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Thanks to all of you for the great comments and ideas for me.. I do have a hose cover, in fact at one point I had two of them on there. The therapy guy told me to remove one and that I only needed one.. I guess I will move my machine up off the floor. I really didn't think about the dust issue and I have three dogs so I know there is going to be a hair issue . So far it has been ok but I keep an eye on the filters.. When I turn off the machine during the night, I also take off the mask.. I am wondering if I am trying to breathe through my mouth and this is why I am removing the mask and shutting the machine off. I actually like my machine and look forward to using it.. So I really don't know why I keep messing with it during the night. But thank you all again for all the great responses..

Ronnie

LOL LOL I HAVE to say this. I've had my machine on the floor for 3 years.....it's not dustier than the table!!! LOL You see...we live in the high desert and if I don't dust and vacuum every week, then we can write our name on the tables!!!! Yes, our home is an energy efficient home....it's just the way of life here in the desert.

FLOOR! I ruined one bedside table with leakage from my humidifier. Don't want to do that to another one.
I struggled with finding some sort of tray or pan to put my machine in so that if it did leak, it wouldn't leak all over the floor (hardwood floors). (To be fair, I have only had the leakage problem once or twice, and that was probably in the first year of using CPAP- but I for sure do not want to ruin any more furniture, so just to be safe....) I set my machine on the floor, and tried to find some sort of pan or tray with a lip around the edges to hold in any small leaks that might occur. At first I just used a glass cake pan, which was fine, but larger than my machine. Since then I managed to find a square, elevated candle stand/tray at Pier One that is just very slightly larger in dimensions than my CPAP machine. It sits the machine about 3 inches above the floor, and it has a lip to the edge so any small leakage won't run over. My bed is high, so I use a 10 foot hose with hose snuggle. It improved the rainout, although I still get it sometimes. I haven't had any problems with the longer hose, it is nice to be able to actually be able to move more than 6 inches away from the edge of the bed!. Yes, dust bunnies happen, but dust accumulates on any surface. When I vacuum the room, I also vacuum the dust off the stand and the surface of the CPAP (using soft-brush floor attachment). I also added one of those Whisper attachments to my machine. I have not noticed much difference in noise level, but it is amazing how much cleaner my filters are!

My one negative about keeping it on the floor is that, with a high bed, i have to lean WAY over to hit my ramp button. Other than that, no problems.

Bedside table, about 6 inches below the top of the mattress. Hose is hung on a hanger over the bed, so is elevated for rainout control. Since I double insulated my hose, I have not had any rainout problems. Our heat went out last night (breaker blew) and the bedroom got down to 60 degrees....NO rainout...

We live on a dirt road in the sticks in Florida with the interstate about 1/2 acre behind the house: the dust in our house is horrible. If I put the machine on the carpet (which is over 20 years old and is going to be leaving next year for a nice hardwood floor, one of the last two rooms in the house to get the carpet yanked.), I would get some pretty ugly stuff in through the hose. I have to dust the machine and the table pretty much daily...I don't think there is any way to get the dust and crap out of my carpeting.

One Tired Puppy wrote:I think I'm going to have a box custom made for the Sandman auto when I get it back.

Anne [/color]

Hmmm....hubby is building me a new multi shelf side table for the bed, since space is limited for the machine and the clock and the piggy bank.....I think I will have him build a "snug" fit frame for the Remstar on the shelf for it to keep it from tipping....could be a new sideline here...<grin>

i set my machine on a 12"x12" black plastic file box beside the bed. my nightstand is taller than the bed and is full of stuff like my clock, sound machine, lamp, etc. so the file thing is perfect. if i put my machine on the floor, the hose would be too short for me to turn all the way over on my side comfortably.

My bedside table has a door that opens and 3 shelves, I keep it in the middle shelf and when I'm not using it I put my mask on top of the machine and close the door. My bed is very tall and I don't think the hose would be long enough if it was on the floor.

I'm also thinking of building in some sort of frame to hold the machine in since the new machine has a fully integrated humidifier so I can tell it could easily get ruined if it got knocked.

I keep it in the bottom drawer of nightstand with a towel underneath. At night I pull the drawer open, turn on the machine, and push it half-way closed. My husband drilled a small hole in the back for the cord to come out. During the day I clean my mask, put it back in the drawer, coil up the hose and close up the drawer. No unsightly equipment to look at and everything's protected. I started with the machine on my nightstand, but I got rainout. Moving it to the floor solved that, but I didn't like having to move it between the floor and nightstand every night and I didn't like it out and exposed to dust and dog hair during the day.

This works for me, but I agree that everyone is different and needs different solutions.

Well, I got this little bedside table, that my parents picked up from IKEA many, many years ago...and became part of my bedroom when I moved out....so, its probably like 24 years old.

Real simple...just 4 pieces of wood...2 sides, a top and shelf. So open back.

At first I cleared space on top for the CPAP, and it kind of worked until I got the Humidifier..then it became more crowded....so I bumped the clock radio off of it.

The top of the little table is 8 inches below the top of my bed.

Alas, the first night I had the humidifier...I nearly drowned, twice. Lowering the humidity helped, but I still got sprayed.

So, I cleared out the lower shelf and put the machine down there....that puts it 7 inches above the floor and 18 inches below the top of my bed. I would still get sprayed sometimes....so I played around some more, got a hose cover, hose hanger, tried a couple of nights without the humidifier, then just passover. But, then the reptile heater showed up, and I'm back to using a setting of 2 and no problems.

Now I could use another foot of hose. I was previously using the Optilife mask, so there was some hose to it. But, now there isn't with the Profile Lite.

It probably also doesn't help that I turned the unit 90 degrees on the shelf and centered it. Instead of flush to the side and back to maximize hose reach. It puts the buttons close enough that I can turn the unit off in the morning...and makes it easy to get the smartcard in and out. While still also making it possible to do the same with the humidifier tank. Just means it takes up the whole bottom shelf. It was also an attempt to deal with the 'breathing' noise it was making.

I also figured it gives me some ledge to try pursleep.

Oh, the noise seems to have lessened by switching masks....perhaps I'm a noisy breather and the mask, tubing, humidifier tank kind of conspire together to amplify things....though it might just be another reason nasal pillows didn't agree with me.

The Dreamer

I went hi-tech, literally

I used an old computer tower as my stand for the xPAP. Just several inches lower than the bed. Works great and is just narrow enough to fit between my nightstand and the bed, but secures the unit from getting knocked over by accident.

I use a hose cover and drape it around the bedpost. Condensation is being kept to a minimum, except for those very coldest and driest of winter nights, where i do have a bit of moisture coming into my nose. I've ordered the aussie heated hose, so my arsenal will be complete soon.

Mine sits on the lower shelf of a night table, so it's not on the floor (much dustier down there!) yet it is still below the bed level which helps keep any mositure/condensation from making its way to the mask.