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Portable Oxygen Concentrator Resource Center

Oxygen Therapy and Electrical Costs

Posted by Caleb Umstead on Jun 17, 2014 6:00:00 AM

Oxygen therapy has countless beneficial factors, but one of the only and biggest downfalls for patients when contemplating purchasing a portable oxygen concentrator, is the simple fact of worrying their electricity bill will increase drastically. So today we will be discussing a few ways of combating the increase in cost, as well as a formula that you can use to determine the exact increase the use of oxygen therapy will add to your energy bill each month.

If you have recently became a medical oxygen patient or you have been on for some time now, many patient do not know that some electric companies offer a payment assistance program. However these programs do vary by location and company. To find out exact information the best option would be to call your local power company and see if they offer such programs. If they do not offer a payment program they may know a third party company that does.

Calculating Your Oxygen Therapy Costs

In addition to payment programs, the cost for running your supplemental oxygen concentrator can be a tax deductible as a medical expense. To calculate the exact expense of running your oxygen therapy use the following formula:

  1. Lets say you own the SeQual eQuinox portable oxygen concentrator
  2. Next, look on the back label for the voltage amount (85-264 volts depending on the setting)
  3. We will use 110 volts for this formula multiplied by 6 amps (actual amperage may vary)
  4. Which equals 660 watts
  5. Then we figure out the kilowatts an hour
  6. 660 watts x .001 KW/H = .66 kilowatts
  7. Now figure out the amount of hours you use your oxygen concentrator
  8. Say you use the SeQual Equinox 24/7, 365 days a year
  9. 24 x 365= 8,760 hours
  10. Take the .66 kw and multiply it by 8,760 which equals 5,781.6
  11. Call your power company and ask what they charge per kilowatt. We'll use 12 cents as an example
  12. Multiply 5,781.6 by .66 kw, which will return your yearly cost as $693.79

How to Reduce your Energy Consumption 

Some other reminders to keep in mind when being cautious about the power bill include swapping out regular light bulbs throughout the house and replace them with LED bulbs, receive the same amount of power at fractions of the cost. Also every time you leave a room or the house make sure all the lights are turned off, leaving lights on while away from the house even for a little while can rack on extra costs to your bill. Be sure to unplug any electronics that are not in use, leaving something plugged in 24/7 may not seem bad but it is still drawing a current which you get charged for. Keep in mind when shopping for an oxygen concentrator to pick one that is energy efficient with a low kilowatt rate, this can save you a bundle on electricity costs.

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+Caleb Umstead

Topics: oxygen therapy, oxygen concentrators

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