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Post by zuke on Mar 29, 2024 12:00:29 GMT
My husband uses a CPAP machine for his apnea. We travel a lot. He asked his health insurance co if he could get a travel size one and they rejected it.
We want to go camping (in a tent) to a campground that only has sites available that don't have electricity. Neighboring campgrounds have the same issue.
So we were thinking that there must be something, like maybe a small generator or something like a portable charger, that would power his CPAP machine through the night.
We can't be the only people thinking that there must be something that he could use. I told my hubby that I'll ask 2 Peas R for suggestions. They know everything!
Thoughts?
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Post by KelleeM on Mar 29, 2024 12:23:25 GMT
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Post by zuke on Mar 29, 2024 12:30:20 GMT
I don’t personally have this but my daughter’s partner uses one for his cpap when there is no electricity. You can find them more or less expensive depending on the size and your needs. My daughter has taken his camping and used it to charge phones and iPads. Thank you so much! I have forwarded it to my husband! |
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carhoch
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Post by carhoch on Mar 29, 2024 13:13:04 GMT
Generator are not allowed at night in campgrounds .
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Post by librarylady on Mar 29, 2024 13:21:38 GMT
How many nights would he be without the cpap machine?
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SweetieBsMom
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Post by SweetieBsMom on Mar 29, 2024 13:29:46 GMT
This was my first thought too. A friend's husband uses it, or something close to it, for his CPAP when tent camping. |
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breetheflea
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Post by breetheflea on Mar 29, 2024 13:30:51 GMT
DH has a solar panel thingie he charged every day (on the car hood) that hooked up to a battery. I can't remember much about it because we bought a camper/trailer and stopped tent camping but I can ask him later.
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bethany102399
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Post by bethany102399 on Mar 29, 2024 13:47:54 GMT
I didn't even think about camping with it. then again I don't camp. I was just coming in to say I hope you find a workable solution, DH is lying next to me and for some reason did not put his CPAP on last night and the snoring is driving me insane!
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Post by Basket1lady on Mar 29, 2024 14:15:03 GMT
DH has 2 battery packs, but cold weather will sap them faster than a one night use. Something like a Jackery or an Ecoflow would do the job and could be used for other things as well. I know Ecoflows come in several sizes and can store a lot of power, depending on the size. They are also silent.
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GiantsFan
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Post by GiantsFan on Mar 29, 2024 15:24:43 GMT
I have this one link. When I use it "dry camping" (no electricity). To have the power last longer, I turn off the wi-fi and the humidifier. I wear it about 6 hours or so per night. And unplug it during the day. I can get three nights out of it. We have a generator that I can re-charge it with. I also have an EcoFlow that I use at home. It's heavy and not very portable. |
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pantsonfire
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Post by pantsonfire on Mar 29, 2024 15:30:25 GMT
My husband uses a CPAP machine for his apnea. We travel a lot. He asked his health insurance co if he could get a travel size one and they rejected it. We want to go camping (in a tent) to a campground that only has sites available that don't have electricity. Neighboring campgrounds have the same issue. So we were thinking that there must be something, like maybe a small generator or something, that would power his CPAP machine through the night. We can't be the only people thinking that there must be something that he could use. I told my hubby that I'll ask 2 Peas R for suggestions. They know everything! Thoughts? Remember if you want you can file a grievance and if that is denied you can go to your states dept of managed health or whoever at state level oversees insurance and file with them. I will be tike consuming but worth it if they overturn prior denial |
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Post by calgaryscrapper on Mar 29, 2024 15:31:25 GMT
Wonder if a camping supply store would have a solution.
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Post by craftedbys on Mar 29, 2024 15:48:36 GMT
Thanks for the link! I have been wanting to get a battery backup for my CPAP because when we lose power, which we often do when it storms, I can't sleep.
A few hours missed sleep sucks, but I couldn't go days without my machine.
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Post by kluski on Mar 29, 2024 21:05:04 GMT
Dh needs a travel one too as we will be on an overnight flight in a few weeks. No one on that plane is going to sleep if this man doesn’t get a travel cpap. (He also won’t have access to distilled water where we’re traveling. He’ll need more than the allowed 3oz) He was also denied by insurance. We will need to pay the $900 out of pocket.
