I recently joined my wife in needing a CPAP. She is on her third machine, a Philips Respironics System One REMstar Plus CPAP Machine with C-Flex, and I have a new Resmed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier. Both run with a heated humidifier, which we both use every night. My wife's machine can only use a heated hose, while it is optional for mine and I have an unheated hose. I tested my wife's first machine and it used around 25 to 30AH (amp-hours) of battery per night, so I wanted to check these, especially since we now both have them and a residential fridge.
My wife's machine is the power hog, it uses 350 to 360 watt-hours per night, its high watt usage is 95.5, it has a phantom load of 2.1 watts, and thus it uses approximately 30 watt-hours if left plugged in for a total 24 hour usage of about 380 to 390 watt-hours. I suspect the required heated hose is adding to the electric usage.
My machine, which came on the market in September 2014, is much quieter and uses much less distilled water overnight. It uses about 130 watt-hours overnight, with a high watt usage of 55 watts, it has a phantom load of 5.2 watts, and thus it uses another 70 watt-hours if left plugged in. Since it has a cellular modem built-in to report home daily, I suspect some of the phantom load is the modem.
Anyway, depending on how efficient your inverter is my wife's will use somewhere around 30AH to 35AH of battery over night, and a high of 39AH in 24 hours if left plugged in. Mine will use around 11 to 13AH of battery over night and a high of 20AH in 24 hours if left plugged in. Your numbers will vary, depending on needed pressure, model of CPAP, and if you use or do not use a heated humidifier. Between us, we need approximately the safe and usable power from one golf cart battery over night, around 48AH.
There are many who are convinced they need shore power to use a CPAP, but it is possible to boondock with one. We have for years with one CPAP, and will continue with two. If you have more than than one battery, it is possible to overnight with a CPAP.
This is not a rigorous study, I was leisurely about checking the numbers on my meter, but did check them three days in a row.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Sunday 7th of June 2015 12:15:19 PM
TRAILERKING said
07:42 PM Jun 7, 2015
Welcome to the club of CPAPers. Good info on the consumption. I've never figured mine out. I used to run mine only on shore power or on the generator. I was worried to try it on my old modified sine wave Heart Interface Inverter. This last summer I decided to give it a shot and it worked fine off the inverter. That was my old Resmed S-6 without the humidifier. I have a newer Resmed S-9 now with the heated hose but never tried it on the inverter yet but I think it should work good.
bjoyce said
10:23 PM Jun 7, 2015
I seem to be joining all kinds of "clubs", the hernia club, the heart murmur club and now the CPAP club.
I had wired in a 300 watt pure sinewave inverter in for my wife's and used it before we got the residential fridge. It cost me about $100 US and since the 12 volt fuse box is in the bedroom, it was easy to wire in close to the bed. Our big inverter/charger is also pure sinewave, but has more phantom load.
I used a Floureon TS-836A, which is a lot like a Kill-A-Watt, to get the watt-hour and watt usage. The 836A was about $16 US from Amazon.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Sunday 7th of June 2015 10:24:40 PM
BamaBob said
07:02 AM Jun 10, 2015
Yeah...like the saying goes "growing old sucks, but the alternative sucks more"
We had our sleep studies and both of us needed a CPAP. My DW took to hers with ZERO issues. Me...not so much. I felt like someone was air waterboarding me!
Back to the Sleep Dr...and it turns out he has the same problem and is now using this:
So I did the same and I am here to tell you CPAP's days are numbered! DW has a fitting appointment in a couple of weeks. You wear this device just like a retainer (for those who had braces) and adjust the amount of jaw protrusion (which opens your airway) with a small tool that is easy to use. I love it!
Good news (for us at least) is our insurance considers this a "durable medical device" just like a CPAP, so it was covered 100%.
Honestly, every CPAP user out there should go to their Dr. and investigate this - and do NOT let them dissuade you and tell you your apnea is too severe (mine was off the charts). And YES it takes care of snoring better than a CPAP AND no "Darth Vader" CPAP side-effects
If anyone has questions, feel free to contact me. This.just.works.!
bjoyce said
08:44 AM Jun 10, 2015
My wife has many family members who have tried every alternative to CPAPs, including surgery of the jaw and dental appliances. For her family, these treatments work for a while and after a few years they end up back on CPAPs. There is a surgery that puts stiffeners into the throat that has great hope, since it is going after the base cause, but no one we know has tried it yet.
