The Truth About Oxygen Conserving Devices
An Oxygen Conserving Device is an oxygen tank regulator that will only allow oxygen to be dispensed when a patient is breathing which will increase the life of your oxygen tank by 300%.
They are made to only give a dose of air to the patient when they are triggered by the patients breath.
Standard oxygen regulators dispense oxygen out of the tank continuously which will empty out an oxygen tank in 1-2 hours as a oxygen conserving regulator will make the same oxygen tank last 6-8 hours.
A pneumatic oxygen conserver does not use batteries but instead it has a small piston in the device that senses back pressure that is created when you exhale, when you inhale the backpressure is released allowing the piston to move and the oxygen stored in the oxygen conserver to be pumped to the user's nose through a nasal cannula.
An electronic oxygen conserver regulator is similar to a pneumatic conserver with the exception of the electronic mechanism inside regulates the burst of oxygen in a more precise metered dose and it runs off of batteries.
The advantage of using a conserving device is threefold.
The conserving device allows the patient to only use oxygen from the tank when they are breathing.
It will extend the life of tank, in most cases sometimes 3-5 times the life of a tank versus using a standard regulator and they are virtually maintenance free.
If you use a battery powered conserver, you should also have a scheduled time of the month your change the batteries.
The disadvantage of using a conserver is that not all patients can use them.
It is not safe to assume that if you are currently on oxygen and you have portable oxygen tanks that a oxygen conserving device is just going to extend the life of your oxygen tank.
Before switching from a continuous flow regulator to a conserver you will need to have an oximetry done by a licensed respiratory therapist.
Your liter flow can be set by them while monitoring your blood oxygen level.
Some patients do not have strong enough inhale pressure to trigger the machine to give you a breath which is what they refer to as a pulse dose.
One of the most reliable and affordable oxygen conserving devices on the market is made by Devilbiss and is called the Devilbiss PD1000 conserving device and is a battery operated conserver which is very sensitive to the patients breaths and also comes with a 3 year warranty.
The Devilbiss conserving device fits most all oxygen tanks including the M6, M9, C, D and E tanks and is very lightweight.
They are made to only give a dose of air to the patient when they are triggered by the patients breath.
Standard oxygen regulators dispense oxygen out of the tank continuously which will empty out an oxygen tank in 1-2 hours as a oxygen conserving regulator will make the same oxygen tank last 6-8 hours.
A pneumatic oxygen conserver does not use batteries but instead it has a small piston in the device that senses back pressure that is created when you exhale, when you inhale the backpressure is released allowing the piston to move and the oxygen stored in the oxygen conserver to be pumped to the user's nose through a nasal cannula.
An electronic oxygen conserver regulator is similar to a pneumatic conserver with the exception of the electronic mechanism inside regulates the burst of oxygen in a more precise metered dose and it runs off of batteries.
The advantage of using a conserving device is threefold.
The conserving device allows the patient to only use oxygen from the tank when they are breathing.
It will extend the life of tank, in most cases sometimes 3-5 times the life of a tank versus using a standard regulator and they are virtually maintenance free.
If you use a battery powered conserver, you should also have a scheduled time of the month your change the batteries.
The disadvantage of using a conserver is that not all patients can use them.
It is not safe to assume that if you are currently on oxygen and you have portable oxygen tanks that a oxygen conserving device is just going to extend the life of your oxygen tank.
Before switching from a continuous flow regulator to a conserver you will need to have an oximetry done by a licensed respiratory therapist.
Your liter flow can be set by them while monitoring your blood oxygen level.
Some patients do not have strong enough inhale pressure to trigger the machine to give you a breath which is what they refer to as a pulse dose.
One of the most reliable and affordable oxygen conserving devices on the market is made by Devilbiss and is called the Devilbiss PD1000 conserving device and is a battery operated conserver which is very sensitive to the patients breaths and also comes with a 3 year warranty.
The Devilbiss conserving device fits most all oxygen tanks including the M6, M9, C, D and E tanks and is very lightweight.
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