Ways to Power Your CPAP Off-the-Grid
There are two different ways you can power your CPAP while camping off-the-grid:
Use a Deep-Cycle Lead-Acid Battery
Use a Portable CPAP Battery
1) Using a Deep Cycle Battery
Deep-cycle batteries are commonly found at auto parts stores as marine batteries, but can typically also be found where mobility scooters are sold. A deep-cycle battery is designed to provide continuous power over a long period of time whereas a cranking or starting battery (like you’d find in most personal vehicles) is designed to discharge a large amount of energy upfront, then be recharged by an alternator.
If weight isn’t off-putting to you, a deep-cycle battery is an efficient and cost-effective way to power your CPAP off-grid, especially if you’ll be RV camping with your CPAP.
To make it work, you’ll need to do one of two things:
Get a DC Adapter Cable and Connect Using Your Machine’s DC Cable
Use an Inverter
We’ll go over these points in greater detail below.
Using a DC Adapter Cable
A DC Adapter Cable uses alligator clips to connect to the positive and negative terminals of the deep-cycle battery. It then outputs the power to a cigarette lighter plug. From there, you can plug in your machine’s DC cable into the cigarette lighter plug and power your machine that way. Some deep-cycle batteries have the cigarette lighter plug built-in to the battery itself, allowing you to plug in without needing the adapter.
Using an Inverter
An inverter converts the DC power provided by the battery to AC power so your machine can use it. A few machine models require a special kind called a Pure Sine Wave Inverter. If you don’t use this inverter, you could risk damaging your machine. To make your inverter work with a car battery, you’ll need to make sure it has alligator clips that you can connect to the deep cycle battery. From there, it would convert it to AC power, and you’d plug it in as you would at home.
There are some drawbacks to using a car battery for your CPAP:
Car Batteries Can Be Heavy: If you’ve ever replaced your car battery for your vehicle, you’d know how heavy a car battery can be. Lugging one in a backpack over long distances can be rough. Lithium-ion batteries are a lot lighter and are much easier to take with you on a long camping trip.
Deep Cycle Batteries Are Not FAA Approved: Because deep-cycle lead-acid batteries contain toxic chemicals that can be unstable, they’re not permitted to be used on a flight or placed in checked baggage. This means you won’t be able to bring one with you while you travel by air to your destination. They also can be hard to recharge. For those that can overcome these limitations, a deep cycle battery can be a great source of power for any traveler, trekker, or camper.
2) Using a CPAP Battery Pack
Today, CPAP batteries are lighter and less expensive than they’ve ever been, and that’s a big reason why they’re becoming more popular. When it comes to batteries, one important thing to remember is that no battery is truly universal. Many batteries have DC inputs for specific machines, but if there’s no DC input, you’ll have to use an inverter.
CPAP Depot makes it easy to know what power needs your particular machine has. We include this information on our product pages under the tab labeled “power.” It’s far better to connect to a battery designed to work with your specific machine than it is to pick your favorite battery and find a way to make it work.


