Since both of us are doing fine with CPAPs, we are not looking for alternatives.
BamaBob said
09:22 AM Jun 10, 2015
Good points Bill.
I have only had my Somnadent for 6 months now, so I guess I will have to see what the long term result is.
Both CPAP and Somnadent work on the underlying cause (like the surgery). CPAP forcibly opens the airway whereas the Somnadent moves the lower jaw forward which tightens the soft tissue and muscles of the upper airway (identical to the surgery).
I can see where there is a possibility that, over the long term, there is a chance that no matter how much you move the jaw forward the muscles and tissue will not tighten sufficiently but hopefully, before that occurs, the surgery will be perfected and available for me.
I am glad CPAP works for you and the DW Bill - you are right, if it ain't broke why fix it? :)
But for those who cannot tolerate CPAP or dislike the experience, you really do need to check out the Somnadent - sleep apnea is a SERIOUS disorder that can lead to all sorts of health complications.
TRAILERKING said
10:32 AM Jun 10, 2015
The only thing I dislike about CPAP is having to carry it around where ever I go for overnight. Other than that it's my Life-Line.
I was looking at the surgery procedure Bill mentioned, where they insert a stiffener. Seems like a good cure but not recognized or done in Canada just the U.S.
BamaBob said
12:26 PM Jun 10, 2015
Trailerking - the Somnadent fits in your jacket pocket.
I am in the unfortunate situation of being not-retired even worse I have to travel occasionally ad overseas every now and then. Somnadent is my hero! Not only is it discreet (no more "Mommy why is that man putting on a gas mask" ) But no power is needed and it just works.
I even use it outside the RV when I am taking a nap. Even if I am woken up by a neighbor, I can still hold a conversation with the Somnadent in place - shoot I can even drink with it in!
And best of all? I can insert my Somnadent and kiss the DW goodnight
TRAILERKING said
01:07 PM Jun 10, 2015
Well that wouldn't work for me........I have a bad Gag Reflex. Just looking at it I want to start to gag.
BamaBob said
01:17 PM Jun 10, 2015
Trailerking - have you ever had a impression made for a crown or bridge? That is how they get your impression for a Somnodent. The device itself is *much* less intrusive than the impression used to make it. There is nothing in the device to trigger a gag reflex everything is on your teeth - just like a braces retainer. As a psychologist though, I could envision a psychological response/aversion to the appliance.
(BTW folks I am in NO way related to Somnomed - don't even own stock - although I should :D I am just a satisfied customer who realizes there are a HECK of a lot of folks out there with OSA that cannot tolerate a CPAP & this is a potentially life saving alternative)
Lonney Wade said
04:09 PM Jun 10, 2015
I know nothing about this machine, but I looked on line for a DC 12 volt powered CPAP, could used less electric but what do I know, just trying to help. Lonney
bjoyce said
09:27 AM Jun 11, 2015
The Pillar Procedure is the one using siffeners, http://www.pillarprocedure.com/ and has been approved since 2004 in the US Multiple surgeons do it around Seattle.
A friend says that for short durations, the Provent system, http://www.proventtherapy.com/index.php, works for him and is what he takes on trips instead of his CPAP.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Thursday 11th of June 2015 09:32:16 AM
I bought the 12V cigarette lighter cord for it and tapped into the 12V light power source at the head of our bed. No complicated inverter hookup or need to run the big RV inverter at night.
With the machine turned off, but still plugged into the 12V source it uses about 0.1 amp or less, so I never remove it from the 12V source. She doesn't use the water heater for the water tank so when it is running it only pulls about 0.6amp to 0.7amp. This equates to about 6.3 amp hours (AH) in a 9 hour overnight use.
It is good to note that the heater in the water tank is not there to warm the air, but to warm the water so more water is absorbed by the air flowing through the water tank (i.e. a little higher humidity air flowing through the hose). If she was to turn on the water heater to even the lowest setting it consumes about 4 to 5 amps. That really jumps up the overnight power usage!
We have never had any problems with condensation in the hose. She has used the CPAP with air temps inside the RV down to the upper 40's.
