.be/a_-VBpXOV8s?si=BpRQrZjPLgVG30Z-

[MikeekiM]

I reviewed this posting to YouTube earlier this evening. Perhaps it’ll help. https://youtu.be/a_-VBpXOV8s?si=BpRQrZjPLgVG30Z-

Thanks @Ebonyeyez, I'll check it out!

[Pugsy]

Just thought I would share this with you.
Last night was a short hour night...too short. 5 hours and 15 minutes of use.....I checked the humidity before I went to bed.
Remember I said it would likely be even lower? Well it was 27% last night. I don't remember it ever being that low.
Setting of 8 for humidity.....and I had just about as much water left this morning as I did the other morning when I got 9 hours of use and it was 37% humidity. Water level at the bottom line on the water chamber.

I wouldn't have lasted 9 hours last night at the lower ambient humidity.

Bedroom temps are much cooler as well because this old house leaves a lot to be desired in the insulation department.
House furnace set to 65 but bedroom is away from the thermostat and looks like I saw 59 degrees in the bedroom last night (I have a little gadget that gives me high and low temps as well as high and low ambient humidity.

I am putting the entire mask and hose under the covers....even my nose.
That's so I don't have condensation anywhere to deal with. It worked last night. Hose air temp 82 degrees again.
I didn't change anything.

[Pugsy]

Follow up with my water consumption report when faced with even less ambient humidity.
Last night 25% ambient humidity.
Got a little more than 7 hours of use and the water level was right at the bottom line on the water chamber.
Again the same settings for humidity and hose air temp. Didn't change anything in terms of any settings.

I doubt it would last 9 hours but 9 hours of use for me it is extremely rare. My little over 7 hours is probably closest to my most common number of hours of use. Hours of use always a struggle for me. I had more back pain last night due to doing some stuff over at my mom's house yesterday. Paying for it today. This getting old just plain sucks but better than the alternative.

61 degrees was the lowest ambient temp...and again I snuggled way into/under the bed covers and covered the end of my nose...and no condensation issues.

[MikeekiM]

Thanks for the update/insight.

So I felt a little dry with my setting of 3/76F, so decided to try 4/78F.

It was an unusual night for me, and I didn't get to sleep until late, so I am not sure if my experience was indicative of what my normal sleep time would be like. But these new settings felt too wet and too warm. I ended up unconsciously yanking my mask off around 3:30am and didn't put it back on until 6:20am and slept another 45 minutes or so.

I put my settings back to 3/76F for now. But I may go back and try 4/78F or 4/80F at some point.

[Pugsy]

Update to my updates....documenting this so I have a record..

Apparently the mask used also will affect the amount of water consumption. A lot more than I would have thought too.
Last night I got ill right before bedtime and I just didn't feel like doing the skin prep needed for my usual mask the Eclipse and I elected to use the P10 because no prep is needed.
Ambient humidity was around 26% when I went to bed and a bit higher this morning because freezing rain moved in and pushed the humidity in the bedroom up to around 35%.
Hours of use was just 7 minutes short of 8 hours (so I will call it 8 hours) and the water chamber was bone dry this morning.
Same humidity setting of 8.
Since I have had more water remaining after 9 hours than I did this morning and the only thing I really changed was the mask...then I have to assume the mask itself will also impact water consumption since that was really the only thing that changed.

When I used the Eclipse and got the 9 hours of use and still had water remaining right at the lower fill mark and even with slightly drier air....last night I used a lot more water with the P10.

I have no idea why a different mask would cause me to use more water.....and I know for sure that I did top off the water chamber yesterday afternoon (because I spilled the water and had to clean up a mess) so I can't blame the consumption difference on my forgetting to top off the tank.

[zonker]

....last night I used a lot more water with the P10.

could mask leak on the p10 be the culprit?

[Pugsy]

....last night I used a lot more water with the P10.

could mask leak on the p10 be the culprit?

I don't know. Let me go pull the SD card and check for leaks. If it leaked any...I sure didn't notice it.
Will report back in a bit.

[Pugsy]

....last night I used a lot more water with the P10.

could mask leak on the p10 be the culprit?

I don't know. Let me go pull the SD card and check for leaks. If it leaked any...I sure didn't notice it.
Will report back in a bit.

No...leaks not a factor. Last night I barely kissed the red line for maybe a minute and I looked back at the past week using the Eclipse and I had worse looking leak lines back when I wasn't using all that much water.

[zonker]

....last night I used a lot more water with the P10.

could mask leak on the p10 be the culprit?

I don't know. Let me go pull the SD card and check for leaks. If it leaked any...I sure didn't notice it.
Will report back in a bit.

No...leaks not a factor. Last night I barely kissed the red line for maybe a minute and I looked back at the past week using the Eclipse and I had worse looking leak lines back when I wasn't using all that much water.

well, shucks. and here i thought i'd unraveled the mystery!