When to use humidifier? At what settings?

Current bedroom temp is 75°F with humidity 42% inside. Outside temp is 60°F, humidity 60%. 2 miles from a bay.

I've never used any sort of humidifier before. I also have the ClimateLine tubing. What to do for this type of climate?

The correct humidity is definitely a trial and error process. Turn it up and down and find what feels best for you.

Some people do better with more, some with less. For instance some people find more humidity helps congestion, for some it makes it worse.

Sorry if this is a hijack. I'm hoping I have the same questions just worded differently.

I'm confused about the difference between the climate line tubing and the humidifier. And also the temp setting. Do they all do different things? Is the temp setting on the S9 for the climate line? If so how do you control humidity.

Chikorita wrote:I'm confused about the difference between the climate line tubing and the humidifier. And also the temp setting. Do they all do different things? Is the temp setting on the S9 for the climate line? If so how do you control humidity.

The S9 allows for 2 methods of controlling humidity when using the ClimateLine heated hose. The default is for "automatic" setting in the clinical menu. With this you get only a choice for temperature with the Climateline hose...more temperature equals more humidity. Lower temperature....lower humidity. Trial and error as to which feels the best.

There is another option available though. In the clinical menu you can change the humidifier climateline setting from "automatic" to patient and this allows for the temperature and humidity settings to be set independent of each other.
This past summer I found the "automatic" setting of 84 degrees to give me my desired moisture (I like and need lots of moisture) was a bit to warm on my face. So I changed it to 76 degrees and and a setting of 5 on the humidifier.
Now that the nights are cooler here I find that the added warmth is welcome so I changed it back to automatic and use 84 degrees.

If someone doesn't have the ClimateLine heated hose then the only setting choice that is available is for humidifier setting..1 through 6 I think....the higher the number the greater the amount of added moisture.

BTW....I don't change humidifier setting when it rains or anything...I leave it the same once I figured out what my nose likes. Pouring down rain outside with windows open and relative humidity 100% and I still use the same settings.

Pugsy-you posted before I could provide the following answer! But I will post it anyway. The only thing that I will be adding that is helpful may be the last sentence-regarding the machine adjusting automatically to the relative humidity and room temperature regardless of where you are.

Chikorita wrote:I'm confused about the difference between the climate line tubing and the humidifier. And also the temp setting. Do they all do different things? Is the temp setting on the S9 for the climate line? If so how do you control humidity.

The heated humidifier adds moisture to the air that is being delivered from the machine. If that moisture cools as it travels from the machine, in an unheated hose, the moisture can condense and be a factor in causing "rainout". The heated hose, which has a temperature sensor at the mask end of the hose, is supposed to maintain the warmth to prevent condensation in the tubing.

The temperature setting determines the amount of moisture delivered. With increasing temperatures the amount of moisture delivered is increased. That is done automatically by the machine. The temperature setting is variable from one person to another. A person simply finds a temperature setting that is comfortable to them and the machine will automatically adjust for other factors (Including room temperature and relative humidity).

I finally got around to trying out my humidifier and climateline tubing. I had the settings pretty warm, in the 80's and it felt good.

I went to use the restroom after 2 hours, I turned on the lights and after a few seconds the breaker tripped. Portable tower heater + humidifier was too much for the breaker

But the humidifier should have been off at that point when I stopped the CPAP machine. Anyone know what could have happened?

cosmo wrote:I finally got around to trying out my humidifier and climateline tubing. I had the settings pretty warm, in the 80's and it felt good.

I went to use the restroom after 2 hours, I turned on the lights and after a few seconds the breaker tripped. Portable tower heater + humidifier was too much for the breaker

But the humidifier should have been off at that point when I stopped the CPAP machine. Anyone know what could have happened?

Obviously there is too much plugged into that circuit. There could be several outlets on the same circuit...not just the one with the heater and CPAP and possibly the lights. How high is your heater set...1500 watts can overload.

Wow. Thanks for that explanation. That was all new to me and very helpful.

