Emergency Back-up Battery

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FullerH

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Nov 25, 1998
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I have Sleep Apnea and require a Nasal CPAP device in order to sleep properly. This is, essentially, an electric air pump connected to a breathing mask. When the electric power goes out, say after a storm, when some idiot takes out a power pole, or wheen a squirrel gets friccaseed in one one of the switches on the power poles*, the CPAP ceases working. Dominion Virginia Power usually gets the power back on within 8-10 hours, even in the most serious situations, but it invariably winds up costing me most of the night's sleep. I have heard that they sell a battery that you can plug into your wall socket to charge up and then use it to power something like a CPAP for a period of time. Do any of you know anything about such a battery and, if so, where I could buy one?

Thanks, Hugh
 
Hi, Hugh
I think what you want is a battery back-up or uninterrupted power supply, ie a "UPS". Without knowing how much power the CPAP draws,like the watts, you won't be able to get a solid answer. But a quick look at Micro Warehouse shows that even a 60 min UPS runs $470.(And I'm not sure it would be appropriate for your device)

Try someplace like American Power Conversion--here's a start page:

http://www.apcc.com/products/back-ups_pro/index.cfm

But I'm guessing you'll need the help of an electrician to get a rig up to the time you are looking for.

Good luck!
 
Sam's Wholesale carrys a battery pack based on a 12 volt battery that has AC outlets. They are about $300.00 retail, don't know what Sam's sells them for or how long they'll last.

Bob
 
I guess that air pump uses a lot less power than a computer, so you won't need one of the biggest UPS systems to run it all night. Even the smallest ones, that are designed only to give you enough time to save everything and shut down a computer, might do it. You don't need instantaneous switching, either.

There should be a label on the air pump that says how much power it uses when it's running. If it doesn't run continuously you'll have to estimate what percentage of the time it runs.... I suggest allowing a good big safety margin; rechargeable batteries diminish in capacity as they age.
 
I would also suggest getting oversized UPS. It would be by far the easiest. It just plugs in to the wall then plug your unit in to that. Some of the larger ones allow you to add external batteries for longer runtime.

If you are handy you could get one that runs on a 12v battery (smaller ones) and then attach a 12v deep cycle battery up to it. I did this for my father with an old UPS that had a bad battery. Batteries Plus wanted $45 for the 12v 7.5AH UPS battery, it got me to thinking, I could get a 105AH 12v battery for $45, so I did. I wouldn't recommend this if you aren’t familiar with electricity. I have a large dual Trace SW system so it is just a smaller version of that.
 
Hugh,
how long did it take you to get used to the CPAP? I don't have apnea but have been told to use a CPAP for related sleep disturbance. Unfortunately I couldn't get used to sleeping with the $&%! thing on, but maybe I didn't give it enough time.
 
so I don't remember all of the details, but I do remember that my initial reaction to the f**king thing was sheer fury, especially since the idiot breathing technician who set it up for me adjusted the straps too G*d d*mned tight and the mask cut into the bridge of my nose. I still have the scar. It took some intensive psychotherapy to accept it. Now, I cannot sleep without it, and cannot imagine living without it. I was extremely fortunate in that I never wrecked my car as a result of falling asleep behind the wheel, although I had several close calls. I stopped taking long trips alone for several years until I was comfortable with the fact that I can control my staying awake. I have talked to apneacs who have fallen asleep while making love, it is that bad, so it is a serious matter.
 
Thanks, Sidewinder. They look as if they may be helpful. I wish that they had been there 13 years ago!
 
Let me know what you end up with for a battery back up solution. I am new at CPAP myself and would appreciate knowing what you find out.

Thanks,

S.
 
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