UPS / Battery backup

[jskinner]

I know this has been discussed many times before, so maybe someone can just point me to some relevant threads or a summary.

The other night the power went off. Of course shortly there after I bolted awake with terrible sensation that my head hurt and that I had been having bad apneas. What a sinking feeling that is... I forgot how terrible that feeling was. The warm sweaty forehead, the racing heart, the gasping feeling, absolutely terrible....

Anyway I realized that I need to get a good UPS or battery backup system so that these unpleasant events are avoided.

Do computer UPS hold enough energy to run though a full night? What are the best options? I want something that hooks inline and provides uninterrupted power automatically if there is an outage.

[bdp522]

Hi James,
Here are some of RGs links for battery operation,
viewtopic.php?t=9682

I just got the Polaris TR for nights when the power might go out.


Brenda

[Hawthorne]

I think that you and I are both Canadians so wanted to reply. I worry about power outages in the night as well. I have the Respironics Battery backup. It's charged and ready for such an event. I would have to get up and plug it in. I have not had to use it yet. Like you, I would prefer an UPS. I know that Canadian Tire has a NOMA UPS. It comes in 2 sizes. I have never checked it out to see if it would run at least the machine if not the humidifier. I did speak to the people at my supplier and at Respironics some time ago and they both said I would have to check it out to see if it would carry the machine. The smaller one is around $300 I think and the larger is around $500. I have friends who use the smaller one when camping but they do not have sleep apnea. You may want to look into that.

[Hawthorne]

I think that you and I are both Canadians so wanted to reply. I worry about power outages in the night as well. I have the Respironics Battery backup. It's charged and ready for such an event. I would have to get up and plug it in. I have not had to use it yet. Like you, I would prefer an UPS. I know that Canadian Tire has a NOMA UPS. It comes in 2 sizes. I have never checked it out to see if it would run at least the machine if not the humidifier. I did speak to the people at my supplier and at Respironics some time ago and they both said I would have to check it out to see if it would carry the machine. The smaller one is around $300 I think and the larger is around $500. I have friends who use the smaller one when camping but they do not have sleep apnea. You may want to look into that.

[Hawthorne]

Sorry this post came twice. I got a message the first time that it did not go through correctly so submitted it again. Now there are 2!!

[jackr]

My power goes off often too but usually for just a few minutes or less so I thought about a regular computer UPS but they also beep when the power goes off so that would wake me too.

[air]

It should be much cheaper to use a big gel lead battery and an automatic lead battery charger.

This way it would also be easier to charge it on the car in case there is no power for long time.

The PC UPS takes AC, charges batt, and inverts to give AC again.
Too much waste of energy and components if your cpap has a DC plug.

Also the DC power from the battery is safer for the cpap than an inverted AC of a cheap UPS.

Last, and maybe a bit paranoid, there is evidence that the electromagnetic field that exists near active AC lines and transformers (and other AC home devices) could be a health issue if too close and during the whole night (same relative position for a long time).

Edit: - Now see what apnea does to concentration ... i intended to also say that i had the same thing happen here last night.
The power goes off vy rarely -say once every 3 years-, but it happened now on me and my cpap. what an awfull feeling indeed.

[billbolton]

Do computer UPS hold enough energy to run though a full night?

Unless you get a large commercial grade UPS (expensive), the simple answer is probably no!

In most cases, if you must have a powered humidifier, you will need AC power to run it, so running off DC is not a practical option. If you already know for sure can get by without a humidifier for a night or two, then it may be a viable option.

Running off batteries does involved charging them... some people find that is not a problem, while others seem to have no end of trouble with it. You would need to determine where you are across that spectrum.

For occasional power outages, a petrol generator, such as from Honda, may be a more viable option, as it needs minimal attention between uses, and will provide enough AC power to run an xPAP + powered humidifier(*). Even the smallest Honda generator can run an xPAP + powered humidifier at least overnight from the standard tank of petrol.

With a generator you will need to manually start it, however, there really aren't any great options (at least without spending a LOT of $$$) for going through a sudden, lengthy power outage while sleeping on xPAP without being aroused to take some action to get your xPAP switched over to alternative power that is sufficient to get you through the bulk of a night's sleep!


(*) Some powered humidifiers will only run off pure sinewave AC power... you need to check whether yours will or not.

Cheers,

Bill

[cwsanfor]

James, I run my xPAP on a APC BackUPS XS 800, and have a Xantrex 400 Plus for longer outages. I run the heated humidifier direct from the mains, since the UPS does not produce a true sine wave. All works well. I haven't actually needed the Xantrex yet, but Costco had a good price on it, and it has many uses.