Oxygen Concentrator Electricity Usage and Costs

Portable Concentrator Electricity Usage and Costs

Rate This Story

3 Votes So Far

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Portable oxygen concentrators are generally small so they don’t use that much electricity. You will have to plug it into a wall socket to run and/or charge it when you’re at home or in a building. You can charge the battery as well as run it at the same time this way. Many people do this overnight, or when they aren’t using it.

Some portable oxygen concentrators can be charged and run at the same time on DC power, such as the cigarette lighter socket in a car. Before you do this, make sure your particular portable model can run and charge at the same time, by referring to the owner’s manual.

For example, the SeQual Eclipse 3 cannot run and charge at the same time on DC power, but the Eclipse 5 and the eQuinox can. Always make sure your car is running and in good working order before plugging in your concentrator. The car’s electrical power determines how quickly it will charge.

If you find that your oxygen concentrator is causing your electric bill to go up, you might be able to get help with this. Contact your electric company and ask if they have any assistance programs. They might also have a payment program that will keep your bill under a certain amount each month. Depending on your income, you might be eligible to get your bill lowered significantly. You can also figure out how much your oxygen concentrator costs per month, and write this off on your taxes as a medical expense.

How to Figure Out How Much Electricity Your Portable Oxygen Concentrator Uses

This is how you would figure out the kilowatts your oxygen concentrator uses, in order to figure out how much your oxygen concentrator will add to your electric bill. Get your calculator!

1. Look on the label to what the volts and amps are. You would then multiply the volts by the amps, which gives you the wattage.

2. Take the wattage and multiply that by .001, which gives you the kilowatts.

3. Next, figure out for how many hours you would use your concentrator during the month. To get the yearly figure, multiply this number by 12.

4. Multiply the kilowatts by the number of hours you came up with per month, to get the kilowatt hours.

5. Find out how much your electric company charges per kilowatt. Multiply this number by the kilowatt hours, and the number you get is how much electricity your concentrator costs to run each month.

To give you an idea before you buy, you can use the formula above to find out how much electricity your portable model will use.

On the setting of 3 LPM continuous flow, the SeQual Eclipse uses 145 watts. On the setting of 6 pulse dose, it uses 95 watts. This is one of the bigger, more powerful portable oxygen concentrators that would use the most electricity.

Here is how to figure yearly electricity cost for the SeQual Elcipse 5.

1. 145 watts.
2. 145 Watts x .001 = .145 kilowatts.
3. If you use it 360 hours a month x 12 months = 4320 hours a year.
4. .145 kilowatts x 4320 hours = 626.4 kilowatt hours.
5. If the Power Company charges .15 cents an kilowatts hour. 626.4 x .15 cents = $93.96 of added electricity costs for the SeQual Eclipse 5 when used 360 hours a week.

Please contact us with any questions.

Rate This Story

3 Votes So Far

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Scott joined American Medical Sales and Rentals in 2008 as a Web Manager and Content Writer. He is a writer and designer. He is extensively trained on oxygen therapy products from leading manufacturers such as Inogen, Respironics, Chart, Invacare, ResMed and more.

Scott works closely with respiratory therapists and oxygen specialists to educate the community about oxygen therapy products, COPD, asthma and lung diseases. He writes weekly columns and is passionate about educating the community on oxygen therapy and respiratory issues.

About Scott Ridl:

Scott joined American Medical Sales and Rentals in 2008 as a Web Manager and Content Writer. He is a writer and designer. He is extensively trained on oxygen therapy products from leading manufacturers such as Inogen, Respironics, Chart, Invacare, ResMed and more. Scott works closely with respiratory therapists and oxygen specialists to educate the community about oxygen therapy products, COPD, asthma and lung diseases. He writes weekly columns and is passionate about educating the community on oxygen therapy and respiratory issues.

6 thoughts on “Portable Concentrator Electricity Usage and Costs

    • Thank you for your comment, Joseph. I have passed along your inquiry to our specialists who will reach out shortly regarding your request.

    • Yes, Kim, you can. In fact, we recommend that you if you are near a power source and can plug in while you are out to do so. This will help save your battery life and allow you to stay out longer.

    • Thank you for your inquiry. I have passed along your information to a specialist who will reach out regarding your request. For more immediate assistance feel free to give our specialists a call at 888-360-9628 or if you prefer email sales@amsrco.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *