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Power Outages & CPAP
#11
RE: Power Outages
Here's couple more links to some popular threads on this subject:

http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...r-goes-out

http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...or-camping

Also, at the very bottom of any thread, the software automatically lists what it thinks are "possibly related threads". Just scroll down close to the bottom of any thread when you have it open.

Coffee
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.


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#12
RE: Power Outages
I found a youtube video for using a Sears DieHard Portable Power 1150 with a cpap. It looks like a pretty good little unit, is portable, and requires no assembly like some of the other solutions I have seen.... I am not into installing a whole house generator, and something to take camping would be pretty neat. Anyone seen/used these or have comments about similar items? We have had tree-felling winds the last couple of days so this is on my mind!
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#13
RE: Power Outages
I dunno Vader....Do you really want to connect a DIEhard to a medical device???
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#14
RE: Power Outages
(12-12-2014, 07:06 PM)PaulaO2 Wrote: I dunno Vader....Do you really want to connect a DIEhard to a medical device???

Laugh-a-lot

you have a point
I think I want solar panels.... I heard they even work in Oregon, these days
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#15
RE: Power Outages
That's what SuperSleeper has. You only need them to re-charge the battery. Solar panels have been greatly improved. Check out farm and garden websites since they sell solar water pumps and the like. They run off batteries then the panels recharge the batteries as needed. Northern Tool, too, has them.

I use a power wheelchair and keep the batteries that I replace. These deep cycle batteries are great for stuff like this. Expensive sometimes but last forever. Just don't buy any for wheelchairs. They'll be priced about 4x the amount for the same batteries marked for boats.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#16
RE: Power Outages
(12-12-2014, 01:12 AM)DariaVader Wrote: I searched... but the words to search for power outages are really common ... I have seen a few references but not a full blown discussion

What are peoples favorite ways to prepare for overnight power outage?


I have a deep cycle marine battery and an inverter for short outages.

For longer outages I have a 3KW Honda generator with the tri-fuel (natural gas/gasoline/propane) kit and a gas outlet on the side of the house.

It's not just the CPAP. It's cold around here in the winter and entirely possible to freeze to death if the furnace goes out and there's no way out of the house (big snow/ice storm for example)


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#17
RE: Power Outages
(12-12-2014, 01:19 PM)JJJ Wrote:
(12-12-2014, 12:13 PM)Galactus Wrote: Seriously though there are quite a few threads on this, most seem to favor the battery options, I favor the generator, mostly because power outages here can go on for as long as a week or more if it's really bad, and no matter what kind of battery system you have it is unlikely you could go that long without a generator. Besides with todays generator prices being so low it just makes sense.

A generator makes more sense to me too. But the cheap ones run on gasoline, which is a pain, plus during a serious power outage try to find a gas station with pumps still working. If you stockpile it in your garage you have to keep replacing it because it will go bad in just a few months.

I have natural gas in my house for heat, hot water, and cooking, so it is trivial to run a pipe out to the patio in back of the house. It will be under ten feet, and the city told me that a permit is not required. And yes, I have a pressure gauge and I know how to do it properly. When not being used for the generator it can be used for a gas grill. Engines on natural gas run much cleaner, last longer, and produce half the CO that the same engine will produce on gasoline.

The only drawback is the cost. Most are gasoline powered generators converted with a kit so they will run on gasoline, propane or natural gas ("tri-fuel generator" is what to search for on the net). I have my eye on a portable with a Honda engine that puts out 7,000 watts continuously. It is rated for electronic equipment as well, which is another factor that increased the cost; about $1,600.

Instead of a transfer switch (permit required) I plan to install additional outlets in the house that are connected only to the generator. I'll put one by the refrigerator, by the freezer, in the computer/office/family room and, of course, in the bedroom for the CPAP machine. When the power fails all I have to do is start up the generator, then walk around the house and switch things from their normal outlet to the nearby generator outlet.

Now all I need is a few days free time to install all this stuff. Sad

There's quite a bit of talk about gas going bad, but the truth is some fuel stabilizer will allow gas to be stored safely for up to 24 months and I've seen it used well beyond that time. Storage in a quality container in a shed isn't too bad either, next to the genny.

(12-12-2014, 04:46 PM)DariaVader Wrote: I found a youtube video for using a Sears DieHard Portable Power 1150 with a cpap. It looks like a pretty good little unit, is portable, and requires no assembly like some of the other solutions I have seen.... I am not into installing a whole house generator, and something to take camping would be pretty neat. Anyone seen/used these or have comments about similar items? We have had tree-felling winds the last couple of days so this is on my mind!

