![]() The downside, however, is that deep cycle aren't "maintenance-free" and require watering periodically. The exception are AGM batteries- very nice but expensive. My intention is to use the battery power mainly for camping away from a power source of any kind except maybe a solar trickle charger. My F&P Icon Plus Auto has a "Fight Mode" for "low power consumption". It claims to only draw 75 watts and is designed for "long-haul air flights and camping". The humidity would be significantly reduced, but I would probably turn off the humidifier anyway. I wonder if this 100 watt modifed sine-wave inverter will work. It has 100 watt continuous and 200 watt peak capability and has a USB port to charge my cell phone with. All you would need is a rechargable 12 volt battery for camping. First, a bit about power - 75 Watts is actually a fair amount of power. The Respironics series 60 machines, with the heated hose humidifier comes with an 80 Watt supply without the hose its 60 Watts. But the actual draw is often under 12 Watts (1 Amp) if the humidifier is turned off. I don't even bring a humidifer to my boat, and if you're camping anywhere around Atlanta I doubt you'll need it either. Hopefully, your F&P is just as efficient. Here's ResMed''s guide to power usage:įor this purpose, batteries are rated by Amp-Hours (AH), although its sometimes hard to find the number. A CPAP with 1 Amp draw will use 8 AH a night. Most battery techonologies are not forgiving of total discharge, so don't assume you can use all of the power before recharging without damage. Quality batteries come with the discharge depth/cycle count chart - for most lead acid batteries it gets grim below 80% discharge. ![]() The rule-of-thumb for off-grid users is 50% will give a reasonable long life. This is true for the battery you mention in the first post, which I'm pretty sure is AGM lead-acid. Every inverter spec says "Up to 90% efficient" but that will be only at one load, at one temperature, on a Thursday. Recently I measured three small inverters including one that looks like your selection (the West unit): More likely, especially for a $20 unit, it will be 50% to 75%. Your selected inverter should work, but really run it with a full night test well before you you take it into the the woods. It might have a noisy fan, and it might not be up to running all night in a harsh environment. Unfortunately, larger, beefier inverters might actually be less efficient at low power loads and high quality inverter could run the price up to where a 12V Respironics pump looks good.Īs for solar recharging - just remember that the specs will assume full sunlight, no shading, perfect alightment. I assume my panels will supplement my needs, but I know their output is reduced even by a thin cloud cover, and they're close to useless in heavy overcast. ![]() So, what would I recommend? Two ways to go: if you're "car camping" get a big deep cycle with a trickle charger and solid inverter if you're hiking in, a lithium lightweight, maybe with solar. Both solutions can do double duty - the first is a good home emergency backup that can be sized to any need the second is handy for air travel.įell free to ask questions - as you can see I can go on about this topic. It comes from living off-grid a month or two every year for about 20 years.
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