How do I know if my humidifer's working properly?

I have a new Respironics System One auto bipap with the humidifier. I usually fill the tank to the 50% line, and have the humidifer now set at 5 (I started at 3). When I go to empty it in the morning I notice that the water line is only very slightly below the line where I filled it. I remember with my old CPAP that the humidifier used quite a lot of water. The other difference now, is that I'm using Mirage Swift Nasal pillows, and before I was using various FFM's. Is there a significant difference there? Should I be concerned that the humidifier's not functioning properly?

Hi, if the humidity in the air is high (as I think yours would be this week) then the machine doesn't necessarily need as much help and will use less water than e.g. it would in Arizona. I would only be concerned if I felt 'dry' in the a.m.

Hi, if the humidity in the air is high (as I think yours would be this week) then the machine doesn't necessarily need as much help and will use less water than e.g. it would in Arizona. I would only be concerned if I felt 'dry' in the a.m. But you might feel that anyway if you mouth breathe but are no longer wearing a full face mask.

I have basically the same machine and it also uses very little water. It will use more when the room humidity is dry and it is colder. The machine constantly monitors the room temperature and humidity level. So if you already have a lot of humidity in the room - it most likely won't heat any water to cause evaporation through the hose.

A setting of "5" seems very high. I can't stand it higher than a setting of "1"

Everyone's sense of comfort is different I guess.

The System One humidifiers will use very little water and will not really heat the water if the humidity in your room is sufficient.

You may be more comfortable running the humidifier in "classic mode" where it actually heats the water. It's a bit warmer and adds more humidity. Do a search here to find out how to turn on the classic settings.

I had the same problem with the System One humidifier, not enough moisture. I changed to Classic mode and that solved the problem of raising the humidity. However, now it gets so hot that it is uncomfortable. If the humidity is turned down and not much water being used the hot air really dries out my nose. I think the perfect world would be Classic Mode with no heat.

Anyone know of a way to turn the heater off and still provide the humidification?

I started out with a Resmed S8 Bi-pap and you could run the humidifier without the heat, but it only lasted about a week. Regardless of the settings it would literally blow the mask away from your face unless you really cinched it down so after 2 nights the nose and face were really sore. Luckily on the 3rd night it completely quit.