Think this might work? Sleeping during power outage

[Muse-Inc]

OK, Atlanta's likely to get 6" of snow & sleet & ice this coming Monday with temps under freezing for a few days folllowing...this is about as common as frog hair It's hilly here not much flat land esp so in the 'burbs, so they 're talking a lot of the big trees coming down and that means power outages perhaps for several days...the weather folks are recommmending people plan for that long at home and perhaps without power. I am really concerned about sleeping without equipment (no funds to jury rig something as power backup in the next 2 days). Sleeping with equipment is now such a deeply-ingrained habit I'm not even sure I can fall sleep without it! But, I still have a borrowed recording oximeter with an alarm. I'm thinking of propping myself up a bit more and sleeping with the desat alarm set to say 92%...does this sound like a reasonable plan? I can't prevent events without equipment but I can set the alarm to wake me up if I start desatting, so the worse will be fragmented sleep. Reasonable? Comments?

[msradar65]

Oh my Ice, sleet and snow in Atlanta is a bad thing! Besides using a battery back up which you would have to disable the beeper on it...or it will drive you crazy I can't think of any other solutions.

I have been considering the same thing. I am in South Carolina....but a hurricane would do me in for weeks. I have been there and done that a few more times than I would like to remember.

I am seriously considering by a second battery back up device and using it for my CPAP only. I use one for work as I work from my home office full-time.

[Lizistired]

I think that sounds like a great idea. I can't imagine Atlanta getting 6", but if you get ice, it doesn't take much to start bringing things down. In the event that there is no event, you won't have spent a lot of money on something you don't need. Just stay warm.

[Muse-Inc]

Thanks guys! Other comments?

[jazzer4]

OK, Atlanta's likely to get 6" of snow & sleet & ice this coming Monday with temps under freezing for a few days folllowing...this is about as common as frog hair It's hilly here not much flat land esp so in the 'burbs, so they 're talking a lot of the big trees coming down and that means power outages perhaps for several days...the weather folks are recommmending people plan for that long at home and perhaps without power. I am really concerned about sleeping without equipment (no funds to jury rig something as power backup in the next 2 days). Sleeping with equipment is now such a deeply-ingrained habit I'm not even sure I can fall sleep without it! But, I still have a borrowed recording oximeter with an alarm. I'm thinking of propping myself up a bit more and sleeping with the desat alarm set to say 92%...does this sound like a reasonable plan? I can't prevent events without equipment but I can set the alarm to wake me up if I start desatting, so the worse will be fragmented sleep. Reasonable? Comments?

Muse I understand your concerns.
My sleep clinic is at a hospital. They told me to call and reserve a room in case of a hurricane. I understand during the last one they were full. Let's face it we need POWER to sleep.
Does anyone in your neighborhood have a whole house generator? Your could sleep in their guest room.
How about a hotel for a night?
I've considered all of these options before setting up my golf cart for power.
As a last resort I would consider sleeping sitting up on the sofa....not a good option!!

Good luck, it will be a mess if it happens. I hope their wrong about that prediction!
Susan

[rested gal]

Very good idea, Muse. Sure better than nuthin' in a pinch!

[Woody]

I live just a little south of Atlantia so I prepaired for this by charging my home made
battery pack. I figure I am set for about 30 hrs of backup power. Then I can change
rechargable batterys for another 30 hrs.

[Muse-Inc]

...Does anyone in your neighborhood have a whole house generator?
Nope, already checked.

How about a hotel for a night?
No funds...gotta start earning some moola for that to be a viable option

I hope their wrong about that prediction!
It's worse! Now they're predicting up to 2" of sleet & ice with maybe an inch of so of ice. At least this past fall, they butchered the trees covering/touching electric lines...maybe this will protect us from broken branches falling on the lines. The 6" of snow will be east of here where one of our local forum meetup members lives.

Woody, you're gonna get this first, maybe beginning as early as dinner time tomorrow, ya got my sympathy! PS You should come join us Jan 22 at 10:30 AM, we're all from here...it's a great crew and really supportive. One of the members is the one who loaned me the recording oximeter.

I'm just gonna have to save some $ when I start getting a paycheck and buy a CPAP battery and go passover.

EDIT: It's 12:51 AM and already 20 degrees...the forecast low was 19 on the 11 PM news, bet it's gonna be lower than that! PS I made the 6 PM news, was interviewed about stocking up on food for the storm

[Lizistired]

We had a bad ice storm here a few years ago. I wasn't on CPAP then but my power was out for about 24 hours.
I spent most of my time bundled up and digging out candles and battery operated items. Trying to find a radio station that was providing any information... they weren't. The National Guard was out and transporting people that could not stay in there homes and needed to go to shelters... elderly and people in need of electricity for medical necessity.
I kind of enjoyed it because it was so quiet and I like not being able to turn on the lights and Tv once in awhile. I can enjoy it since densly populated areas get power back sooner. Many areas were out for a week and were trying to keep there food cold and not freeze to death.
I bet if Atlanta gets snow and ice there will be power parties of some sort!

[idamtnboy]

The whole country is cold. Warmest currently is 72 at the southern tip of Texas. Take a look

http://www.weather.com/maps/maptype/cur ... large.html

[linagee]

APC Smart-UPS 750VA Rackmountable - (retail: $489 + shipping; ebay: $425 includes shipping)
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-APC-Smart-UPS-7 ... 5d2c16288f

and

APC Smart-UPS SMX48RMBP2U X-Series External Rack/Tower - (retail: $409 + shipping; ebay: $396 includes shipping)
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-APC-SMX48RMBP2U ... 35aac233a8

Connect the UPS and external battery unit together and stash them under your bed. They are already sealed/enclosed units. Not medical grade, but better than DIY hacks. These also have common changable APC batteries. For only 425 + 396 = $821, that's more than 8 hours of power for your CPAP (even if it's a 90 watt model) and probably even other small accessories. (Phone charger, small flourescent light, etc.) I bought everything above for around $500, but I searched about every place I could find on the internet. If you have a low wattage CPAP (like 20-30 watts) you might not need the external battery pack. You will also need to disable the beep/alarm.

Getting battery acid in your eyes from a DIY hack will cost thousands. A hospital room during a storm will also cost around a thousand per night. An alternative might be just to buy a quick plane ticket and hotel room in a nearby state. (If all hotels in the state you are in have no reliable power.) But getting a battery pack should last you at least 5 years without the risk/hassle of travel. (5 years is the estimated life of most CPAPs and the estimated life of most batteries.)

[Lizistired]

I don't know, for that kind of money, why not just buy a gas powered generator and keep the fridge and furnace running too?

[AlpineJack]

I would definitely checkout The Battery Geeks. They seem to have the best power protection solutions against power outages that I was able to find. My sleep doctor recommended them to me and they hooked me up with a solution that is pretty sweet. Their site is at http://www.batterygeek.net/cpap

[Daseeylover]

I bought a deep cycle marine battery and called the resmed people for a dc connector kit. They can also tell you how big a battery you need to run your machine for so many days. In my case I can run the machine for 3-4 days but w/o the humidifier. Call the company. They can really fill you in on all you need to know.

[idamtnboy]

I bought a deep cycle marine battery and called the resmed people for a dc connector kit. They can also tell you how big a battery you need to run your machine for so many days. In my case I can run the machine for 3-4 days but w/o the humidifier. Call the company. They can really fill you in on all you need to know.

Which machine do you have? According to their Parts List dated January 2011 Resmed still does not have a dc connector for the S9. Their only solution for battery backup for the S9 is a 3rd party inverter. Finding an alternative solution for the S9 has been the topic of much discussion here in several threads over the past several months.