Medically dependent on electricity?

[BWR1953]

I hadn't even considered that I was such, until I saw it on the news. When hurricane Ian came through, we were okay. Only a tiny power hit and some cable/internet outage.

But as I watched the news report, I realized that I am in fact medically dependent on my electricity, specifically my CPAP machine. I came up with an alternate plan that I luckily didn't have to use.

Anyone else consider this?

 

[FLATHEAD]

Definitely something to plan for. We lose power here a few times a year occasionally for days. Most have generators.

 

[dingbat]

I hadn't even considered that I was such, until I saw it on the news. When hurricane Ian came through, we were okay. Only a tiny power hit and some cable/internet outage.

But as I watched the news report, I realized that I am in fact medically dependent on my electricity, specifically my CPAP machine. I came up with an alternate plan that I luckily didn't have to use.

Anyone else consider this?

Not medically needed, but reliant on electric for water, heat and communications.

We live in an area prone to storm damage. Have been w/o power for a week or longer a number of times.

Originally used a portable but keeping it fueled was an issue. Installed a back up generator system to address the issue.

As Murphy would have it.. longest outage since install was less than 24 hours

 

[KD4UPL]

I'm not medically dependent, just dependent in general. With no electricity my well won't work so no water. Very little heat, just the gas fireplace.
So, I have a solar system with battery back-up and a 20 kW diesel generator. I also have 2 little Honda generators I use to run tools at work that I guess I could use if I had to.
During Ian we lost power (from the utility) for over 12 hours. My battery bank ran the house for most of the time. It was so cloudy that the solar wasn't charging. I ran the diesel gen briefly to run the heat pump to warm up the house, that charged the batteries while it ran. I think I had about 1 hour generator time total, the rest on the batteries.
I always point out to my wife how lucky she is to have married an electrician.

 

[briangcc]

Grandmother was on oxygen at night. No power, no oxygen. She was on record with the local fire department and electric company so that if something happened, she was first on the list for emergency services.

I also have several aquariums that need power to run their filters & heaters. I'm considering either a whole house generator OR a larger power inverter I can hook up to one of the vehicles to kinda cycle power through the tanks individually. May also pony up for a large UPS for the tanks alone as generally I'm not without power for very long.....hospital is on the same circuit so we kinda get priority for power

 

[racerone]

You would think that some of these medical appliances / systems ( not all of course ) could have a manual back up.------Let one of kids the operate the crank as needed.

 

[southkogs]

 

[BWR1953]

Grandmother was on oxygen at night. No power, no oxygen. She was on record with the local fire department and electric company so that if something happened, she was first on the list for emergency services...

I saw on the news about hurricane Ian where several people died because they lost power and couldn't run their oxygen machines.

 

[BWR1953]

View attachment 371223

I like it!

 

[BWR1953]

As for me, I realized that I could use the AC outlet from the bed of my Trucklet to run my CPAP machine. The outlet provides 150 Watts of power and the CPAP draws only 80 Watts.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I'm not reliant on electricity, but when my father-in-law was alive, we were trying to figure out ways to get him up to our cabin which is off the grid on Ontario, Canada. He required an oxygen concentrator to breathe, due to emphysema. Bottle oxygen did not last very long, and without a steady supply of oxygen he would not be able to survive. We quickly came to realize how dependent we were on a reliable, constant supply of electricity to keep him alive. Of course, a small generator can supply electricity, but if that electricity is absolutely essential to staying alive, how comfortable would you be relying on that generator, without any backup? It really does make you think...

 

[dwco5051]

You would think that some of these medical appliances / systems ( not all of course ) could have a manual back up.------Let one of kids the operate the crank as needed.

My mother had a power chair lift to get up and down the stairs when she was in her 90's. It did have a battery backup so she would not get stranded halfway up or down if the power failed. It was a small battery. I don't remember how many amp hours so I don't know how many complete trips it was good for.

 

[Sprig]

For those dependent on CPAP an easy solution is to use a car type battery during power outages. You can get a DC adapter. They make them specific to the different CPAP models. You can find them on the internet.
I use it when I go camping and at home during power outages. Without using the heater/humidifier I have used it 5 nights no problem. Using a humidifier will definitely cut down on how long the battery charge will last. I have two large batteries that I got at a national chain store for about $100 a piece. Even with the humidifier the two will last several days.