Tom.Keller@f7.n125.z1.fidonet.org (Tom Keller) (08/09/90)
Index Number: 9630 In a message on 23 Jul 90, Floria Antin (1:109/304) writes: >> spend a night away from home. I live in *TERROR* of a power >> failure in the mmiddle of the night. > Isn't it possible to have a back up generator so that the > equipment will receive power even if there is a power outage? Possible? Yes. Affordable? No. The smallest self-starting generator set I can find has about 100 times the capacity I need, and prices in at about $1600.00. That's about $1590.00 more than I can afford. Hell, I'm damned lucky I live in California. Medi-Cal may not be the best health insurance in the world, but at least they pay for my CPAP lease! Otherwise, I'd not have that either (and I'd either be dead, or totally dysfunctional and better off dead). My apnea is pretty bad -- during my last test, I suffered 834 apnea events in 7.6 hours. According to the Dr., when I sleep without my CPAP unit, I breathe approximately 48% of the time, and my blood oxygen drops to something like 52% of what it SHOULD be. According the to sleep disorder specialists I have seen, unlike many apnea sufferers, weight loss will have little effect upon my condition. Apparently I have a small throat and a very large tongue (my parents always *TOLD* me my big mouth would get me into trouble someday! (-:). I should also point out that the Doctors tell me that a power failure is not all that threatening. Apparently, because I have been under treatment now for well over a year, while it would be uncomfortable, a night, or even a few nights without my CPAP would not (probably) be fatal. So my *HEAD* knows I'm at no real risk. But my *BODY* and my *PSYCHE* refuse to believe it! I cannot sleep without that CPAP unit! I just can't. tom -- Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!125!7!Tom.Keller Internet: Tom.Keller@f7.n125.z1.fidonet.org
era@ncar.ucar.edu (Ed Arnold) (08/10/90)
Index Number: 9650 In article <13301@bunker.UUCP> Tom.Keller@f7.n125.z1.fidonet.org writes: |Index Number: 9630 | |In a message on 23 Jul 90, Floria Antin (1:109/304) writes: | ||| spend a night away from home. I live in *TERROR* of a power ||| failure in the mmiddle of the night. | || Isn't it possible to have a back up generator so that the || equipment will receive power even if there is a power outage? | | Possible? Yes. Affordable? No. The smallest self-starting |generator set I can find has about 100 times the capacity I need, |and prices in at about $1600.00. That's about $1590.00 more than |I can afford. If your head ever decides that you've *gotta* have backup power ... Consider some of the small computer UPS equipment. E.g. MCM Electronics (Centerville, OH) sells a Tripp-Lite power backup box for about $500, which provides 80 watts for 2 hours or 240 watts for 1/2 hour. An inveterate catalog shopper could certainly do a lot better than this. And, these boxes are portable, unlike a Honda generator. Me, I think I'd be satisfied with a relay, battery, & buzzer to wake me up if the power went. At least that has a chance of fitting within a $10 budget! -- Ed Arnold * NCAR * POB 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 * 303-497-1253(voice) 303-497-1137(fax) * era@ncar.ucar.edu [128.117.64.4] * era@ncario.BITNET era@ncar.UUCP * Edward.Arnold@f809.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG