Humidifier: Distilled Water...How often do you change?

I'm wondering how often you really have to change the distilled water in your humidifier? Do you really have to change it daily??? That seems a bit excessive...but I'm new to this, so what do I know

England wrote:I'm wondering how often you really have to change the distilled water in your humidifier? Do you really have to change it daily??? That seems a bit excessive...but I'm new to this, so what do I know

Some people dump out the water every morning and replace it. I don't. I just top off the humidifier every night with more distilled water. Can't say what's "best" for anyone, but I've been doing this for 3.5 years, with no ill effects and less money down the drain (literally).

Well, for me, the key has been making sure to USE distilled water. A lot of people think it's not that critical to use it.

Before I used distilled water, I had problems with mold and other contaminates in the chamber.

After distilled water, I just top it off each morning, and maybe check the chamber once every 3-4 WEEKS.

I never have a problem, the chamber is always clear and clean.

If others think differently, I would be happy to hear other opinions!

Lee

I top off for a week, then clean the tank.

Using distilled water is the most important "should."

I top off for a week and then clean the chamber although I've never seen anything in it.

I wash my tubing once a week and this time of year I hang the wet hose to dry under an umbrella by the pool.

I think it's important to change/wash disposable and washable machine filters as called for by the manual. (A dusty environment would dictate an extra look.)

I wash my nasal pillows daily (5 minutes).

Call me Mr Clean with extra concern for my lungs.

I have been using the PR S1 machine since mid April this year. Only use only distilled water (where I live tap water contains lots of iron and limestone). Normally I just top it off. The other day I did dump it and let it air dry after rinsing it out with tap water. I did not use anything else. I used this same routine when I was using M series machine. In 2 years the tanks look brand new and I have never had any crud show up in tank or water.

When I first started therapy I did clean things on more of a rigid schedule but even then the humidifier tank was only once a week. After a few months the schedule became less rigid.

Like others do, I just top mine off every day, and clean my tank thoroughly every week (although per insurance allowance, dme sends me a new chamber every 3 months)
The thing that still concerns me is if theres a possibility of any BPA exposure/contamination from the plastic chamber.
There is definitely BPA in the plastic chamber, as discussed here previously, but I wish we had a definitive answer in this regard (not that the manufacturer would lie to us )

I run my humidifier until it is almost empty, then dump what is left and refill. Vinegar and water once a week for cleaning.

OHHHHHHHHHHH England!! im from England North west as well...and also Where do u get your distilled water from????? the big question,iv looked everywhere!! nice to meet u..polly x x x

The consideration in all of this is that warm water is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

Distilled water has less residual bacteria than tap water, but tap water may have disinfectants in it that keep any left over bacteria from growing out of control. When distilled water is sealed in the bottle, there is not bacteria present. Since your house is not "sterile," it may pick up something after you open it. Tap water with residual disinfectants will loose those disinfectants when the water is heated up. If you don't add tap water daily, you are simply breeding whatever is there.

Your body has an immune system that takes care of most of these issues, but if you find yourself under the weather, you may want to consider an aggressive approach to keeping your water clean.

I favor the cautious approach. I use distilled water, add a little salt to it for a little therapeutic benefit and to keep the water a little hostile to breeding bacteria. I dump the water each morning, and wash my tank once a week to make sure there is no slime growing in it.

I also wash my hands frequently, and rarely get sick.

I blame my views on my Mother. I remember enjoying playing in the yard and garden and with animals, but this was always followed up with a thorough cleaning. I choose not to break this habit and believe it has served me well.

I wash my clothes after wearing them, wash my dishes after using them, and clean my xPAP equipment after using it. Makes perfect sense to me.

Distilled water, topped off every day. My machine is about 3-1/2 weeks old, I'll clean it today with vinegar and water, then once every 3 to 4 weeks afterward.

Wow... I've been dumping, rinsing, and air drying every day. I may cut back, though, as I watch the levels drop in the water bottle quite quickly due to the dump/refill cycle (I fill it between the 25% and 50% marks, and in the morning, it looks like it's at about 10%-15% full. My guideline to raising the level is how deeply the steel heater plate is submerged. If that looks close in the morning, I go higher.

I'm so timid about things... how do you clean the hoses? I was going to submerge the big hose in a casserole dish of vinegar and water for, say, an hour, and then flush tap water through them until the vinegar smell was gone, and then air dry them. But I chickened out, thinking I might harm them (or breathe in vinegar the whole next night). I've had the machine two weeks, and have not done anything with the hoses, but it's time.

I adjust the amount of distilled water I put in the in the tank so there is little left each morning and dump what is left.

ParanoidAndroid, if you are looking for a way to measure the contamination in your system, here is something you can try.

You will need a Pure Water Tester (Hanna) for this.

First test your distilled water and find its conductivity. Next put distilled water into your humidifier tank, crank the heat up, hook up your hose and turn the machine on.

You will need a bowl with ice in it and a glass. Rinse the glass with your distilled water, several times. Pour some distilled water into the glass and measure it with your PWT tester. It should read the same as the distilled water from the bottle if there is no contamination from the glass. Direct the other end of the hose into the glass that is sitting in the bowl of ice. The temperature change will cause the humid air to condense in the glass. You can then collect enough condensation to do a PWT test on it.

If your hose and tank are clean, there will be no change in the PWT test value between your distilled water and the condensate you collect. If you write down the measurements and repeat this every day for a week, you will gain an understanding of how things change over a week and can make some informed decisions on cleaning from that information.

While not perfect, this study should give you an idea of what is going on and how often you need to clean things.

I use distilled water in my humidifier each day and put in just a little more then 1/2 tank. I don't like the idea of the used distilled water sitting in the tank until the next time. As for the hose I run hot water through the hose for about a minute each day and hang it over the towel bar to dry. The tank is rinsed out with hot water each day. My mask is cleaned every other day with Cpap disinfectant wipers. I was told if no distilled water is available, boil tap water, let cool to use. When I traveled a few weeks ago I boiled water in the microwave that was in the room.