Should I get a home concentrator or a portable oxygen concentrator?

First, start with your prescription and understand the necessary requirements. Make sure that you compare machines capable of providing the oxygen demands that you have been prescribed.

Once you have identified the machines capable of meeting your oxygen demands, think about how you want to use the concentrator:

• Home concentrators are typically less expensive, bulkier and work only with AC power (connected to your home electrical outlet). If you want an extra concentrator for home use, maybe just having an extra home concentrator is the correct option. Home concentrators provide oxygen in continuous flow mode only. this means oxygen is always flowing out whether a patient is breathing in or out.
  
• Portable oxygen concentrators are typically more expensive, smaller and lighter – in other words, portability is part of the design. They work via a battery, AC and DC power sources. They are ideal for frequent travelers, active patients, taking to doctor’s visits or rehab clinics, and so many other activities. Portable oxygen concentrators are able to be small because they can provide oxygen in pulse dose mode. Pulse dose mode works by providing a bolus dose of oxygen to the patient only when the patient inhales and stops releasing oxygen during exhalation. This is less work on the portable oxygen concentrator  which allows for longer battery life. There are some portable oxygen concentrators provide both continuous flow and pulse dose.