putting hot water in humidifier

sanctacaris · Post by **sanctacaris** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:20 am

Hi, all. I'm wondering if anyone's tried putting hot water in their humidifier tank when they were in a situation (e.g., camping) where they couldn't run the heated humidifier. The reason I ask is that I'm going to be spending much of the next week camping with my new Everest + battery setup, but the heated humidifier drains so much juice that I can't even get a single night's sleep out of a battery charge with the humidifier running. I'll be in a pretty dry place (Baja, CA), so it'd be nice to have some extra humidification. Is there any reason not to just heat up my distilled water before filling the humidifier tank for use as a passover humidifier? It wouldn't be nearly as good as being able to run the heater all night, but it might make things a little bit better.

-s

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:03 am

Some have done it. I wouldn't get it TOO hot if you do. I only use pass-over humidity anyway, so I can't speak from personal experience. I would think in a camping situation that the incoming air would cool the water real quickly.....thereby negating the efforts to pre-heat the water.

Den

sanctacaris · Post by **sanctacaris** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:32 pm

Yeah--I suppose it won't make a huge difference. It might help for an hour or two, though, and I'll be somewhere relatively warm. I'll probably give it a shot.

-s

WNJ · Post by **WNJ** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:54 pm

Since you'll be in a small enclosed place (tent, camper, whatever) the air will not be so dry as it would be otherwise. Passover humidifier will work better than you would expect in this circumstance.

Have fun!

Wayne

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:29 pm

I think it will help a little, anyway. Give it a try at home before you leave.

I don't know anything about the Everest or your trip - I am looking into car jump starters with A/C inverters to run the humidifier.

Like the one below - tho the Home Depot has a better price, their link was just way too long. Clicking on the picture will take you to the Sears one which I like better but was more pricey. Or just use the B&D link below.

http://www.bdonlinestore.com/product_de ... T+VEC026BD

Good Luck,
GumbyCT

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:42 pm

Maybe you could figure out a way to hook your hose to one of these

WNJ · Post by **WNJ** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:43 pm

Gumby,

You should do a reality check on the jump-starter idea.

Some may think these devices a good thing to keep in your car to jump start if your battery dies, but they are terribly ill-suited for extended use such as powering a heated humidifier when camping.

They will provide a lot of power for a very short time. They will not provide much power for very long.

What are the amp-hours of the battery? This is the true measure of capacity for batteries. You get 22 amp-hours with the Sears unit you linked to.

You can’t draw down a battery much more than 50% without dramatically shortening its life. Figure you have maybe 12 usable amp-hours.

Inverters are very inefficient. About half the power drawn from the battery is wasted as heat. Now you’re down to the equivalent of about 6 amp-hours.

Figure a very short night’s sleep with CPAP with heated humidifier before the battery is dead. How are you going to recharge? From your car? What is the recharge time for these units? Do you really want to run your car at fast idle for eight hours every day to recharge one of these?

Also, these batteries will not take many discharge-recharge cycles before they die. They’re designed for occasional use of a few seconds duration (starting a car.) They’re not designed for deep-cycle use.

For camping, get a deep-cycle battery and the proper DC adapter for your CPAP. Use the humidifier as a passover. Camping it will work far better than in the much dryer heated air in your home in wintertime.

Wayne

RosemaryB · Post by **RosemaryB** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:53 pm

Another idea is to make sure you have a snuggle hose cover and then try to get the hose in the sleeping bag with you. That will prevent cold air from bothering you when you use it in passover mode.

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:12 pm

Sometimes I think some people start with HH and get the idea it is totally necessary.
I have been on PAP for about 12 years and only used a passover a few months in the beginning.

I just do not think it would be all that helpful in my case, but wonder if I had started on HH and got the idea it was NECESSARY and became obsessive.