I live in a similar location to you, within earshot of barking seals. I have the Climateline,too. There are two modes with the H5i humidifier: a manual mode that allows you to set air temperature and humidifier reservoir temperature separately, and the automatic mode which maintains the relative humidity of the air delivered to the mask at a constant 80% regardless of the temperature you set. The latter is simpler to set. Just select the temperature and forget it. Usually I set the temperature at 72 - 78 degrees, but I currently have a cold and need more humidity to keep my nose from plugging up, so I set the temperature to 82F.

BTW, if you ever get an error message saying "Climateline failure: replace hose," it's very likely that the humidifier ran out of water and the air in the hose overheated, shutting down the machine. I've had that happen in very hot weather when I've used the Climateline hose, too.

And another thing: If you ever find yourself getting a sore throat in the morning, it's likely your throat is drying out and you might need more humidity.

I'm glad you brought this up, cosmo. I've been struggling with determining how to adjust the settings and was thinking of raising the same question. The clinical manual isn't real good about explaining some stuff (I think since it's a *clinical* manual, not a *patient* manual or user guide, it assumes the user already knows what everything means).

Thanks to all for the helpful explanations and information!

Slartybartfast wrote:BTW, if you ever get an error message saying "Climateline failure: replace hose," it's very likely that the humidifier ran out of water and the air in the hose overheated, shutting down the machine. I've had that happen in very hot weather when I've used the Climateline hose, too.

Do you have an early version of the S9 AutoSet.

That problem was fixed in the S9 AutoSets with a later Software Version.

It was definitely fixed by Version 0903, but I think it was even fixed by the 0603 Version.

Pugsy wrote:The default is for "automatic" setting in the clinical menu. With this you get only a choice for temperature with the Climateline hose...more temperature equals more humidity. Lower temperature....lower humidity. Trial and error as to which feels the best.

Slartybartfast already covered it, but if you keep it in the Auto Setting & only change the temperature, you get a constant 80% humidity no matter what temperature you use.

Increasing the temperature does NOT increase the humidity and decreasing the temperature does NOT decrease the humidity.

If you want to raise / lower both the humidity & temperature, you must use the manual mode.

I am sure that someone with your vast CPAP knowledge already knew that & just misstated it, so please excuse me for pointing it out.

StuUnderPressure wrote: Increasing the temperature does NOT increase the humidity and decreasing the temperature does NOT decreae the humidity.

If you want to raise / lower both the humidity & temperature, you must use the manual mode.

I am sure that someone with your vast CPAP knowledge already knew that & just misstated it, so please excuse me for pointing it out.

Well, lower temp sure dries my nasal mucosa out in automatic mode. Been there done that and didn't like it.

The default setting in automatic mode is for 80% humidity but my take on the wording in the manual is that humidity varies with the temperature. Not everyone would want or need 80% humidity.
So I would respectfully disagree with your interpretation of the wording.

I have the same interpretation as you do, Pugsy. I have my S9 Autset on auto and when I turn it down around 75 it's too dry for me. With a full face mask and the drier winter air, I've had to turn it up to the max of 86. I don't really like the air that warm but I need the extra humidity.

Pugsy wrote:

StuUnderPressure wrote: Increasing the temperature does NOT increase the humidity and decreasing the temperature does NOT decreae the humidity.

If you want to raise / lower both the humidity & temperature, you must use the manual mode.

I am sure that someone with your vast CPAP knowledge already knew that & just misstated it, so please excuse me for pointing it out.

Well, lower temp sure dries my nasal mucosa out in automatic mode. Been there done that and didn't like it.

The default setting in automatic mode is for 80% humidity but my take on the wording in the manual is that humidity varies with the temperature. Not everyone would want or need 80% humidity.
So I would respectfully disagree with your interpretation of the wording.

I may be out of town tomorrow - so let me APOLOGIZE to you in advance if I am wrong.

Their wording of "constant humidity" and "depending on temperature" do seem to contradict one another.