Need battery operated CPAP for camping

[greatunclebill]

i'm thinking of hurricane season and think a gas generator would be more cost effective than buying 2 of them. actually sleeping in the car post high winds would be better yet. the very high winds only last a few hours, but the power could be out for days.

I plan to rely on a car battery when the next hurricane comes around. That way I can recharge it by sticking it back in the car.

We had Alicia in 1983 and then Ike in 2008. May it be another quarter century before we have a power outage like that again. They each lasted at least a week, maybe 10 days, if I remember correctly.

we left during ivan in 2004 and stayed in a mobile home during katrina in 2005. i think that was the last big one we've seen. i'm still debating this whole battery/generator thing in my mind. hopefully when a storm comes i won't still be debating. i'm thinking of buying a little generator and a little one room 110v a/c unit. then i could power the air for only one room, the 2 cpap's and the freezer. we are literally right across the road from a brand new power substation so hopefully i won't need any of it. in katrina we lived about a block from the water pumping station so we were only out of power a day or two.

[Sleepster]

After Ike in 2008 I thought very seriously about a whole-house generator. Now, as memory of that outage fades, so does the thought.

[PaulaO2]

You'd get better hours if you got a marine battery and small charger. A marine (deep cell) is designed to let out its charge over time. A car battery is designed to put out its charge all at once so you can start the car then is recharged as the engine runs. After a car is started, you can take the battery out and it will still run. (but modern cars run the risk of slight spark killing the electronics, wimps) Theoretically, the deep cell battery will last longer. It is what ham radio operators use. Get a lot more radio time with one than a car battery.

Solar chargers for batteries are getting cheaper and cheaper. I was surprised to see one in ACE hardware yesterday.

I have an inverter, a charger, and two used deep cell batteries. I've tested it, but not had to use it. I plug the inverter into my truck, the charger into the inverter, and connect the charger to the battery. I then run the truck and it charged the battery.

Also I considered using my truck's battery a few winters ago when we were out for 5 days but the dang things are getting so hard to get to!! ('03 Chevy S10) AND the truck was buried in snow (and bamboo)!

   

[Sleepster]

Paula, you could charge the batteries by connecting them directly to the cigarette lighter soket in your car. No need for the inverter and charger, each basically undoes what the other does.

You are right about the deep cycle battery. They are made to be charged and then discharged (deep cycle) wheras car batteries are made to charged and then discharged only a little (shallow cycle) before being fully charged. Basically, a car battery spends its life being almost fully charged almost all the time. Deep cycle batteries spend their entire life being almost fully discharged and then charged.

The thing is, though, I don't have to use that battery very often. Only once every few years when we have a hurricane. Now, if went camping a lot, or even a little, I'd get one.

I may get one anyway. I was a boy scout, and that motto of "always be prepared" is burned into my psyche.

I like the idea of a solar charger. That would be a dandy way to keep it charged.

[PaulaO2]

If you get a deep cell, don't get one from a disability/wheelchair place. Same battery costs at least twice as much at those places.

[Sleepster]

I live near the coast, so I'll probably get it from a marina. Most of our auto supply stores stock them, too. Whatever's cheaper.

[JumpStart]

After Ike in 2008 I thought very seriously about a whole-house generator. Now, as memory of that outage fades, so does the thought.

A portable generator will also work as a whole house generator, although a house air conditioner can not always be run, depending on its size. I have a portable with a continuous output of roughly 6.8kv, and a starting of somewhere around 8.5kv, I think. The higher starting output enables motors, such as refrigerators, to start, as they create an initial power surge. A friend of mine (an EE) and a friend of his (an electrician) wired my house so that I have a separate box by my main breaker box. If power goes south, I trip the separate box (which disconnects my outside power) plug in and fire up the generator, and control what I want to have running by using the individual breakers. This avoids the use of extension cords, since inside my house (and elsewhere) everything remains plugged in as before. The separate box keeps everything compartmentalized, so if a power company worker is repairing the line, my generator doesn't try to fry him. The only thing this will NOT handle continuously is my main house air conditioning. Refrigerators and freezers, in particular, remain functional, as does ice creation. Washers and dryer all work, although I do exercise some common sense in running the washer and dryer at different times. It does, however, handle a separate room in my garage which is air conditioned, and in which I can sleep during summer, such as during an extended power outage from a hurricane. Been there, done that. While a blow-up bed on the floor is no picnic for an old guy and his wife, it sure beats the suffocating heat and humidity of an August evening with a low of not less than 82F and humidity of 85%!!! That also doesn't count missing the skeeters, which LOVE an open window! And the system will also run my cpap.

[Sleepster]

There's an automated version of the box they installed for you. I forget it's name.

It's illegal to back-feed a generator into your household wiring without one of these boxes. As you said, it could cause an accidental electrocution of a worker, or any other poor slob who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The whole-house generator I was referring to also starts automatically when the power goes out, and it runs off of natural gas, so you don't have to worry about feeding it gasoline.

In the aftermath of Ike in 2008 I asked one of my co-workers if the power was still out at her house. She said it was, but she didn't seem bothered by it. Turns out she and her hubby simply moved into their motor home, which had air conditioning and its own generator.

Around here, when we have a power outage during hurricane season, air conditioning is what we miss the most. You either get a whole-house generator powerful enough to run your central air, use a portable generator and a window air conditioner to at least keep your bedroom cool, or sweat it out. We had to sweat it out!

If I had to do that again, this time without CPAP therapy, I think I would lose my mind. And I might just have to attack one of my neighbors and steal their generator. The darn things are noisy, too. There's nothing like trying to sleep without electricity, sweating, and having to listen to your neighbor's noisy generator.

[greatunclebill]

if you're an electrician you won't like this. i've seen many people do this. have a generator in a vented area outside of the house so there are no C0 problems. use a double male heavy wire extension cord to run from the generator to an electrical outlet. throw the main power switch so you don't try to power up the neighborhood. now of course you can't run your whole house thru one outlet. but you can turn everything off and just plug in the very few essential items like the cpap's at night. over the years i've seen many people do this after hurricanes and major outages and never saw a house burn down.

[JumpStart]

There's an automated version of the box they installed for you. I forget it's name.

Yeah, but with a portable generator, somebody has to plug it in and start it, so pulling a switch isn't much additional effort.

The whole-house generator I was referring to also starts automatically when the power goes out, and it runs off of natural gas, so you don't have to worry about feeding it gasoline.

I forget the name of the type of a/c I have in the garage room, but it is not a window unit. The condenser sits next to my house condensers, and the unit hangs inside on the wall in my garage room. It is about a 30k btu, I think, but may be just 24k.

The whole house unit you mention, when I checked the price 6-7 years ago, ran around $10,000+. My system with a portable generator hooked into the breaker panel and meter ran around $1800 total. I can turn it on manually, fill it every 18-20 hours, and sleep on the floor for the few times we lose power here for the $8200 difference.:grin: I could even buy a bed! I altered my generator so it runs off propane tanks like I use in an outdoor grill, as well as gasoline. I keep mostly propane tanks on hand. Don't need a fuel stabilizer, and they last virtually forever.

Just noticed you are also from Houston, Sleepster. Speaking of hurricanes, keep your fingers crossed for the coming season!