Helpful to a degree, maybe.
Necessary - I do not think so.
In any event, I would see no problem for a few days camping.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:56 pm

Believe me, a HH is absolutely necessary for some of us. I get severe allergy type symptoms (sneezing and runny nose) when I forget to turn on the HH. One thing that I've been thinking of trying is using a stick-on heatpad that uses a chemical reaction to create heat for 8 hours. I've used them for a sore lower back and they get pretty warm. If stuck to the bottom of a humidifier, it might provide enough heat to provide extra humidification. They only cost a buck or two so it might be worth a try

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:16 pm

WNJ wrote:Inverters are very inefficient.

Can't disagree there.

There is soo much more than to this short sited idea that yes eventually leads to using this device to charge a deep cycle marine battery.

So many on here recommend using a deep cycle battery and while I am sure some know how to even hook it up - no one has mentioned how to keep it charged. Or even how to connect it for those who aren't as technical as we are? But I will leave it there.

ColinP · Post by **ColinP** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:12 am

GumbyCT wrote:
WNJ wrote:Inverters are very inefficient.
Can't disagree there.

There is soo much more than to this short sited idea that yes eventually leads to using this device to charge a deep cycle marine battery.

So many on here recommend using a deep cycle battery and while I am sure some know how to even hook it up - no one has mentioned how to keep it charged. Or even how to connect it for those who aren't as technical as we are? But I will leave it there.

Funnily enough, I found this forum because I was searching for information on running my CPAP from a battery. And I found all the information I needed right here - connections, actual power requirements (not the thumbsuck they give in the manual) and a lot of advice on batteries and charging.

I run my Resmed directly from 12V, without an inverter (wastes battery capacity) and without the Resmed 12V cable (too expensive, will also waste some capacity, and there wasn't one in the country when I enquired). It works well for me, I have a 105ah deep cycle battery, which doubles as a reserve power unit for (frequent) power outages.

Out here in the 3rd world, we are suffering from rolling blackouts due to a complete lack of foresight and planning on the part of the (monopoly) power utility, who suddenly discovered that demand has risen to exceed capacity, and now they tell us that it'll take 5 years to build more power stations. DUH!! So if you're planning to come here for the 2010 soccer world cup, bring some candles and a box of matches. Or get friendly with the locals - we'll all be running diesel generators in our garages by then I suspect.

Colin

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:09 am

ColinP wrote:...I have a 105ah deep cycle battery, which doubles as a reserve power unit for (frequent) power outages.

Perfect Colin - perhaps you can tell us how you recharge your battery(s)!!??

ColinP · Post by **ColinP** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:51 am

Hi

The longest time have used the battery away from any mains power source was a week. It easily held enough charge for the first 3 days (could have gone longer but I didn't want to take chances) and I then charged it off a solar panel during the day for the next two days which gave me enough to complete the holiday.

You might need more charging time for less operating hours depending on how much you're drawing - I was setup to use as little current as possible, and the Africa sun is fairly strong. Obviously the higher your pressure, the more power you'll need too. I was running on APAP at 9 - 20 cm, the reading each morning was 12 cm and I was at an altitude of 1400m, or about 4200'.

When I'm at home, using it for power outages, I just charge it with a standard battery charger. I'm thinking of getting a solar panel at home too, but the builders we have in are trying to bankrupt me first...

I was planning to use the car to charge it if I didn't get enough charge from the solar panel, but that often doesn't work too well with a deep cycle battery, as the voltage is usually a bit higher than a car's battery, so it doesn't charge as effectively. It also takes quite a while, and you don't usually go out of your way to get somewhere out of the ratrace where there is no power to sit and listen to your engine idling away.

Colin

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:04 am

Thank You Colin ,

I get the idea you have one Battery? And one charger? And you use it for more than just your CPAP equipment?

Could you describe your setup? How its connected? How often you have to charge it? Is it something you would take camping?

How much does the deep cycle marine battery weigh? Remember how much it cost by any chance? etc.

Sorry for all the questions, I really am trying to understand this and how to make it easier (plug n play) and/or more portable. You have brought up the perfect scenario.

Thanks for your help,
GumbyCT

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