TRAILERKING said
08:33 AM Jun 17, 2015
My S-9 is 24V/90W. So it has a power converter to plug in the wall (120vac) and steps it down to 24vdc. Not sure what it consumes through the night but it did work alright running on my Heart Interface Modified Sine Wave Inverter. My S-9 system cost me $2,000.00 cdn.
bjoyce said
07:57 AM Jan 18, 2018
Update. My wife's CPAP started turning itself off randomly at night. So now we both have Resmed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet models. Our daily battery usage if we unplug the machines in the daytime would be around 25AH or around 40AH if we left then plugged in.
Anyway if you really need something that is smaller and uses less power the new Resmed AirMini, https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed-airmini-auto-travel-cpap-machine.html, might be for you. It only supports a couple masks/pillow systems and costs almost $900, but it is small and low powered. Since both my wife and I use Resmed P10 nasal pillows, we could use this machine if we had the need and wanted to spend the money. Back in my working days I probably would have bought one, since I traveled more by plane and car and had more money to spend.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Thursday 18th of January 2018 07:58:05 AM
Acheron2010 said
09:39 PM Jan 20, 2018
I know this is an old thread, but you can turn off the climate control on the Resmed 10, and it will not use the heater. that could save some energy.
bjoyce said
07:01 AM Jan 21, 2018
Acheron2010 wrote:
I know this is an old thread, but you can turn off the climate control on the Resmed 10, and it will not use the heater. that could save some energy.
Not going to happen, we like the heated air. We have the batteries and are also running a residential fridge (which warms up too much in 5 hours when off).
I recently joined my wife in needing a CPAP. She is on her third machine, a Philips Respironics System One REMstar Plus CPAP Machine with C-Flex, and I have a new Resmed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier. Both run with a heated humidifier, which we both use every night. My wife's machine can only use a heated hose, while it is optional for mine and I have an unheated hose. I tested my wife's first machine and it used around 25 to 30AH (amp-hours) of battery per night, so I wanted to check these, especially since we now both have them and a residential fridge.
My wife's machine is the power hog, it uses 350 to 360 watt-hours per night, its high watt usage is 95.5, it has a phantom load of 2.1 watts, and thus it uses approximately 30 watt-hours if left plugged in for a total 24 hour usage of about 380 to 390 watt-hours. I suspect the required heated hose is adding to the electric usage.
My machine, which came on the market in September 2014, is much quieter and uses much less distilled water overnight. It uses about 130 watt-hours overnight, with a high watt usage of 55 watts, it has a phantom load of 5.2 watts, and thus it uses another 70 watt-hours if left plugged in. Since it has a cellular modem built-in to report home daily, I suspect some of the phantom load is the modem.
Anyway, depending on how efficient your inverter is my wife's will use somewhere around 30AH to 35AH of battery over night, and a high of 39AH in 24 hours if left plugged in. Mine will use around 11 to 13AH of battery over night and a high of 20AH in 24 hours if left plugged in. Your numbers will vary, depending on needed pressure, model of CPAP, and if you use or do not use a heated humidifier. Between us, we need approximately the safe and usable power from one golf cart battery over night, around 48AH.
There are many who are convinced they need shore power to use a CPAP, but it is possible to boondock with one. We have for years with one CPAP, and will continue with two. If you have more than than one battery, it is possible to overnight with a CPAP.
This is not a rigorous study, I was leisurely about checking the numbers on my meter, but did check them three days in a row.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Sunday 7th of June 2015 12:15:19 PM
I seem to be joining all kinds of "clubs", the hernia club, the heart murmur club and now the CPAP club.
I had wired in a 300 watt pure sinewave inverter in for my wife's and used it before we got the residential fridge. It cost me about $100 US and since the 12 volt fuse box is in the bedroom, it was easy to wire in close to the bed. Our big inverter/charger is also pure sinewave, but has more phantom load.
I used a Floureon TS-836A, which is a lot like a Kill-A-Watt, to get the watt-hour and watt usage. The 836A was about $16 US from Amazon.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Sunday 7th of June 2015 10:24:40 PM
Yeah...like the saying goes "growing old sucks, but the alternative sucks more"
We had our sleep studies and both of us needed a CPAP. My DW took to hers with ZERO issues. Me...not so much. I felt like someone was air waterboarding me!
Back to the Sleep Dr...and it turns out he has the same problem and is now using this:
https://somnomed.com/patients/somnodent-product-information-for-patients/
So I did the same and I am here to tell you CPAP's days are numbered! DW has a fitting appointment in a couple of weeks. You wear this device just like a retainer (for those who had braces) and adjust the amount of jaw protrusion (which opens your airway) with a small tool that is easy to use. I love it!
