If you are on oxygen and preparing for a power outage you may be wondering about the possibility of running an oxygen concentrator off a ups (uninterruptible power supply). The question you could be wondering is if purchasing a UPS is the best backup plan for those at home with dependency on an oxygen concentrator?

How long will an Oxygen Concentrator last on a UPS?

Typical oxygen concentrators draw around 4 running amps and run on 120 volts. The motor inside the concentrator runs continually so that it has an average of 480 running watts. The largest UPS you might buy from somewhere like Best Buy or Staples may contain about 160 watt hours of battery capacity.  That means a UPS battery backup power supply of this sort would only power a oxygen concentrator for about 20 minutes. Since the size of battery backup power supply required has to be so large in order to run an oxygen concentrator, alternative methods of getting oxygen would be a better option.

Storing Bottled Oxygen vs Running an O2 Concentrator on a UPS

Storing bottled oxygen for use in emergencies is far more economical than running an oxygen concentrator off batteries. We would recommend you ask your oxygen supply company to supply you some extra oxygen bottles that you can have on hand in case of an emergency.

Another alternative is having a portable concentrator, which would work as a short term solution. However the batteries on these small systems do not last long, so you would also need to have an additional place you can go until power is restored.