Dual humidifiers!

This last summer I switched from using the H3i humidifier that came with my Resmed Elite S8 and got a F &P HC 150 because it did a better job during testing of some various APAPS.

The air in Phoenix, though, is so dry that if I set it higher than 2 it would run out of water! I would wake up with a dry throat sometimes from mouth breathing. My mouth would be dry as well.

So, last night I re-installed the H3i humidifer on the CPAP and had it set to 1 and hooked the output to the F & P.

Ahhh, seemed to be much better. It used about a quarter of the water in the H3i and a considerably less water in the F & P.

It just pre-humidified the air before it hit the F & P.

Seemed to make a nice difference.

The first winter I did the same but using the M series humidifier. The M series has such a dinky reservior that it is almost pathetic. I have since found I don't need the humidity as high and use just the attached humidifier in passover mode. I did keep the Fisher and Paykel humidifier cause you never know.

Missouri can get a bit dry during the winter.

I lived in Kansas City until we moved to Arizona in '95.

But 20% humidity is low there and here it gets down to 5%.

Really sucks the water out of a humidifier. Having both hooked up puts a bit more humidity in the air and neither one runs dry.

Missouri is really really humid most of the year, but AZ is dry all the time. When it rains it gets up to 30% humidity at ground level.
Sometimes during monsoon storms it get up higher but not much and not for long.

I well remember 103 degrees and 98% humidity in K.C. Ugh.

Oh Willie I am so jealous!! Nice warm temps year round, plenty of sunshine, relaxing out on the deck -- you have it made!!

I found the first winter that I would run out of water in my M series tank and so found that using the F & P with it made a difference. I can see where, with your lower humidity it would do the same for you. It should do the same for those that need find that they need high humidity to be comfortable would benefit from using them in tandem.

The first winter we had a different heating system and I fight dry skin -- which becomes really dry, cracks, itches, etc. that the extra humidity was beneficial. We ended up having that heating system go down in the midst of cold temps and had to switch out our heating system. Due to finances we went with a lower btu and have found that it is cooler in the house than I normally like (but due to the high cost of heating, do not want to crank up the thermostat). I have an indoor/outdoor weather thingie that is showing the humidity in my front room to be at 51% and temp being 57 (thermostat is set at 72).

Thanks,AZ Willie.

I will try that set up,quite bothersome to fill up the single tank every day when the dial is cranked up during our dry winters!

Since my pressure got bumped up,I have had more mask and mouth leaks than ever before.

sleepycarol wrote:I found the first winter that I would run out of water in my M series tank and so found that using the F & P with it made a difference.

My first year I did the very same with my M series. Requesting some of my records this year, I found my DME "wrote me up" for doing it. He never said anything directly to me - so I don't understand the point. I too was having troubles with leaks and high pressures.

I think unless you use an M series humidifier - you just can't understand just how inefficient and ineffective they really are.

Now I'm glad that I never used the M series humidifier that came with the apap...it seemed small to me. I'm still using the OLD humidaire humidifier. In winter I fill it only once every three/four nights, even with the household heat on and humidity indoors down around 20%.

Ya...its been getting pretty dry in my home....it was hovering around 8% (since I got a hydrometer that could read lower than 20%)....and then it dropped to 5%...and yesterday morning it 2%.

That all changed in the afternoon around 2:30pm....hot water line above me blew...and showered down through the floors. The people on the bottom had it worst.

It was pretty steamy....though things have leveled off around 26%...

Wonder if I still need that new humidifier that's coming on Tuesday now....

Last year I got dangerously close to running my M Series humidifier dry in a single night....so far no worrying yet with the HC150....though I'm using more than 50% each night....

Well, my data would show the periods of time where I didn't have the integrated humidifier attached, so I suppose the DME might know....

I did burn a tank on the integrated humidifier because it somehow got changed from 0 to 1....and I have the machine stashed low where its hard to get at, but I don't hear it. I pretty much only touch it...to turn it off in the morning (auto on, but not auto off) and clean filters and download on Sundays. Though it made me look sooner in investigating the source of that burnt plastic smell.....

The Dreamer.

One surprising thing about using dual humidifiers is that I don't seem to be doing as much mouth breathing during the night!

Not sure why having a bit more humidity would cause that ... but I hope it continues.

Cuts down on the drool to be cleaned out of the mask. Ack.

I keep three cushions and rotate them out between cleanings.

I think F & P makes a bigger reservoir than this 150 ... I need to check that out. Wonder if it fits on the same base. Hmmm.

AZ Willie what temperature is your bedroom at when you sleep?

Mine is around 70 and i can set my H4i to 3 and not get any rain out. Anything above 3 and i find my skin gets uncomfortably sweaty inside the quattro.

Uncle_Bob wrote:AZ Willie what temperature is your bedroom at when you sleep?

Mine is around 70 and i can set my H4i to 3 and not get any rain out. Anything above 3 and i find my skin gets uncomfortably sweaty inside the quattro.

That's pretty warm for sleeping, Bob, and it's not surprising you don't have issues with rainout.

I don't sleep well in a warm environment, so my house temp is 62 at night. Still, no rainout or worries about running out of water, as I use a fleece hose cover and have the HC150. I also use a room humidifier.

Arizona-Willie wrote:
So, last night I re-installed the H3i humidifier on the CPAP and had it set to 1 and hooked the output to the F & P.

Are you using regular 6 foot hoses? I wondering if having a total of 12 foot for hose length would impact pressure at all.

Arizona-Willie,

What a great idea !. But am guessing you have a short 12" hose between the two humidifiers.
I imagine that the buffering & pressure loss with a 12 ft hose would lower the therapy effectiveness ?

Cheers

DSM

When I ran mine together I had the small hose like DSM suggested and then from the F & P the 6 foot hose to my mask. I am thinking it may have been an 18" hose, but then again that was my first winter and I was still pretty sleep deprived so it may have been 12".

I've never seen a hose shorter than 6 foot for sale anywhere ?

I have just finished reading the useful literature that cpap.com has in the product images section for the F&P HC150

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/fisher ... ifier.html

I think i need to up my humidity a little. I currently run around 2-3 and use a half tank most nights. BUT i still get the nasal blockages and wake with extreme dry mouth. The product literature has me thinking i need to add extra humidity and not just a bit either.

I'll try bumping mine up some more and see how i do, i have a hose cover and repti cable to heat my hose. The air is dry most of the time in Arizona but it can change in just a few hours if a monsoon storm comes rolling in. So I must admit I like the sound of the Ambient Tracking feature to help deal with the drastic seasonal temperature changes. I wonder how well the Ambient Tracking feature will work in Willie's case where he is already passing in humidified air from his Resmed humidifier ?


Unfortunately it does not look as though the HC150 has the heated hose that F&P had built into their SleepStyle CPAP machine humidifiers, that is a shame.