Running generator at night while sleeping?

We and several hundred others tailgate UF football games FriThru Sun. We have for 20 years, 15 in class A RVs.

EVERYBODY runs their genset and ACs ALL WEEKEND. Never shut them off.

Nobody has ever died. Stacks are mandatory. Stand alone gensets are not allowed.

Nobody leaves windows open.

If your CO detecter ever went off it means there is a big problem somewhere.

Having said all that, I like my genset at the opposite end of RV way more than I did under the bedroom.

If I am dry camping I use the Gen Turi I takes less than five minutes to set up or take down.

Thanks for the info everyone, we just purchased our MH this summer and have not had to use the generator other than to turn it on to "exercise" it. But when I have ran it, none of the detectors have gone off. As for using it in a campground, I would make sure not to use it during quiet times or if there are no restrictions I'd check with my neighbors first if there are any round. It was more for situations where we may be by ourselves and no one around or if we were stopping at a Walmart or something for a quick overnight stop (again, if there are other campers I'd be courteous with the generator). I'm just worried that without AC running at night it may be unbearable down here in Texas. I will definitely invest in one of those exhaust vent attachments.

TyroneandGladys wrote:
....If you plan to run your generator do not park near tents. If some one comes in and starts to set up a tent next to you WARN them of CO2 some of them have no clue how it will fill a tent.

After that warn them about CO because that is what comes from combustion. CO2 is what makes your soda fizz.

efiguero wrote:
So I've read that it is not recommended to run a generator at night in a motorhome while everyone is sleeping because of the chance of CO poisoning. Is this true? Or is this similar to the debate on how safe it is to run a fridge on propane while driving?

When MY RV was new it took 2 hours of generator run time before the CO alarm in the bedroom got downright annoying,,, as it is designed to do.

Just two hours.. now there is no way I can sleep through that alarm but... What if the alarm fails (Which by the way it has, I'm on my second alarm now).

I've also had a neighbor's generator push enough exhaust under my house to fire off the CO noise maker.

The result is I invested in a Camco GEN-TURI and use it if I plan on running the genny more than an hour.. It works great.. It hauls the hot exhaust fumes up over the roof and from there they keep on rising, I've done a few 25 hour runs of the Generator with no annoying BEEP BEEP from the device designed to deliver them if the CO goes too high,, This is a good thing.

NOW: I have read all the dire warnings about how the EXHAUST fans will suck in fumes from the Gen-Turi (Don't believe them think about what an Exhaust fan does) I've read about how the A/C's can suck it in (They do not even have a fresh air intake so that's not possible). and so on.

I also ran the Generator over 24 hours with no alarm. More than once.


The fun parts: First time I did that the Field Day chair told me I could start the Generator now (We had just plugged in the first station to which I was providing power) As you can guess. Generator already running, he could not hear it.

Second time the city offical ask how loud it was.. I had to tell him it was running too.. He decided it was not too loud. (He could not hear it till ... Well I also had to demonstrate how hot the Gen-Turi tube got (I had my hand on it while talking to him, Engine running)

I ALWAYS left a window opened in any of the RV's I've owned when running the gen. It's just smart safety sense. It's not house it's a small enclosed vehicle. IMHO you are just asking to be a statistic if you sleep with all the windows closed while a gen is running.

I purchased one of these to exhaust the gen up and over the top of RV.
My exhaust pipe for the gen is right under the couch. The pipe only extends a few inches past the side of the RV like all of them do. The exhaust runs right up to the window, and if a breeze right 'under' your RV. It's an accident waiting to happen if you have all the windows closed.

I had all my windows opened and had headaches I contributed that to all what I was doing at sporting events. WRONG, it was because I was sleeping on the couch and the exhaust fumes where right there not enough to kill you but enough to give you a headache.

I bought this. Makes a BIG BIG difference. You will notice immediately just how much your coach did smell like exhaust before you put this on because you no longer smell 'any' of it.
Best thing I ever purchased for the RV.






air intake real important feature on this product

When we were at Oshkosh at the end of July a number of years ago it was hot. Ran the generator for 4 days straight. I had the Gen-Turi attached to the generator exhaust. But the people in the DP next to us (borrowed from a friend) did not have a Gen-Turi device. Consequently their diesel generator dumped the exhaust toward the the front of our Motor home. We had to keep our windows and vents closed to keep the exhaust smell out. We had planned on spending more time at Camp Schuler but we got exhausted from the exhaust smell.

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Why would you need to? It's night. Turn it off ,sleep well without worry. Or not, then?

Because the low temp not the high but the low temp is 92!!!
Have run one many a night at the lake in the summer. Make sure that you have a detector. Would not run one without one. If you plan to run your generator do not park near tents. If some one comes in and starts to set up a tent next to you WARN them of CO2 some of them have no clue how it will fill a tent.

1) make sure you have a working CO detector. 2) If you have an on board generator, get a Gen-turi. This will direct the generator exhaust up and over the MH. 3) If you have portable generators to use with a TT, just move them as far away from the trailer as possible, and put them down wind as much as possible.

efiguero wrote:
So I've read that it is not recommended to run a generator at night in a motorhome while everyone is sleeping because of the chance of CO poisoning. Is this true? Or is this similar to the debate on how safe it is to run a fridge on propane while driving? I am just curious as I assumed the whole purpose of a generator was to provide electricity to the MH when not plugged in, so if you need AC at night the gen is needed, right? I know in some parks due to quiet times you can't run them at night, but if there is no restriction and you have CO detectors installed in the MH is CO provisioning from your Gen running a common issue?

We have run ours overnight in the heat of summer while overnighting at truck stops. In among the truckers who also idle all night, our genset could not even be heard. As others have said, a working CO detector is a must. Other than that, there's nothing to fret over.