what happens with loss of elecrticity

[harry33]

we seldom get power loss so I was surprise to be woken by having to breathe harder. the power was off and with my nose only mask,. I hadnt opened my mouth but was still breathing thru the mask, the air coming and going, I presume thru the air exhaust port

how do other CPAP users react to power loss?

[DreamDiver]

we seldom get power loss so I was surprise to be woken by having to breathe harder. the power was off and with my nose only mask,. I hadnt opened my mouth but was still breathing thru the mask, the air coming and going, I presume thru the air exhaust port

how do other CPAP users react to power loss?

I immediately wake up. It's happened a couple of times here, usually during heavy ice/snowstorms or severe thunderstorms. As you suggest, most masks have an anti-asphyxia valve, so you're no worse off than no mask at all.

[Wulfman]

It's only happened to me once, several years ago......and I woke up almost immediately from the sensation of lack of air pressure on my face. I was still breathing just fine as the anti-asphyxiation valve had opened. No problem and not a startled type of awakening.....just pretty natural. When I tried blowing puffs of air into the machine to get it to auto start and then noticed that some of the lights I can normally see in the dark weren't lit, I knew there was a power outage. Fortunately, I had just gotten the 4-hour minimum sleep time, so it was still a "compliant" night.


Den

[bearded_two]

I have woke up a couple of times with the power off -- it was unnaturally dark and the clock displays were dark. My CPAP kept working just fine off of my li-ion CPAP battery.

[dave21]

For me, I usually find that if the power does go out (some years it's gone out quite a bit) - I find it can take me up to about 30 mins to wake up. I awake with a headache, groggy and notice there's no air coming from the mask. I never wake up immediately.

The only way I know how long it's been is when the power is restored I check my TiVo because it's almost always recording some program and I can see how long its been since it recorded the last program and roughly work out when the power went out.

[Muse-Inc]

I breathed thru the exhaust vent of my beloved OptiLife pillow mask for just over an hr during a power outage until my noisy extra inhalation-chest movements woke me up...guess not breathing thru my mouth was too well ingrained for me to open my mouth. My power outage alarm was delivered the next day (had been en route). The alarm works quite well to wake me up & provide enough light for me to find a flashlight.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/relian ... light.html

[Ms.Snuffleupagus]

I recently bought the power-out alarm as well. I tape my mouth so I thought this would be an added security, although I am sure I would wake up rather quickly.

[JohnBFisher]

In addition to waking up ... you might want to consider a battery backup unit. I put together a Battery Backup Design post (with lots of additional thoughts and reply by others):

viewtopic.php?p=449334

Additionally, Rested Gal, put together her set of links on:

LINKS to Battery operation, camping, power outage
viewtopic.php?t=9682

[harry33]

interesting, with my nose only mask I thought I would simply breathe thru my mouth, but I didnt.

it took quite a while to learn to keep mouth shut when starting CPAP too

[Goofproof]

What happens is, the little rodent that keeps the fan running in your XPAP, sits down, smokes a CIG or has a little booze, if he can find some, and waits until the power comes back on. Jim

He has no choice, it's in the contract he signed with the DME provider.

[physicsbob]

What a timely topic, my power went off last night in a thunder storm and I slept right through it. I don't know how long it was out, I have my machine set to auto turn on. I did wake up a little more groggy to my alarm clock blinking at me. I think I am going to hook up a battery backup for times like these. It is kind of scary to sleep right through it .

[GumbyCT]

I have my machine set to auto turn on.

fwiw - There is NO way to turn this ON ... or OFF. It is a "Default" safety feature!

You need a DC supply if you don't wake up.

For those who worry think of it this way - it can't be any worse than when you didn't breath for all those years BEFORE CPAP - now can it?

[Goofproof]

Funny timing, at 7 P.M. tonight my power went out, no storm, just a loud band I say and heard the pop, even though it was two blocks away. Duke Energy did another fine job of getting it up and running 90 minutes of downtime. Didn't know what to do without the electric, almost had to talk to the wife. Jim

[aarenlainey]

CPAP masks are worn on your face and attached with headgear.They receive air through a tube which is attached to a CPAP machine.Your mask should be comfortable, leave no red marks and seal completely.It is a portion of an imbalanced high voltage field on a non-conductive surface of something your hand,the carpet, a screwdriver that has just moved to a conductive surface in a rapid, uncontrolled fashion."Static electricity" is the same portion of an imbalanced high voltage field on a non conductive surface of something,but it has not yet reached the point of releasing it's electrons to equalize the imbalance between a conductor with a greater positive charge than itself.