Originally Posted by
HDQDD
I have one of the CPAPs on that list. It pulls around 65W (because the humidifier uses heat), which means I'd need a 650Wh battery for a 10 hour flight (yeay, math!). That's A) expensive, B) huge, C) heavy and D) I doubt TSA would allow that through security. Seriously it would be about the size of a car battery. Their limit is 100Wh, but it looks like an airline can give an exception for up to 160Wh, and you can have two spares. That's still only 480Wh. Resmed actually publishes a chart of the power draw for their most popular units.
I don't profess to know which would win out, medical need or TSA rules, but I don't plan to ever try it. I don't sleep on flights anyway. Thinking back, I can't recall ever seeing anyone using a CPAP on a flight....but I have heard plenty of folks who sounded like they sure needed one!
I'm assuming you have a full size CPAP? My Breas Z2 is pretty small even with the battery. The extended runtime battery is 99.4 w/h and is good for 8 hours. If I was shopping now I would look at the Transcend Micro it's amazing small with it's battery and it's rated for 2 nights
I guess I'm a bit confused about why this is even a big worry. I have a travel CPAP so it's small enough. I just put it in my under seat carry on and even in coach when it's time to sleep and the cabin is dark I just break it out and go to sleep. Never had an issue. Worst case I'm allowed to have it on the plane so they tell me to stop using it. I would, of course, comply and that's the end of it but I have used it in flight more than 30 times and it's never happened