My Oxygen
Delivery Systems
My
oxygen delivery system includes a Respironics UltraFill Oxygen
Compressor and Respironics EverFlo Oxygen Concentrator with oxygen
tanks is supplied to me by my DME(durable medical equipment
supplier) and I purchased another UltraFill and EverFlo(no tanks). I
have also purchased a Caire Eclipse 5 Portable Oxygen Concentrator
and a liquid oxygen system consisting of a HELiOS LOX Home Reservoir
and two
Companion 1000T portable units that are refilled from the reservoir.
Getting the oxygen I need is not cheap.
I bought the UltraFill Oxygen Compressor and Respironics
EverFlo for $1,000 the Eclipse 5 for about $3,000, the LOC reservoir
for $500 on eBay, and the two Companion 1000T portable units for
$250, also from eBay.
Add a $250 for miscellaneous and I have spent $5,000 on medical
equipment over the last two years.
I have
paid $2.30+ lb. for LOX in the Northwest, $1.00 lb. in Nebraska and
Oklahoma, and in the Southeast $1.25 lb.
I take my LOX reservoir to the oxygen providers facility,
they fill it and I bring it back home.
They load the 135 lb. reservoir and family will help bring it
into my motor home if I wait for them.
I am strong enough to do it by myself.
It costs between $80 to $140 to fill the reservoir plus gas
money. I fill the
reservoir an average of 1.5 times per month.
Liquid oxygen is not cheap but I believe it is worth it.
I have
the Eclipse 5 to use in my car, homes and other places where I can
plug it in. I put it in
shopping carts when shopping and use it at other times to save my
oxygen tanks and Companion 1000ts to be used when playing pickleball
or other activities where I need 6+ LPM of oxygen.
At times I use it just to give my nose a break from
continuous flow.
The
Respironics UltraFill and EverFlo cover home and mobile oxygen.
The Respironics UltraFill Oxygen Compressor and Respironics
EverFlo Oxygen Concentrator are both solid machines.
It takes the UltraFill over 5 hours to fill a 600 liter
oxygen tank with 3,000 psi of oxygen.
The 3,000 psi tanks hold 40% more than the 2,000 psi tanks.
With hard exertion like playing pickleball a 600 liter tank
will last a little over an hour.
With just the EverFlo and UltraFill I would use oxygen tanks
to get to the courts and back.
Throw in a stop at the grocery store and it will take 15
hours to fill all the used tanks.
If I had to choose just one system this would be my choice.
Very limited on the time I can be out and about, but can play
pickleball at 8 to 10 LPM for about 2 hours.
I used
an EverFlo and Inogen One G3 from September 2014 until January 2018.
I was able to use G3 while sleeping and traveled with it as
my only oxygen source.
It was dependable and the sieve beds were easy to change.
The problem I have with all of the smaller pocs, “The
imply that settings are equal to LPM.
They are not!
The only way to know if a poc meets your needs is
with an oximeter.