nereas
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...Question: Is there any reason why I should not use Enriched Air for every dive? Is there a reason why I would want to sometimes use AIR opposed to Enriched Air?
From my studys in the Nitrox class it seems ok for me to just stick to Enriched Air whenever I can...
If you are diving really shallow, such as 20 to 50 ft along the coast or in the tropics, then EANx would be a waste of oxygen and money. The only time that diving shallower than 50 ft would make sense with nitrox would be for diving in the mountains (high altitude).
The general rule is that EANx is ideal, and better than air, for any depth between 50 ft and 150 ft.
For dives in the range of 50 ft to 95 ft, EAN 36 is the best mix.
For dives in the range of 100 ft to 130 ft, EAN 32 is the best mix.
For dives in the range of 130 ft to 150 ft, EAN 25 is the best mix. However this is normally considered a technical deco dive, since your NDL would only be 5 mins.
For anything deeper than 150 ft, you whould be diving with trimix, and now you would be outside the range of nitrox.
A basic nitrox certification would allow you to use EAN 36 or EAN 32, for diving to depths of 130 ft (or shallower, per the above limits).