I've used the Harbor Freight versions of that one for $89 bucks, they work pretty damned well for under $100 and they make a great decently quiet solution. Run it outside the window run in an extension cord and you're all set. They'll run a PAP for quite a while on a tank.

A lot of people are against having gennys and favor batteries that need to keep being charged. I don't really like the idea of having a charging lead acid battery in my house as it is also an explosive issue and dangerous. If you can vent a genny outside 20+ feet from the house I think imho it's a better solution. I speak from living out here in the woods where power from teh grid can be an issue big time.

By far the very very very best solution is a whole home generac that's installed with an auto switch to go on when the grid is out and powered by a 100+ gallon diesel tank. Overall costs range $4-10k depending on home size, around here it's almost a must if you can't get by a few days with no power but not everyone wants to spend the $$
If everyone thinks alike, then someone isn't thinking.
Everyone knows something, together we could know everything.
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#18
RE: Power Outages
Friend of mine lives near Charlotte NC. They get a lot of ice storms and lose power often. She has MS as well and relies on the electricity for not just comfort but safety (her bed, etc). Two or three years ago she finally got a whole house generator. She has natural gas so it was easy for them to do (well, the first company effed stuff up but the second company did better). Since putting it in, her neighborhood has not lost electricity but for a few minutes at a time. She's joked with her neighbors that they ought to chip in and help pay for it. A few actually offered!

PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#19
RE: Power Outages
Actually thanks to this thread, I went re-exploring on this topic (me and my new dream machine). I learned that Supplier #1 sells a 12v DC cord that plus directly into my machine with standard lighter-type plug on the other side - meaning no need for an inverter - I can use it in my car (long drives from time-to-time) or pull a battery.

FYI - just happened to do this. I bought a boat a bit over 7 years ago, that came with two new batteries, one regular starting battery, and one marine deep cycle to run a trolling motor. The first winter I pulled both batteries and put them on a wood shelf in my garage (never leave batteries on the ground) attached to a 'battery tender' - anyhow the point is I've never used the trolling motor, so the deep cycle has never been used, and has been on the shelf with the tender connected for seven years and has just now died.

A great tender and deep cycle battery would cost $150 bucks or so, and using the above example, would last six or seven years at a pop, before needing to replace it. A cheap form of insurance that would be great for those outages less than 48hrs or so.
*I* am not a DOCTOR or any type of Health Care Professional.  My thoughts/suggestions/ideas are strictly only my opinions.

"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your Soul, the other for your Freedom."
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#20
RE: Power Outages
(12-13-2014, 12:52 AM)Peter_C Wrote: I learned that Supplier #1 sells a 12v DC cord that plus directly into my machine with standard lighter-type plug on the other side - meaning no need for an inverter - I can use it in my car (long drives from time-to-time) or pull a battery.

Yes, the ResMed S9 "DC/DC Converter 24V/90W" (REF 36970) replaces both an inverter (converting battery DC power into AC power) and the normal AC power adapter (converting AC to 24V DC). A battery and DC/DC converter is much more power efficient (and cost effective) than the combination of battery and inverter and the normal AC power brick.

Several places sell the ResMed S9 DC/DC for USD$99 or less. The DC/DC runs from either 12V or 24V battery.

Don't try using a regular car starting battery, though, unless the car is running (to keep battery charged up). It can kill or terribly shorten the life of a car starting battery to be completely discharged even once, because they are designed to be discharged not more than a small percentage of their energy capacity and then immediately completely recharged by the car's motor.

A marine deep cycle battery should not be discharged completely, either. I think it's important to recharge marine batteries before they get half discharged.

A golf cart batteries are true deep cycle batteries and I think can be repeatedly discharged 80% or 90% without shortening their service life much, and if they ever do get completely discharged 100% I think they are not harmed as much by that. But golf cart batteries are only 6V each and perhaps twice as expensive each, so at least two (wired in series to add to 12V) would be needed, quadrupling the price.
The Advisory Member group provides advice and suggestions to Apnea Board administrators and staff on matters concerning Apnea Board operation and administrative policies.  Membership in the Advisory Member group should not be understood as in any way implying medical expertise or qualification for advising Sleep Apnea patients concerning their treatment.
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