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How to Use the CPAP Runtime Calculator

Enter your battery's watt-hour capacity, choose whether your CPAP's heated humidifier is typically on or off (which fills in a typical wattage), and set your usual hours of sleep per night — the calculator estimates total runtime hours and how many nights of backup that provides.

This tool is built specifically around the nightly-use pattern of CPAP therapy, rather than a generic one-time runtime estimate.

Choosing the right humidifier setting to model

As covered in the humidifier guide, selecting "off" gives you the maximum possible nights of backup, while "on" reflects your normal comfort setting — try both to see the real trade-off between comfort and available nights of backup power.

Treating the result as a planning estimate, not a guarantee

As covered in the how-to-power-a-CPAP guide, test your exact equipment combination in advance if you depend on CPAP therapy nightly — this calculator is a planning tool, not a substitute for that real-world test or for guidance from your medical equipment provider.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find my CPAP's exact wattage?

Check the label on the machine itself, its user manual, or the manufacturer's spec sheet for its rated power consumption — this is more accurate than relying on the general typical figures this calculator defaults to.

Should I round down when estimating nights of backup?

It's a reasonable, conservative practice — battery capacity can decline slightly with cold temperatures or age, so treating the calculator's result as a best-case estimate and planning for slightly fewer nights adds a useful safety margin.