Good news (for us at least) is our insurance considers this a "durable medical device" just like a CPAP, so it was covered 100%.
Honestly, every CPAP user out there should go to their Dr. and investigate this - and do NOT let them dissuade you and tell you your apnea is too severe (mine was off the charts). And YES it takes care of snoring better than a CPAP AND no "Darth Vader" CPAP side-effects
If anyone has questions, feel free to contact me. This.just.works.!
Since both of us are doing fine with CPAPs, we are not looking for alternatives.
I have only had my Somnadent for 6 months now, so I guess I will have to see what the long term result is.
Both CPAP and Somnadent work on the underlying cause (like the surgery). CPAP forcibly opens the airway whereas the Somnadent moves the lower jaw forward which tightens the soft tissue and muscles of the upper airway (identical to the surgery).
I can see where there is a possibility that, over the long term, there is a chance that no matter how much you move the jaw forward the muscles and tissue will not tighten sufficiently but hopefully, before that occurs, the surgery will be perfected and available for me.
I am glad CPAP works for you and the DW Bill - you are right, if it ain't broke why fix it? :)
But for those who cannot tolerate CPAP or dislike the experience, you really do need to check out the Somnadent - sleep apnea is a SERIOUS disorder that can lead to all sorts of health complications.
I was looking at the surgery procedure Bill mentioned, where they insert a stiffener. Seems like a good cure but not recognized or done in Canada just the U.S.
Trailerking - the Somnadent fits in your jacket pocket.
even worse I have to travel occasionally ad overseas every now and then. Somnadent is my hero! Not only is it discreet (no more "Mommy why is that man putting on a gas mask" 
) But no power is needed and it just works.
I am in the unfortunate situation of being not-retired
I even use it outside the RV when I am taking a nap. Even if I am woken up by a neighbor, I can still hold a conversation with the Somnadent in place - shoot I can even drink with it in!
And best of all? I can insert my Somnadent and kiss the DW goodnight
(BTW folks I am in NO way related to Somnomed - don't even own stock - although I should :D I am just a satisfied customer who realizes there are a HECK of a lot of folks out there with OSA that cannot tolerate a CPAP & this is a potentially life saving alternative)
I know nothing about this machine, but I looked on line for a DC 12 volt powered CPAP, could used less electric but what do I know, just trying to help.
Lonney
The Pillar Procedure is the one using siffeners, http://www.pillarprocedure.com/ and has been approved since 2004 in the US Multiple surgeons do it around Seattle.
A friend says that for short durations, the Provent system, http://www.proventtherapy.com/index.php, works for him and is what he takes on trips instead of his CPAP.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Thursday 11th of June 2015 09:32:16 AM
I bought the 12V cigarette lighter cord for it and tapped into the 12V light power source at the head of our bed. No complicated inverter hookup or need to run the big RV inverter at night.
With the machine turned off, but still plugged into the 12V source it uses about 0.1 amp or less, so I never remove it from the 12V source. She doesn't use the water heater for the water tank so when it is running it only pulls about 0.6amp to 0.7amp. This equates to about 6.3 amp hours (AH) in a 9 hour overnight use.
It is good to note that the heater in the water tank is not there to warm the air, but to warm the water so more water is absorbed by the air flowing through the water tank (i.e. a little higher humidity air flowing through the hose). If she was to turn on the water heater to even the lowest setting it consumes about 4 to 5 amps. That really jumps up the overnight power usage!
We have never had any problems with condensation in the hose. She has used the CPAP with air temps inside the RV down to the upper 40's.
Update. My wife's CPAP started turning itself off randomly at night. So now we both have Resmed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet models. Our daily battery usage if we unplug the machines in the daytime would be around 25AH or around 40AH if we left then plugged in.
Anyway if you really need something that is smaller and uses less power the new Resmed AirMini, https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed-airmini-auto-travel-cpap-machine.html, might be for you. It only supports a couple masks/pillow systems and costs almost $900, but it is small and low powered. Since both my wife and I use Resmed P10 nasal pillows, we could use this machine if we had the need and wanted to spend the money. Back in my working days I probably would have bought one, since I traveled more by plane and car and had more money to spend.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Thursday 18th of January 2018 07:58:05 AM
Not going to happen, we like the heated air. We have the batteries and are also running a residential fridge (which warms up too much in 5 hours when off).