AirSense 10 increased water consumption

[28AHIguy]

Hey all, I've been using my CPAP daily thanks in part to some helpful advice on these forums. I've noticed a trend recently that I'm curious about:

On my AirSense 10's humidifier, there are three water level marks (I'll refer to as High, Medium, Low). My nightly routine has been to fill with distilled water to the High mark and usually wake up after 8-9 hrs of usage to find the water at the Medium mark or just a bit below. However, at the start of this month I noticed I would wake up to the water level at or below the Low mark with the same amount of usage. No purposeful changes to equipment or machine settings have been made.

This isn't causing me any problems, I'm just wondering what might have caused this? Two possible causes have happened close to the observed change:

• I took my CPAP on a roadtrip. I packed all the equipment in its soft case and drove 14 hours total with it in the covered bed of a truck with the rest of my luggage.
  
• The weather has gotten colder (and maybe dryer?). I've lowered the thermostat 2 degrees in my house.
  

I'm most concerned that traveling with it in the truck bed may have had some effect on the internal components. I've not observed any other issues so far though.

Thanks for reading!

[Nightynite]

Mine does the same this time of year because of less humidity. I also have to use more lotion because this old man’s skin dries out.

[dkemp234]

28AHIguy,
After 14 months of using my Airsense 10, I am seeing the same effect. I used to get 3 nights of usage per tank fill up, now I'm getting 1-2 nights.If the changing weather is the cause, it didn't happen last fall and winter when the weather changed.

However, I am having a problem with increased mask leaks and I suspect that this may be a factor in the water usage.

By the way, my CPAP has traveled numerous times in the overhead bin on planes and trains, in the trunk of my car, and even in checked baggage with no discernable negative effects.

[Uzupan]

I would suspect what is happening is the dryer air is causing the situation as well as turning in the heat in the house if you have done this.

[pilothaz]

Just because it didn't happen last winter season doesn't mean it cannot be ruled out this season. Possibly you had different temps in the house previous, less harsh of a winter etc. A lot of factors could go into why it is more water hungry this year.

[vroomvroom]

Mine too! I assume it's just the drier air in the room?

[Dog Slobber]

Things that impact water usage:

• Humidity Setting. The higher the more water. Setting to Auto creates makes it less predictable than a hard-set value
  
• Ambient humidity. This probably has the greatest impact on water usage
  
• Leaks. This too, can have a significant impact on water usage
  
• Pressure. Higher pressure will use more water. Of those listed, this will like have the least impact, with the extra water being blown out because of the increased (venting) flow.
  

[sunlight]

Others have already covered the most likely scenarios (I've also noticed ambient humidity correlates with how much water is left in the chamber by morning) but I wanted to say definitely check for leaks if water usage changes dramatically. I didn't notice a slow leak in my humidifier from the silicone bead between the plastic casing and metal plate and it caused some water damage to rear of my nightstand.

[Zorki1c]

My wife uses the Auto setting on her AirSense 10 and has to fill the tank every night in the winter. I use a 1 setting on my AirSense 10 and have to add water after three night and that never change.

[elmo582]

I tend to run out of water with my AirCurve 10 VAuto around the 6-7 hour mark. I have made numerous adjustments oner the years. I believe it is mostly due to mask leaks due to my beard. I use distilled water but it stills cooks and stinks when the water is gone.