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Post by Basket1lady on Mar 29, 2024 22:17:57 GMT
My husband uses a CPAP machine for his apnea. We travel a lot. He asked his health insurance co if he could get a travel size one and they rejected it. We want to go camping (in a tent) to a campground that only has sites available that don't have electricity. Neighboring campgrounds have the same issue. So we were thinking that there must be something, like maybe a small generator or something, that would power his CPAP machine through the night. We can't be the only people thinking that there must be something that he could use. I told my hubby that I'll ask 2 Peas R for suggestions. They know everything! Thoughts? Remember if you want you can file a grievance and if that is denied you can go to your states dept of managed health or whoever at state level oversees insurance and file with them. I will be tike consuming but worth it if they overturn prior denial Honestly? It may not be worth it. DH has 2 batteries and one doesn’t even last the entire night. And they are big and heavy. Before you go through all of that, I’d look into a portable charger like the Jackery or Ecoflow and do the math—How big does it need to be to power the CPAP and what’s the smallest unit you need to buy to fill those needs? |
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Post by AussieMeg on Mar 29, 2024 23:04:25 GMT
Generator are not allowed at night in campgrounds . That was my first thought too. They're too noisy, definitely not allowed at a campground. |
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Post by dewryce on Mar 29, 2024 23:11:17 GMT
As far as a travel CPAP we just take the ones we use every night. I paid for mine OOP when they were recalled so I hoping I can get another one at no cost that will become our travel CPAP that lives in the car. There have been a few times I would have considered spending the night but won’t without my CPAP. After the Texas hard freeze no electricity fiasco a few years ago we knew we had to have a battery backup, had wanted one before but that was the clincher. We have the exact same model KelleeM linked above. By reading, both of our machines should be able to go a full night, but we haven’t tested that theory yet. Make sure and find out how long the battery would last with his specific machine and how the Jackery charges and how long it takes. We also take it when we travel in the car because our passenger seat’s heated seat isn’t the best and sometimes I need high heat on my back for trips out of town. |
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Post by Lexica on Mar 29, 2024 23:12:52 GMT
I had a powerful battery pack that was about an inch thick, 7 inches wide, and 10 inches long. I also bought a portable solar charging panel. I think the fully-charged battery itself would have provided approximately 3 nights worth of power to run my CPAP. At that point you could use the solar panel and recharge the battery, setting you up for another 3 night’s worth of power. With that system, you could be off the power grid for months, provided there was always sun to recharge the battery and until the system wore out. I purchased the setup from a website that sold CPAP equipment, machines, hoses, masks, cleaning kits, etc. I think it was called CPAP.com. And since we planned to do lots of camping I went ahead and bought a small portable machine. It was just a basic machine without all the bells and whistles that my main machine had. It was a little difficult to get used to but it kept me alive, which was the point. Insurance didn’t cover any of it and it was an expensive purchase that I knew was going to be worth it.it was also a nice feeling to know that I had a working backup machine to use at home should my machine suddenly fail. And fail it did a couple of years later. I felt very fortunate to have that small spare machine to use while they were repairing my main machine.
Just a PSA for CPAP users. In California, I was able to have my doctor sign a form verifying my sleep apnea and submit it to my electric company. That put me on the list for a couple of things. If there was going to be a planned power outage affecting my home, they would notify me in advance to allow me to make alternate plans. We also had a stepped billing rate system for power usage, paying at a higher rate beyond a specific threshold allotment, usually computed on several factors such as square footage of home and number of occupants. For people with critical lifesaving medical equipment like a CPAP, we were granted a higher volume of usage at that bottom price rate. My electric bill was always insane and any reduction was welcomed. I had a pool motor running daily which really increased my bill. I think I saved $50 per month after registering my CPAP with my electric company. I don’t know if all electricity providers have such a program, but it would be worth checking with yours to see if they offer medical rate reductions.
