Tell me your power outtage backup plans

[Jaylee]

Our power went out briefly last night. It made me realize that I need to look in to a back up power source.

Keep in mind that I am broke as a joke right now, but willing to babysit a lot to get something quickly. Can you tell me what you use, where you got it, and roughly how much you paid? Thanks

[Gerryk]

Right now I just wake up take the mask off go see if the problem is mine or the power company and I go back to sleep without cpap for now. I am planning on a generator but have other things to do first.

Gerry

[roster]

Large life insurance policy.

[Gerryk]

Jaylee, I don't know about your mask but mine has what's called an anit esphyxiation valve on it so if the power goes out or the hose gets disconnected from the machine I am not rebreathing the same air. Usually you will wake up when your machine shuts off. If that doesn't wake you, the unusual silence or lack of any light what so ever will.

Gerry

[rested gal]

For more ideas (tons of good ones!) than anyone could possibly want to read...

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

When caught by a power outage and no battery back up (or no Aeiomed Everest cpap machine) best to sleep as upright as you can, perhaps in a recliner.

[roster]

I was reminded again yesterday that I need to go buy one of these. Asheville had 60,000 people with power outages this morning due to ice storm.

POWER OUT POWER FAILURE WARNING ALARM PLUS FLASHLIGHT

http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/po ... tml?ref=42

There are plenty of brands/styles/prices: http://www.google.com/search?q=power+fa ... 1I7SUNA_en

[Gerryk]

You can also use a car jumper box to power just your cpap not your humidifier. You will need a car battery jumper box with 12 volt power out such as the ones in your car to power radar detectors or the cigar lighters. You can power your cpap with one of these and still use your humidifier but unplug the humidifier and use it as passover not heated. A good unit will run about 100 bucks. Or find someone who has an old one that the battery is shot on and replace the batter for about 20 bucks.

Gerry

[thewetlizard]

What I do if the power goes out is to learn to live without the cpap

[Muse-Inc]

I have a power outage alarm because I do not wake up when the power goes out . The alarm's LEDs flash and there's an alarm that sounds...it wakes me up. If the power goes out, I get up and stay up. I cannot afford battery backup now.

[mars]

You can also use a car jumper box to power just your cpap not your humidifier. You will need a car battery jumper box with 12 volt power out such as the ones in your car to power radar detectors or the cigar lighters. You can power your cpap with one of these and still use your humidifier but unplug the humidifier and use it as passover not heated. A good unit will run about 100 bucks. Or find someone who has an old one that the battery is shot on and replace the batter for about 20 bucks.

Gerry

Hi All

I do the same as Gerry. It seems to be the simplest and possibly the cheapest way to keep the machine going.

I live in a forested area, and we often have strong winds. So power poles being knocked out by falling trees is a regular occurrence. I am thinking about getting a spare car battery jumper box, to keep inside.

cheers

Mars

[Patrick A]

For more ideas (tons of good ones!) than anyone could possibly want to read...

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

When caught by a power outage and no battery back up (or no Aeiomed Everest cpap machine) best to sleep as upright as you can, perhaps in a recliner.

Great post RG. I have a portable battery pack from Respironics, if that fails I also have a Motorhome that has Solar on it and I can go there. That's if the power is going to be out for more than 24 hours.

[jrcmlc]

I have battery backups on everything in my home, EXCEPT my ResMed. LOL I wake up when the power goes out as I can't breathe as well, and usually, if I don't have my earplugs in too tight, from the beeping of all of the other battery backups in the house. LOL

I need to take another UPS off the shelf and disable the beeper and plug my ResMed into it, I guess.

JC

[SkepticalOne]

We had the power out for 6 days a couple of years ago (winter ice storm). I have a generator that I can power the house with. So at night I could run the generator to power my BiPAP machine and keep the freezer and refrigerator working. Now that I have a newer machine, I will be setting up to use a car battery to power the machine.
If the power goes out while I am asleep I do wake up. Of course it takes a second to figure out what is going on besides being dark and quiet. I end up taking my mask off and realize that there is no pressure.

So looking at the adapter for the 12 volt battery and the cigarette lighter adapter, I figure I will be pretty self sufficient with that.

[timbalionguy]

There are simpler ways to back up a machine. I have a 38 AH gel cell that sits in a plain battery box. It is kept charged with a 'battery tender'. This device is an intelligent slow charger that keeps the battery in good shape with no fear of overcharging. The IntelliPAP takes 12 volts directly, and auto-switches in case of a power outage. So, I made a battery cable from scratch with the right plug for the machine, and a connector to go to the one I have attached to the battery. (The connector is optional, but I use these batteries to power a variety of things, and so I have a standard connector-- a 2 pin .093 Molex connector readily available at Radio Shack. Every thing I power with batteries, and all my batteries have the same connector.) There is a fuse on the battery end of this cable, 5 A in this case, per Devilbiss's recommnedations (There should always be a fuse in an power line connected to a big battery, especially a lead-acid battery. It should be as close to the battery as possible. These batteries can easily heat wiring red hot in case of a short. Do note that the 'power packs' often recommended here usually have an internal fuse or circuit breaker.). This setup gives me at least two, and likely three good nights of therapy, but only with passover humidification.

[RedBackFur]

I have battery backups on everything in my home, EXCEPT my ResMed. LOL I wake up when the power goes out as I can't breathe as well, and usually, if I don't have my earplugs in too tight, from the beeping of all of the other battery backups in the house. LOL

I need to take another UPS off the shelf and disable the beeper and plug my ResMed into it, I guess.

JC

If you use a modified Sine-Wave UPS and have your humidifier on, you'll fry the humidifier. So you best check what your UPS delivers. I have an APC SmartUPS 750, and that one is a full-sine-wave UPS, thus safe.