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What portable oxygen concentrator do you recommend?
Hi 👋 My dad is now on oxygen 24/7 and we are going to visit pulmonologists with experience in IPF, which is 5 hours driving from our home. We are looking now for the most comfortable movable oxygen concentrator to take it for the trip. Are there any you could recommend us? We were thinking about philips everflo.
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28 Replies
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its based on your liter flow.. A portable O2 is NOT recommended if you are on 4lts or more. They are pulse activated and they are setting NOT liter flow at all and that is the issue with them, If you put your setting to 5 you are only getting about 21% oxogen or basically 1.75 to 2.25 liters. You are much beaten off traveling with a M60 tank that will last on teh average 6 hours, You can get 2 or more from you 02 supplier and know you are safe.
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You are correct that pulsed O2 concentrators DO NOT deliver their oxygen continuously, but, as they are pulsed, they only deliver an equivalent amount only when you inhale. Therefore, measuring their flow directly in LPM it would be like comparing apples to oranges. However, they are calibrated to deliver an amount “equivalent” to what you would get from a continuous flow concentrator when set to the desired setting. My InogenOne G5 has equivalent settings up to 6 LPM.
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I use the Imogen G5 portable concentrator and it works well, but it’s expensive. As noted above the one through six levels on my portable don’t necessarily equate to LPM. I have my portable on level 5 and my home continuous flow unit is at 3 LPM. Imight suggest, which ever units you are looking at, try to find one that has a 12 V adapter so you can plug the unit into a cigarette lighter receptacle on your car for power. For a 5 hour trip it’s a lot better than using a bunch of batteries. Good luck with your search.
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Try Amazon. I’ve bought additional Inogen batteries, chargers and other supplies for half what Inogen charges. They were actually manufactured by Inogen too.
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–My experience only. I’m 84 and been on these portables for several years now.
Liable to be different opinions here, and not willing to argue my point. I have used my Inogen One G4 that produces settings of L1-L3, and I am now using an Inogen G5 that produces settings from L1-L6. I’m on 24/7 and if traveling the portable units can be run 24/7 with batteries or without a battery if the 120VAC charger is plugged into the wall or car charger is used. The desktop charger plugged into the Inogen seems to top it off much faster than the little charger unit that charges the battery out of the Inogen. I have also found that carrying on my shoulder/s is unbearable so I use the accessory two wheel trolley for my Inogen G5 and quite easy to maneuver or pick up and collapse handle and carry if need to.
On batteries I get about 2+/- hours per battery at L5 on the G5 portable unit. So, I have been purchasing my own batteries to have sufficient O2 time during the day and charged backups on portable and just keep rotating the batteries through the charger. I have a 120VAC charger that is on my desk too and simply plug G5 in most of the day at my desk to keep it topped off.
Bear in mind that if you buy additional batteries for total freedom, (which I do) that Inogen charges a bunch (about twice what Amazon does) and they have a 1 year warranty. However, Amazon sells the same identical battery (they say) for almost half the price $268 or so, but my experience so far is you either have to buy an extension warranty for $100 for each one or its non-returnable after a few weeks and only seems to last me 6 months, likely due to my rapid turnover by using batteries 100% during 17 hours a day. So I take my chances and just hope that each Amazon battery lasts longer than 6 months and I’m home free.
If you do the math it seems to me they produce roughly equivalent Lpm to pulsed air/oxygen for each minute that you breathe in at about 20 breathes in per minute and I believe it is about equivalent to the L-x setting.
However….I have found the best way for me is to not count too much on the L setting anyway, which is not highly accurate, and to instead adjust to keep my O2 Saturation (finger unit) to an acceptable level. For me that’s around 88-92 or better if sitting. At nite I use the Inogen “At-Home” on setting 4 and my WelVue recording watch shows a steady graph at about 98% all night when sleeping.
Important is that both of my Inogens are portable and when traveling I plug them into the car 12V power outlet and it keeps the Inogen well charged and topped off on arrival. I have heard others say that oxygen bottles are better but you can’t plug them in or re-filI easily on the fly. I know I’m heading that way but will also investigate how portable I can make one of the heavier 58# 10LPM units. Thinking about mounting one on my senior scooter along with maybe a small battery driven inverter and then using a car hitch platform for scooter and compressor/generator. Maybe someone knows or has tried this?
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I have an Inogen G 5 and the maximum liters per minute is about 2.6 lpm at the 6 setting. It is important to know that the settings are NOT liters per minute. Inogen is not good about explaining that.
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Not exactly true. See my reply to Bill6.
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Thank you All for your answers. I am very thankful, they were very helpful.
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Please read “the oxygen manifesto” part 2 by Dr. Noah Greenspan before you make a decision.
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Any FDA certified medical device will do the job. An important thing to remember is that the expiratory portion of a breath cycle is about twice as long as inspiration, so continuous flow lets you inhale up to 1 liter in a minute, depending on your respiratory rate and depth, the rest is wasted. Always breathe in through your nose and out your mouth. Exhaling through your nose traps roughly the last 75cc of expired air that dilutes the oxygen in the next inhale. That air is high in CO2 and O2 concentration is probably around 16%. It makes a difference.
