Power medical equipment through an outage

Xcel Energy runs a Medical Certification Program in Colorado. Customers with a documented medical condition can opt in to additional advance notice of planned power shutoffs and notification of unplanned outages from severe weather or wildfire mitigation. A medical professional signs the form if you also want the program’s protection against bill-related disconnection.

Xcel’s own form is blunt: it cannot guarantee uninterrupted service, and customers who depend on powered medical devices should have a backup power source for prolonged outages. If you’re served by a co-op or municipal utility, ask them what they offer for medically dependent customers.

CPAP machines are modest loads, though a heated humidifier raises consumption noticeably. Home oxygen concentrators draw considerably more and run continuously. Medication refrigerators are small. We read the wattage off each device’s label or manual rather than guessing, then model runtime.

For most households, one battery carries these medical loads plus a refrigerator, lights and internet for well over a day, and solar recharging extends that. If a concentrator runs 24 hours a day, we size more conservatively and keep portable oxygen tanks in the plan as a fallback.

The batteries we install switch the home to backup automatically, typically fast enough that most electronics keep running. Check with your equipment supplier about whether your specific device is sensitive to brief interruptions, and keep any built-in device battery charged as a second layer.

We wire the medical circuits onto the backed-up panel and label them, so nobody has to think during an outage.

We’re electricians and solar installers, not clinicians. We can tell you how many hours a battery will run a device at its rated draw. Whether that’s enough for the person who relies on it is a conversation for their doctor or respiratory therapist.