Fisher & Paykel SleepStyle ThermoSmart Heated Tube

The ThermoSmart breathing tube is the heated hose for the Fisher and Paykel SleepStyle, and it is the part that turns ThermoSmart on. The manufacturer is explicit that the feature needs this tube connected, so without it the machine does not offer heated humidification at all.

The angled elbow seats into the SleepStyle air outlet and clicks its electrical connectors firmly into place. At the other end sits a plain 22 mm conical connector, which meets the swivel on a standard mask without needing any adapter at all in between.

Key Features:

• Turns ThermoSmart on: Fisher and Paykel state that the ThermoSmart tube is what activates ThermoSmart on the machine.
• More moisture delivered: The manufacturer measures over 18 mg per liter here against over 15 through the plain tube.
• Higher at every level: The gap holds across the range, from level two upward, narrowing only at the very lowest setting.
• Elbow at the machine: The angled end carries the electrical connectors and is the part you hold when turning the tube.
• 22 mm mask end: Fisher and Paykel list it as fitting a 22 mm conical connector, the standard mask fitting.
• SleepStyle only: The manufacturer asks that its breathing tubes not be used with any device other than the SleepStyle.

Order this if you own a SleepStyle and want the humidification the machine was built around. Order the plain breathing tube instead only if you have decided you would rather run without ThermoSmart, since it is sold as its own part.

Note: This is the ThermoSmart tube, not the standard breathing tube. Fisher and Paykel sell that one separately under its own part number, and it has no heating element in it.

Why a heated hose moves more moisture

Air holds moisture in proportion to how warm it is. Humidified air leaving a machine at one temperature and arriving at your nose several degrees cooler has to shed the difference somewhere, and it sheds it as droplets inside the hose.

Holding the temperature the whole way means the air can still carry what it picked up. That is why the manufacturer's own figures show more moisture arriving through this tube at nearly every level, rather than a vague claim about comfort.

The one thing that ruins it

Fisher and Paykel warn against washing or disinfecting this tube in hot water, and the reason is mechanical: heat deforms the tube, and a deformed tube reduces the therapeutic pressure reaching you. It is the fastest way to quietly undertreat yourself.

Their instruction is warm soapy water with a mild dishwashing detergent after each use, two 30 second rinses in clean water, and hanging it with both ends pointing at the floor, away from sunlight and away from heated rails.

Handle it by the elbow

Fisher and Paykel ask you to rotate the tube by gripping the elbow rather than twisting the flexible section, and note that other handling can damage it. The elbow is rigid and carries the electrical contacts, so it is built to take the load.

There is no published replacement interval for this part. Inspect it whenever you handle it and replace it on cracking, deformation, discoloration or leaking, or when dirt inside the coil will no longer rinse away.

Here's everything that comes in the box.

• F&P SleepStyle ThermoSmart heated breathing tube with the elbow attached
• 22 mm conical connector at the mask end