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I WISH any FDA certified device would suffice! but that is not true and it would be dangerous to tell someone with even moderately high O2 needs that is the case.
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Why not use tanks?
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Bill6
The Inogen 5 puts out a maximum of 1.26 liters per breath. If you are on 3lpm it is not sufficient for your needs.
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3 liters is 50 cc/second, that is approximately you inspiratory time at a resp. rate of around 20, extrapolate from there. At 10 breaths per minute that would be 2 second inspirations and 100 cc.
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I’m not trying to be obnoxious, just adding some things to think about. I don’tl know the max output of the series 5, but average resting breath is around 500-600cc, ours might be a little higher. That means about 100-120 ccs of oxygen, of which we absorb about a fifth. Obviously, adding 50 cc of O2 to each breath is a pretty dramatic increase.
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I have IPF and use an Inogen One g5 for exercise and it often isn’t enough for my needs when I do more strenuous exercise. Walking up a steep hill with the setting at 5 often can’t get my SpO2 above 89. I have been told by a pulmonologist that to do this safely I should use one of the smaller lightweight tanks (M6 cylinder tank) for hiking and other strenuous outdoor activities. (I had a treadmill with incline oximeter test that showed I needed 4L with exercise) I think it is very important to use a high-quality oximeter to judge if your POC is enough for your needs and to discuss this with your pulmonologist. You need to keep your blood oxygen level above 90 as much as possible to help prevent complication such as pulmonary hypertension and the like.
I’m still waiting on getting the portable tanks I need due to Medicare restrictions – they only pay for the home concentrator and the POC. – or use tanks instead of the POC but not both. I’m willing to pay for the tanks myself but haven’t yet gotten the script and instead just use my exercise bike and home concentrator. I’ll get the script the next time I see my doctor (hopefully)
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None. Use tanks.
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I’m very confused. I was diagnosed with Lung Fibrosis 3 years ago and was asymptomatic until last week. I was prescribed an oxygen home unit and a portable concentrator. My problem is that the portable is too heavy for me, as I have fibromyalgia and back surgery. The pain is horrible each time I use the portable, which weighs almost 7 lbs with the carrier. Someone recommended Inogen Rove 4, but I can’t find any supplier that rents through Medicare. They all sell them. I’m a 24/7 caregiver for my husband with dementia, and I need to take him everywhere with a walker. Taking the portable in a cart would make it more complicated for me. Any ideas? I appreciate any help you can provide.
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camila
what one did you find that was not too heavy for you? My mom has an inogen. She finds it heave and bulky Thanks
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I use an INOGEN ONE G5 on the golf course regularly. Set at 1 to 5, but find no real difference. Helps with fatigue. I carry it on the plane but have never had to use it. I set it at 1 and on airplanes.
this model has a double battery pack with wall outlet and car accesibility.
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There’s a chart that compares different models here. It shows how much each one can produce in lpm for different settings.
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As another participant stated, it depends on the LPM requirements. My prescription began with 3 LPM for continuous flow or 5 LPM for pulse, we selected the only portable on the market at the time which delivers up to 10 LPM. This is the O2 Oxlife. Again, they are all very expensive. If he is on medicare he might be eligible for a short term loaner or even qualify for them to provide it.
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I am sorry but I inadvertrtently left out the fact that the best oxlife O2 concentrator is the Liberty 2. This was the only model which supposedly delivers up to 10 LPM.
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Hello all,
The output of portable oxygen concentrators is a debate as old as time. I have read these comments and feel it may be helpful to provide some additional data from the manufacturer. I do own an Inogen G-5 and found it to be sufficient only during the early days of my journey, once supplemental oxygen was prescribed.
– The settings on the Inogen G-5 DO NOT represent liters per minute. They are simply settings.
– Even when using a POC continue to monitor use oxygen saturation, paying attention to your recovery times when your saturation dips below 88%.
– Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for servicing your POC. Do not simply reset the service reminders.
-Follow this link to the Inogen G-5 User Manual on their site. (https://www.inogen.com/pdf/96-08649-00-01%20B%20_G5_English_User%20Manual-web.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOopktBfwVsngntdDFkS8zasGxA3Q1EMcQ6vh1TlhkMA-b80NW6qs) Go to page 23 of the manual to review the table on the equivalent output at the different settings. At the highest setting of 6 the device delivers 1260ml/min. The formula to convert ml to l is ml/1000. 1260ml/1000 equals 1.26 liters.
The bottom line… if you are prescribed supplemental oxygen and are considering a POC find the table similar to the one on page 23. Share it with your care team and ask if the level is sufficient for your specific condition.
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If you are only traveling sporadically, your oxygen supplier should be able to loan you one. I am on Medicare and they loan me one when I travel on planes or to higher altitudes. They have never charged me extra.
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Good evening,
I am new to this website and am being told I need to take portable oxygen on my trip to Europe.
I am concerned about the pulsing noise bothering other passengers. Any suggestions on how to avoid this? Thank you.
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Check out the concentrators at VARONINC.com .They have two portable units that provide continuous flow rates of up to 6 L .I purchased both of them and have been very satisfied. One is made especially for car travel using the 12 v outlet in the car .
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I’ve had Devilbis and had the Inogen and the Devilbis is not half as good
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