Is there a way to temporarily reduce the need for a humidifier?

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jpek
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Is there a way to temporarily reduce the need for a humidifier?

Post by jpek » Mon Jan 27, 2025 2:56 am

It's time for me to go to Mexico again for dental work. The last time I went there was a pretty long power outage and I wound up without CPAP use. Didn't sleep a wink that night which was miserable. So, now I'm looking into getting a TSA friendly CPAP battery backup -- see this previous thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=187207&p=1445878&hi ... k#p1445878. However, the TSA approved batteries are under 100Wh and my machine with the humidifier uses about 43W an hour according to my latest measurement. So, for the pleasure of spending about $250 on the backup I can plan to get about 2.5 hours of sleep if there's no power. It makes me wondering whether that's even worth the investment.

I think my wattage use is so high because of the humidifier use. I'm wondering if there's a way to reduce my need for a humidifier, if only temporarily in an emergency situation. Would love any advice.

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ozij
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Re: Is there a way to temporarily reduce the need for a humidifier?

Post by ozij » Mon Jan 27, 2025 9:49 am

You can't reduce you need, but you can turn the humidifier energy usage off by doing the following:
Change "Climate Control from Auto to Manual
Then dial down the humidity to zero.

If you used a heated hose, you can also dial down its temperature - I have no idea how much electricity that saves. Or maybe take along a non-heated hose.

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: Is there a way to temporarily reduce the need for a humidifier?

Post by ChicagoGranny » Mon Jan 27, 2025 12:56 pm

jpek wrote:
Mon Jan 27, 2025 2:56 am
I'm wondering if there's a way to reduce my need for a humidifier, if only temporarily in an emergency situation.
Try one night at home with the humidifier turned off. I never use the humidifier, not even when the room humidity is 30% in the winter.

Check the relative humidity (outdoor) in your city against the city in Mexico.

Post your findings, please.
"It's not the number of breaths we take, it's the number of moments that take our breath away."

Cuando cuentes cuentos, cuenta cuántas cuentos cuentas.

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Julie
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Re: Is there a way to temporarily reduce the need for a humidifier?

Post by Julie » Mon Jan 27, 2025 4:31 pm

Large pot of water nearby?

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ejbpesca
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Re: Is there a way to temporarily reduce the need for a humidifier?

Post by ejbpesca » Sun Feb 09, 2025 11:01 am

What's the average humidity where you are going to in Mex.? If high turn off the humidifier. If it is extremely low humidity in that location that could be a problem but such a temporary one, maybe not so serious. I have not used a humidifier in my 18 years of CPAP therapy. The humidity here is on average quite high but I keep it below 50 inside without using the humidifier on my AirSense 10. I do not like fiddling with the water tank and the times I've tried the humidifier I found no difference made by it.

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JOinPA
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Re: Is there a way to temporarily reduce the need for a humidifier?

Post by JOinPA » Sun Feb 09, 2025 11:48 am

I agree with others, not much you can do about "needing" humidity" when traveling, because you cannot use it with batteries, most likely.

Having not used it and using it now where I go through nearly a full tub every night (Philly winter) in my AS10, I can say it's the least important factor in my therapy. I prefer humidification. But I can sleep without it OK. I bet you'll find the same. You might be happy to get back to it after your trip, but I kinda doubt it will ruin your sleep.
Initial diagnosis = severe, current stats (02/09/2025): weight 220 lbs, Airsense 10 Autoset with ClimateLine Air tubing, F40 mask, Climate and tube temp = Auto, CPAP pressure = 13, ramp = off, EPR = 3

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jimbud
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Re: Is there a way to temporarily reduce the need for a humidifier?

Post by jimbud » Sun Feb 09, 2025 2:45 pm

You can try pass over humidity. Turn the humidifier off, then just put some water in the tank. As the machine runs, it will pick up some water vapor.

I personally do not need humidity most of the year. On the real cold winter nights when the heater has been running all day I use pass over humidity and it gets me by.

Try it before you go. You might be pleasantly surprised.

JPB

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