How to Power CPAP Machine While Camping: The Ultimate Guide
Table of Contents
How to Power Your CPAP Machine While Camping
If you depend on a CPAP machine for a peaceful night's sleep, having a backup source of electricity is essential to for power outages or trips away from home. With today’s many options available, there is no reason to fear a bad night’s sleep during a weekend adventure due to a loss of power. If you want to go camping, there are a few portable power supply options to guarantee sustained power for your CPAP machine. You can either:
- Visit a Campsite with Electricity Hook-Ups
- Power Your CPAP with you Car’s Battery
- Or Use a Portable Power Station
Some campsites have electricity available in both tent and RV spaces, however, this comes at a premium cost, limits your options, and does not guarantee a lack of surges or blackouts. You can also power your CPAP with your car’s battery, but doing so may require a special adapter and could potentially cause you to drain your entire vehicle's power, leaving you camping for much longer than you had intended. In both of these cases, you are also always going to be constrained to camping as far as your extension cord can reach from your car or your campsite’s power outlets.
For all of these reasons, the best CPAP battery options to power a CPAP machine while camping is to use a portable power station. A portable power station can deliver silent electric power only limited to how far you are willing to carry it. Widely known as solar generators, these work great as a cpap battery for camping since they can be recharged with solar panels and/or AC wall outlet and have big enough batteries that they can power more than just your CPAP machine.
According to most CPAP machine websites, the average CPAP machine uses between 30-60 watts of power and requires a minimum 175-watt inverter, but it's always best to check your specific unit for this number.
CPAP Machine AMP Draw
To find this we'll want to do Watts/volts=amp draw. So for a 30 Watts or 60 Watts machine, the calculation would be:
- 30 Watts/12 Volts = 2.75 amps from the battery.
- 60 Watts/12 Volts = 5.5 amp draw
In this article, we will showcase the five best solar power generators that can power your CPAP machine while camping.
The Inergy Apex weighs only 25 lbs. and comes with a carrying strap, making it a great portable power station. The battery of the Inergy Apex stores 1,100 Watt hours (90 amp at 12.6 volts), so you can comfortably run a 30-watt CPAP machine for 36+ hours while camping. If you are charging the battery with solar panels, it can fully recharge in 3 hours in ideal conditions! Plus, the battery is rated at 2,000 cycles or 10 years, so the Apex is ready to fuel your next decade of adventures.
The EcoFlow Delta 1300 weighs five more pounds than the Inergy Apex, but comes with some amazing features making it perfect to power your CPAP machine while camping. First of all, when plugged into a traditional AC outlet, the Delta 1300 will fully charge it’s 1300 Watt hour battery in as little as 2 hours. This makes it perfect for plugging in after work, and setting out on a spur of the moment adventure on any given Friday. The battery has enough capacity to power a 30-watt CPAP machine for over 43 hours, and the massive 1800 Watt inverter even allows you to charge a few extra devices while running your medical device when you're camping.
Another great solar generator to power your CPAP machine while camping is the Bluetti 1500Wh model from MaxOak. As one of the highest rated solar generators on the market, the Bluetti is a dependable portable power source large enough to power a 30-watt CPAP machine for 50+ hours. The 1500Wh battery (larger than both the Apex and the EcoFlow) packs enough storage for an entire weekend of off-grid camping with your CPAP machine. Packaged with a set of solar panels, the Bluetti is a great option for a permanent source of power for peaceful sleeps in a cabin, RV, or trailer. RV owners might be also interested in the best rv battery charger.
Okay, we’ll admit, the Titan Solar Generator from Point Zero Energy may be a bit of overkill if you are only looking for how to power your CPAP machine while camping. This absolute beast of portable power system could likely power your whole camping weekend. With the Titan, you are able to stack batteries for an essentially unlimited amount of storage, each one rated at 2000 Watt hours (the largest on this list). With a continuous power output of 3,000 watts, you could power multiple CPAP machines and appliances for an entire weekend of camping with the Titan generator. With a 2,000wH battery, it can power a 30-watt CPAP machine for 66+ hours straight. The Titan is a great option for those who’s camping trips aren’t just limited to Saturday and Sunday.
The Jackery 500 is the smallest and most portable option to power a CPAP machine while camping. At just over 13 lbs, and equipped with a carrying handle, this portable power station is perfect for those hard to reach campsites. Although the battery only has a peak capacity of 518 watt hours, the Jackery is easy to recharge on the go with the included car charger (you can also plug it into your wall at home or recharge it with solar panels). Not to mention, the Jackery can still power a 30-watt CPAP machine for 16+ hours. So this lightweight and portable option is great for anyone on a budget that is looking to camp with a CPAP machine a few times each year.
In Conclusion
When it comes to how to power your CPAP machine while camping, you really can't go wrong with any of these 5 portable power stations. They all have big enough batteries and inverters to run your CPAP machine and would last throughout a night of camping. If you still have questions, feel free to reach out and we'd be happy to help!
