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Bons wrote:

Jaylee wrote:

Bons wrote:I share my gallons jugs of distilled water with hermit crabs, so I go through a jug a week if I use the heated humidifier, less if I leave the heat off. Too bad the kid's an RA this year and has to obey the dorm rules - they are considered too dangerous to be at school.

Hermit crabs are too dangerous to be at college? We have them as class pets in my classroom. My Pre-K classroom. And we let the 5 year olds take them home on the weekend to crabsit.

Crazy, isn't it? Then again, these guys are in shells the size of my fist and they can pinch pretty hard.

I don't think those are the types of crabs they're talking about...

I'm a less-than-one-week newbie, so my experience is zilch and the variation of distilled water usage is amazing!

My DME company told me I should empty the distilled water out of my humidifier each morning, rinse the humidifier with warm soapy water and leave to air dry. He said I could put the leftover distilled water into another container and reuse it the next night. Then once a week start all over with completely fresh distilled water.

He also said I could use boiled water occasionally if necessary.

I'd appreciate any comments to this if you think I'm looking at trouble with doing this.

Cheers,
Xena

Jaylee wrote:

Bons wrote:I share my gallons jugs of distilled water with hermit crabs, so I go through a jug a week if I use the heated humidifier, less if I leave the heat off. Too bad the kid's an RA this year and has to obey the dorm rules - they are considered too dangerous to be at school.

Hermit crabs are too dangerous to be at college? We have them as class pets in my classroom. My Pre-K classroom. And we let the 5 year olds take them home on the weekend to crabsit.

I know some crabs that need to be sat on!!

xenablue wrote:I'm a less-than-one-week newbie, so my experience is zilch and the variation of distilled water usage is amazing!

My DME company told me I should empty the distilled water out of my humidifier each morning, rinse the humidifier with warm soapy water and leave to air dry. He said I could put the leftover distilled water into another container and reuse it the next night. Then once a week start all over with completely fresh distilled water.

What's the purpose of cleaning the humidifier and then reusing what is supposedly "dirty water"? Makes no sense.

In reality, it's overkill to dump the leftover water every day IF you are using distilled water.

xenablue wrote: He also said I could use boiled water occasionally if necessary.

This too makes no sense if you are using distilled water or even if it's potable tap-water. Arguably, there may be merit in doing this if you are using non-potable water. All boiling will do is to kill any bacteria in the water, but there shouldn't be any bacteria in the first place.

Boiled water has the down side of concentrating any dissolved salts that are in the water. These salts eventually will precipitate on the heater plate in the humidifier. The main reason for using distilled water in your humidifier is to eliminate these salts (i.e. distilled water has no dissolved salts).

You will find a wide range of opinions on what needs to be done with respect to cleaning your humidifier. Personally, I use nothing but distilled water when at home. I top up the tank as necessary and only dump the water when I need to pack up my cpap for travel (about once per week!) In two years on cpap, I rarely wash my humidifier tank; about once per week I rinse it using tap water.

When travelling, if distilled water is not available, I use bottled water (NOT mineral water), or potable tap water. In these cases, I dump the water every morning and start with fresh water so as not to concentrate the dissolved salts in the tank.

In winter, I use about a gallon of distilled water per 3 to 4 weeks when using my M series autopap. Usage is significantly lower when I use my PR System One autopap: estimated to be about a gallon every 6 to 8 weeks .

Usage is much lower than this in summer.

Thanks Hose Head - makes sense - I'll stop the daily rinsing, decanting ritual. I only used the boiled water until I could get to the store for some distilled.

Cheers,
Xena

It depends if I totally empty the tank after each night, which I do every 2-3 nights. Sometimes I just top off the tank. Here in Los Angeles I use more water in the summer (dry) and less in the winter (more humid). I'd say a gallon lasts me 1-2 weeks.

I've been on CPAP for about a month and have used about 2 gallons of distilled water. Add in some nights with tap water and I'm up to probably 2-1/2 gallons a month. I have the CPAP set for 78 degrees and it generally drains the humidifer tank every night.

xenablue wrote:Thanks Hose Head - makes sense - I'll stop the daily rinsing, decanting ritual. I only used the boiled water until I could get to the store for some distilled.

You may want to search the board for cleaning topics as there already has been a ton (full ton) of discussion on the subject, with multiple threads.

IMHO, there are several groups here:
1) Don't use Humidification
2) Clean and rinse daily
3) Clean and rinse weekly/monthly/other
4) Keep filling and clean and rinse once a year or two

Pretty much everyone agrees on the distilled water with *NOTHING ELSE* added. Most also agree that after using boiled water, and/or bottled water they clean and rinse prior to going back to distilled water.

Oh, and don't get them started about mask and hose cleaning We'll be here past 2011.

PS: Don't forget about your AIR FILTER, those might need some attention as well!

In the summer i can get through a gallon in a week using the RestGal top it off method.

I use less in the winter.

xenablue wrote:Thanks Hose Head - makes sense - I'll stop the daily rinsing, decanting ritual. I only used the boiled water until I could get to the store for some distilled.

Cheers,
Xena

The only reason to use distilled water is that the mineral content has been removed - boiling doesn't do that.

We have a home distiller, but I suspect it costs more to run than buy the jugs.
Besides it is a big pain in the glutes.

Gal lasts me 2-3 months in warm weather as I'm on passover then. Winter depends on how cold it is and which mask: pillow mask, gal every 2-3 wks, with current Hybrid maybe gal a month.

plr66 wrote:Tony, Not sure what use you're wanting to make of the responses to your question, other than curiosity about the differences. I mean, I use passover humidity (no heat) in winter (about a gallon every 2 months, I guess) and no water in the humidifier at all in summer....Can you clarify the reasons for your question? Otherwise, the information we give is totally useless.

Yes, the question is meaningless without some context.

The two biggest factors in appropriate water usage are the relative humidity of the bedroom and the CPAP pressure. Humidity requirements are inversely related to relative humidity and directly related to pressure (higher pressure creates greater vent rate carries more moisture through the vent).

If you are using the CPAP system improperly, you may have a high water usage - example, using a nasal interface and mouth breathing.