sleeping with generator on

Not getting into the if you should or shouldn't, but many have mentioned having a window cracked open. When we run our generator on our motorhome, all is well with doors and windows closed. We don't smell exhaust - but - if you open a window , you can smell exhaust. I wouldn't want to sleep with a window cracked and smelling the exhaust.

We have solar but we use the generator if a cloudy, rainy day, traveling or if we are in too much tree cover. Being in the West this rarely happens.

We have also used a propane heater for 16 years and some days it ran all day.

We would never use either all night long - even with a detector.

We've been to a few rallies with people running generators around us. The smell was awful. Some have no consideration as to where their exhaust goes. The noise during the night is horrible. One guy was parked with his generator exhaust at our bedroom window. We had to ask him to turn it off and he did with no issue. He said he didn't even think about the consequences. We stopped parking in big groups for this reason.

Everyone is different, for sure.

Like all things in RVing, there are a lot of factors that come into play. As I said before we don't do it but I have never needed to. I always schedule a place to plug in ahead of time. I don't go to races or anything like that. If I was travelling and had to overnight in a parking lot and it was 90 degrees out, I would strongly think about doing it. Many seem to do it just fine. AS far as the "CYA and if we paid attention to all the warnings" comments, well that's a straw man argument and really holds little in the way of persuasive logic with me. Usually if there is a warning, it's the result of something that has happened that prompted them to add it. And despite the doom and gloom of some posters, breathing carbon monoxide whether it kills you or not, it's not really healthy. I can't imagine being in the infield of a hundred oil burning gensets running and enjoying the air. We run our gen while driving down the road. Issue mitigated obviously due to driving. I do know this, when I run my genset and I am sitting still, I smell exhaust. How fast it could fill the coach and be harmful - I don't know. I imagine the answer depends. How confident am I in my detector, about as confident as I am in the rest of the low quality stuff they put in Rv's. And I would be asleep and unable to consciously keep an eye (or nose) on the issue. Some obviously are more confident in their detectors than others. But with my son sleeping on the bunk, next to the slide which I know is not airtight and also immediately over the gen exhaust, me in the bedroom and the detector in the middle of the coach, I refuse to risk it. I am not advocating that anyone follow my example. This is just what I do - or don't do. Many use them and have no ill effects, well at least that are noticeable. OP asked for opinions and he got them. I still fail to see why folks are so passionate about these issues to the point of arguments. Do what you do and let others do what they do. Who cares if someone agrees with you or not?

We've done it a few times when we 'driveway camped' at the in-law's place overnight a few times and it was hot enough that air conditioning was a must. It works just fine, and is not a problem. Kids actually love it, say that the constant hum of the generator helps them sleep. Generator runs all night, and we're all just fine the next morning. CO detector never went off, and we don't use a Genturi, either (although I definitely would if we did this regularly or did it in an area with lots of other people around).

I too was leary at first, concerned about CO getting in. However, it really is not an issue as long as you have a good CO detector. We don't use a Genturi, but that would no doubt reduces the risk even more, and is definitely a really good idea if you do this regularly.

I see that like always when questions/issues like this come up, we have plenty of folks that swear its sooo dangerous, nobody should EVER do it, just 'cause they chose not to or have never been in a situation where they would need to. :R

As to the 'legal CYA' warnings provided about sleeping with a generator on: LOL, if we followed ALL the little CYA warnings like that, pretty soon we'd all be living in caves, haha. :)

As to all those 'supposed' deaths due to CO poisoning: I wonder how many of them were due to folks camping in tents too close to where generators were running? Or, like already said, how many were due to someone using a heater inside that they really should not have? I'm betting very, very, few...Probably NONE of those deaths were cases of someone inside an RV inhaling too much CO from their own generator. That just doesn't happen except in very rare cases, and even then is totally avoidable if you have a good, properly installed, working CO detector (which I believe all MHs with a generator come with from the factory, and have for several years).

Mile High wrote:
When we get done arguing this, lets resolve the driving with propane appliances on issue. I'm sure we can show 500 deaths associated with that too. ;)

You forgot TPMS and seat belts.

When we get done arguing this, lets resolve the driving with propane appliances on issue. I'm sure we can show 500 deaths associated with that too. ;)

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Just make sure that you have a functioning CO detector just in case.

Ditto!

I'm CPAP dependent & need electricity to power the CPAP. I have used the genset on several occasions with no problems.

We were boondocking all alone, nobody else near us. It was hot and humid with little moving air. Put my homemade genturi on the generator and ran the a/c all night, obviously without a problem. In the morning before leaving, I removed and stowed the genturi. It was still hot and humid with little air movement. Went back into the mh and wife wanted to use the microwave. Fired up the generator and less than 15 minutes later, the CO detector went off. I will not run the generator while sleeping without the genturi. It's up to you, but why take a chance of becoming a CO poisoning statistic.

We've done it many times. Our ONAN Quiet Diesel generator is located at the front, with exhaust pipe to the side in front of the steer tire, AND the bed is at the rear. We close all windows, and run the front air conditioner non-stop. Sleeping, while boondocking in the sunbelt, doesn't get any better,...even if it's at a Walmart.
Perhaps this NEWMAR "box" is sealed better than I thought. OR, perhaps I'm luckier at camping than at playing the lotto.....:B

barmcd wrote:


I'm not sure how carbon monoxide gets in the RV sits below floor level and the exhaust system directs the exhaust gas out away from the coach. Carbon monoxide is the same density as air so it won't migrate up or down by itself--there has to be some kind of convection current to move it around.
As long as your generator exhaust is in good condition there should be no danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Ever take a good long hard look at a gen exhaust??? Has NOTHING to do if that short little exhaust pipe is in good condition.

It's where it is located and the WIND, that's your convection and it's everywhere and yes it moves it up and down and under an RV.

That gen exhaust pipe sticks out 'maybe' an inch or two from the side of your RV. The most dangerous thing I've ever seen.

The exhaust runs right up along the side of your coach and seeps into the windows closed or not, remember weep holes?

And if a wind is blowing it goes right 'under' your rv and seeps into your RV from all the holes from where pipes, electric wires, etc all come in. RV's are not built like a stick home by any means.

I do a lot of sporting events without hookups. thought all my headaches were from not winning that day! :B

Seriously I got a Gen-turi gen exhaust and my headaches completely disappeared AND that slight smell of gen exhaust in the coach totally is gone.
Many state parks in the west now 'require' this and now many sporting events are requiring them also.

Keep in mind if the wind blows the gen exhaust goes under your RV, AND so does all the exhaust from the people parked next to you too.

Gen-turi and a window cracked. The ONLY way to use a gen safely in an RV. Data or no data. I choose not to be part of a data for dead people. Don't care if it's a million to one. I don't want to be the one.