Educational aimsTo discuss the basic principles of ventilator functionTo help the reader to recognise the different features of a home care ventilatorTo outline the advantages and drawbacks of the different home care ventilatorsTo provide some recommendations to facilitate the clinical management of patients on home care ventilatorSummaryMechanical ventilation, applied either invasively through a tracheotomy tube or noninvasivelyviaa mask, is increasingly used for long-term management of many forms of severe chronic respiratory failure in the home setting. In recent years, the quality of the ventilators for long-term home mechanical ventilation has improved considerably and, concomitantly, the number of machines available has also increased. This broader range of commercially available machines is clearly an advantage; however, it makes the choice of the optimal device for a specific patient more difficult. The aim of the present article is to provide useful information to help and guide the choice of device for long-term mechanical ventilation in the home setting.