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There is no one combination of settings that will work for everyone. There is too much variation in bedroom micro-climates, general weather patterns, personal preferences for humidity, etc. In theory, if you are dry you turn up the humidifier temperature until dryness stops. If you start to get rain out (excessive condensation in tube or mask), turn the tube temp up until the rain out stops. However, it may well be worth trying it all an auto first because, if it works then yay!
That is a lot of variation, and 47 is pretty high for residual AHI. What is your leak level like? If you have bad leak on some nights, this could be reducing the sensitivity of your machine to your events leading it to report an artificially low AHI. Overall, a sleep study with your BiPAP on will give the best answers.
In case you are wondering, if your humidifier runs dry nothing bad will happen to your machine. So, if that was a concern for you, don't worry.
Increasing the max pressure setting of an auto is fairly low risk. The auto should only turn itself up if it thinks you need it, and all increasing the max pressure does is let it go higher if it thinks it is necessary. Having said that, I always advocate consulting your doctor. Any reasonable doctor should be open to this.
An AHI of less than 1 simply means less than one event per hour. If your machine only registers 3 events over 8 hours of use this will be an AHI of 0.38. The machines do tend to overestimate AHI, which is one reason a result of 5 or less is good. An AHI of less than is excellent and you should all feel proud if you are getting that kind of result.
An AHI of 11 - 14 is not great. You posted initially that Autoset has a max pressure setting of 12. This is pretty low and may be preventing the machine from delivering sufficient pressure in the worst parts of you sleep. Perhaps this could be adjusted upward and see if your AHI goes down. The autoset should, in theory, only increase its pressure if you need it.
That smell is certainly a cause for concern. Get it check ed out ASAP. Also, you can just turn the heated tubing off if you wish. You don't have to get a whole new machine without it.
Wiredgeorge is correct in that a decrease in AHI from 14 to 9 is not a success. However, I have watched several people sleep flat on their stomachs while wearing CPAP, with their face and mask buried straight into the pillow. Apparently it works for them.
CPAP opens your airway and keeps it open - that's the whole point. The correct pressure is one that doesn't allow you airway to collapse, so that your breathing is uninterrupted.
Oh, and I've heard of many different pillows which people use.
I have a number of patients who tape their mouths shut. I've never know it to cause a problem. If the power goes off an you can't breathe you will wake up and take the tape off. Also, have a CPAP mask on doesn't mean that you can't breathe through your nose of the power goes out. I'm not sure what the concern is with mouth taping.
The S9 and AirSense 10 machine from ResMed all do the same thing. It's pointless but harmless.