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Post by zuke on Mar 30, 2024 11:34:27 GMT
Generator are not allowed at night in campgrounds . Looking at Amazon's small ones, they advertise them, using the word 'generator, for camping and CPAP machines. They are basically power chargers. I can understand not being allowed to have the bigger ones like to use for powering an RV, but don't understand why they wouldn't allow these. Maybe you thought I meant those big generators. I'll have to look into this further. |
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Post by zuke on Mar 30, 2024 11:35:10 GMT
How many nights would he be without the cpap machine? 5-7. |
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Post by zuke on Mar 30, 2024 11:38:47 GMT
DH is lying next to me and for some reason did not put his CPAP on last night and the snoring is driving me insane! That's another reason he needs to use the CPAP machine. If he doesn't, no one at the campground will be able to sleep because of how loud his snoring is! |
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Post by zuke on Mar 30, 2024 11:41:49 GMT
Remember if you want you can file a grievance and if that is denied you can go to your states dept of managed health or whoever at state level oversees insurance and file with them. I will be tike consuming but worth it if they overturn prior denial He probably wont do that, but it's a great idea |
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Post by zuke on Mar 30, 2024 11:44:54 GMT
Honestly? It may not be worth it. DH has 2 batteries and one doesn’t even last the entire night. And they are big and heavy. Before you go through all of that, I’d look into a portable charger like the Jackery or Ecoflow and do the math—How big does it need to be to power the CPAP and what’s the smallest unit you need to buy to fill those needs? That's what I'm asking about. The ads call them generators but they are basically portable chargers. |
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Post by zuke on Mar 30, 2024 11:49:33 GMT
That was my first thought too. They're too noisy, definitely not allowed at a campground. I edited my question to include "like a portable charger" after the word 'something' being that a lot of people thought I meant a generator and nothing else. I wasn't referring to a big generator. I guess I shouldn't have used that word. |
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Post by zuke on Mar 30, 2024 11:54:35 GMT
Just a PSA for CPAP users. In California, I was able to have my doctor sign a form verifying my sleep apnea and submit it to my electric company. That put me on the list for a couple of things. If there was going to be a planned power outage affecting my home, they would notify me in advance to allow me to make alternate plans. We also had a stepped billing rate system for power usage, paying at a higher rate beyond a specific threshold allotment, usually computed on several factors such as square footage of home and number of occupants. For people with critical lifesaving medical equipment like a CPAP, we were granted a higher volume of usage at that bottom price rate. My electric bill was always insane and any reduction was welcomed. I had a pool motor running daily which really increased my bill. I think I saved $50 per month after registering my CPAP with my electric company. I don’t know if all electricity providers have such a program, but it would be worth checking with yours to see if they offer medical rate reductions. That is so interesting. I will tell him all of what you wrote. And I think my hubby only called the insurance company, and didn't ask the Dr. |
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Post by zuke on Mar 30, 2024 12:04:44 GMT
Thank you all for your thoughts. I have sent my hubby the list of all of your thoughts so he can have them for things to look for when we are looking at these. Today we will go to 3 outdoor type of stores to do some comparing if they even have them. Then we'll compare them to what's on Amazon.
You've all been so helpful! I/WE appreciate it.
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basketdiva
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Post by basketdiva on Mar 30, 2024 15:57:18 GMT
My husband uses a CPAP machine for his apnea. We travel a lot. He asked his health insurance co if he could get a travel size one and they rejected it. We want to go camping (in a tent) to a campground that only has sites available that don't have electricity. Neighboring campgrounds have the same issue. So we were thinking that there must be something, like maybe a small generator or something, that would power his CPAP machine through the night. We can't be the only people thinking that there must be something that he could use. I told my hubby that I'll ask 2 Peas R for suggestions. They know everything! Thoughts? Remember if you want you can file a grievance and if that is denied you can go to your states dept of managed health or whoever at state level oversees insurance and file with them. I will be tike consuming but worth it if they overturn prior denial A travel cpap is not a medical neccesity- it's a nice item to have. I seriously doubt you would win an appeal since the insurance company has already provided you with a cpap machine. |
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GiantsFan
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Post by GiantsFan on Mar 30, 2024 16:19:23 GMT
Remember if you want you can file a grievance and if that is denied you can go to your states dept of managed health or whoever at state level oversees insurance and file with them. I will be tike consuming but worth it if they overturn prior denial A travel cpap is not a medical neccesity- it's a nice item to have. I seriously doubt you would win an appeal since the insurance company has already provided you with a cpap machine.This (bolded). A travel case for my machine was included with the Rx. That makes it a travel cpap. I would love to get the small cpap for travel but the ins co is not going to fork over an extra $1k just for my convenience. I even asked my DME company if they offer a discount for customers - Nope! Also for flying, medical equipment such as a cpap is not considered in your carry-on limit -- as long as you do not have anything else in the case with it. |
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LouWho
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Jul 9, 2014 0:52:15 GMT
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Post by LouWho on Mar 31, 2024 1:53:23 GMT
To extend battery “generator” they recommend turning off humidifier and heated hose.
I ended up buying a travel unit ( no heat and heated hoses anyway) out of pocket because I was traveling a bit.
I have a battery pack in case of power outage but have not had thst situation yet.
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Post by kamper on Mar 31, 2024 2:00:52 GMT
Generator are not allowed at night in campgrounds . True but, I think this is actually just a solar powered battery not a generator. Not sure why they call it a generator since that usually implies an engine. I follow a long distance hiker and I think she uses some sort of CPAP thing. Seems like you should just be able to run it off of a battery for a short trip. |
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