I bought a 2 year old Korr CardioCoach CO2 from a Phd student studying Nutritional Sciences at the U of W. He’s upgrading to a Parvo metabolic cart. I spent a lot of time talking to him to understand exactly what I was getting before I pulled the trigger. I paid around $4k all in. A new one runs around $12,000. Mine is a bit overkill, because it can also do VO2 max, and in addition to having an O2 sensor, it has a CO2 sensor so you can do respiratory quotient. It also comes with software so you can dig into the data a bit rather than just getting a single number readout. The software alone costs $1,000.
You can buy a great unit called a Korr Metacheck for around $3,300 that does everything you need. That’s what a lot of DexaFit facilities use. There is also the cost of consumables however. The breathing tubes cost $7.00-$10.00 each but although the are meant to be disposable for clients at a clinic, you can get multiple uses out of them.
Sometimes you can pick one up on ebay for a good price. There was a great one that went for $800 just recently that I almost bought. If you go the Ebay route, it’s important to note that the O2 sensors only last 20-24 months before they need recalibration. Recalibration can only be done at the Korr facility, and they charge $1,100 for the first time for a new owner, and then for subsequent recalibrations you pay $395. Almost all units on Ebay will have an expired O2 sensor. Ideally, you want to buy from the original owner, not a used medical device wholesaler so you can talk to the seller and understand exactly what you’re getting. It’s still very much a roll of the dice though.
