Cpap Backup- Alabama Tornadoes

We were not hit by the tornado but are in the center of a circle of areas here in Alabama that were. We have been without power for several days. My husband I both use Cpaps. The hardest thing has been the lack of quality sleep without our machines. We have tried sleeping sitting up in recliners, etc but it's a real problem. We are determined to have something to backup the power for these things if this happens again in the future. Any suggestions? It would have to be simple to use because we are not tech savvy people. Thanks.

I've never pursued a power backup myself, so sorry, I can't be of much help. But your question brought a thought to mind that struck my heart. How many CPAP users have lost their machines in the storms and have no resources to replace them? Oh my! If anyone has a workable idea how someone might be a part of meeting that need, please start another thread about it.

This solution will keep you going for a day or two, the next time power goes out. If you've got two people, you'll either need two copies of the setup or get some sort of multi-outlet cigarette cord adapter.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62477&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... 30#p586370

DO NOT buy the Respironics DC power adapter listed in that post until you figure out what cord your OWN model of CPAP machine uses. Please go into your user control panel ucp.php and fill in the "equipment list" on your profile so people will know how to help you better.

There's some more discussion in that thread about using generators and other ways of having backup power.

Sleeping in the recliner may not help much because you're still on your back. Try sleeping on your side or stomach.

We each have a SleepStyle 200 by Fisher and Paykel. Any suggestions appreciated.

I think the SleepStyle 200 doesn't have a DC input. By the way, there are a bunch of different SleepStyle 200 models. See if you can figure out what particular model you have and put it in your profile for future reference. Do you use heated humidifiers?

If this is correct, you'll have to add a 300 Watt "pure sine wave" DC to AC inverter ($100+). Run times will be shorter when using an inverter vs. a DC powered system. Even shorter if you run the humidifier.

You may be better off with a generator. Are you in the country, in a house, do you have nearby neighbors who might object to a generator running all night?

Either solution is somewhat complicated.

The generator solution requires you to do gasoline management so that you have fuel to run the generator. Unfortunately, you can't simply store modern gasoline because the pollution reduction junk makes it go bad rapidly when you store it. You have to either empty and refill your gas cans every month or so, or figure out how to get gasoline from your car gas tank. Lots of car gas tanks have anti siphon traps to prevent gas theft. I understand gas is hard to get now in some parts of Alabama because of power outages. Then you have to keep the generator working. If you just let it sit for a year or two, it may not work when you need it.

The battery solution is big and bulky, and require some periodic maintenance, too. It tends not to give you a lot of days of power, especially with two CPAPers.

With either battery or generator, it's really easy to spend a lot of money and then find it doesn't work when you need it.

Driving to a cheap hotel that has power might be another possibility. Maybe not every night, but once in a while to get a decent catchup if you're going to be without power for up to 6 weeks like the news is saying.

With my battery system I go with my Sleepstyle F&P 604. i have a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery and a modified sine wave inverter, cost me $172 in Canada, so would be cheaper in the US. The sine wave inverter has 3 plug spots on it so you would both plug into the same outfit. DO NOT use your humidifiers though. I get about 4, 9 hour nights out of a single charge, so you would 1/2 that if you both used the same one.
It is worth it as far as I am concerned I can go camping or when power goes out I'm set.
Good luck
Nan

bamakathy wrote:Any suggestions?

There are a significant number of existing threads here about this. Using the forum search function should yield you a lot of relevant information.

Cheers,

Bill

Happy to hear you two are ok.
What a terrible terrible thing to be happening around you, or to you.

I didn't think about the people on C-pap and other necessary equipment. Wow!
I'm sure many are struggling.

Maybe the fire station, hospitals and police departments have generators. Maybe they would let you bring a few blankets and sleep on the floor.


I know so many people are hurting there and so many have died I guess I would be acting selfish trying to find somewhere to "hook up", but I would have to to be able to cope with everything going on around me.