Be careful with generators

Yep ... we do have a carbon monoxide detector in our stick house ... now.

The contractor (was required to) put it in so we could pass final inspection last week on our remodel ... that included the new propane fireplace and propane cooktop.

P.S. Our RV has a smoke detector, a carbon monoxide detector, and a propane detector. Oddly enough, our stick house is not required to contain a propane detector even though we justed converted to two propane appliances included in the remodel. It's especially odd since we live in CA, which is usually over the top with all kinds of regulations.

pnichols wrote:
Where is CO coming from in a/our stick house? :h and ;)

Our propane cooktop has a huge multi-speed vent hood above all burners.

Our oven is electric.

Our water heater is electric.

Our whole-house heating is electric heat pump.

Our local living area heating is a sealed radiant heat propane fireplace with it's intake and exhaust above the roof.

Ya, you got it made. You should still have a detector just for safety sake. Your car running outside could put enough CO in the house if you let it idle for hours. :) You never know it could happen. :)

Where is CO coming from in a/our stick house? :h and ;)

Our propane cooktop has a huge multi-speed vent hood above all burners.

Our oven is electric.

Our water heater is electric.

Our whole-house heating is electric heat pump.

Our local living area heating is a sealed radiant heat propane fireplace with it's intake and exhaust above the roof.

Tvov wrote:

2012Coleman wrote:

SkiingSixPack wrote:
Update from the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN paper)

Looks like it may have been the genny with the exhaust pointed under the skirted trailer. So sad!!!

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_27064083/duluth-2-found-dead-trailer-carbon-monoxide-suspected

Anybody on this forum who advises people that they can winter in a TT should be banned for this very reason - regardless of how many vents you leave open. Makes you wonder why you would heat a space in sub zero temps while needing to leave holes open iin the ceiling.

Your "sticks and bricks" house should also have proper venting, including a vented roof.

I don't do construction. The roof vents are above the insulation and the vapor barrier. There main purpose is to keep the roof from sweating and then ice builds up under the shingles and loosens them. I don't think it has anything to do with venting the house to keep CO low. The only "proper" venting in this old house are the drafts that come in around the doors and windows. :B

2012Coleman wrote:

SkiingSixPack wrote:
Update from the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN paper)

Looks like it may have been the genny with the exhaust pointed under the skirted trailer. So sad!!!

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_27064083/duluth-2-found-dead-trailer-carbon-monoxide-suspected

Anybody on this forum who advises people that they can winter in a TT should be banned for this very reason - regardless of how many vents you leave open. Makes you wonder why you would heat a space in sub zero temps while needing to leave holes open iin the ceiling.

Your "sticks and bricks" house should also have proper venting, including a vented roof.

we heat with a wave cat heater
we also have a smaller portable {no hose} blue flame heater
we have generators
but we don't park them under the RV and hang tarps or skirting around them

this was a terrible tragedy but it was 100% preventable
as is Most events of this kind
every winter these kind of events happen
a good person has a lapse in judgement
blaming the generator or the LP heater or the Barbecue grill used inside the house does not change the truth

2012Coleman wrote:

SkiingSixPack wrote:
Update from the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN paper)

Looks like it may have been the genny with the exhaust pointed under the skirted trailer. So sad!!!

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_27064083/duluth-2-found-dead-trailer-carbon-monoxide-suspected

Anybody on this forum who advises people that they can winter in a TT should be banned for this very reason - regardless of how many vents you leave open. Makes you wonder why you would heat a space in sub zero temps while needing to leave holes open iin the ceiling.

LOL! Still have photos of dad standing outside his tent in just his cowboy boots and skivvies on a snow covered mountain side. He lived in that tent the entire winter. And amazingly he survived despite his evil wood stove that didn't suffocate him or burn his tent down. Don't forget, people die that way all the time... in their sticks and bricks homes. The event that spurred this thread is a terrible tragedy, but what does it have to do with people using or even living in their RVs in the winter?

being a Baby boomer born 1947..
my dad back from the war and working for a pipeline construction company driving truck
i spent my early years in a trailer, one with an oil fired heater
at the age of 5, were parked in the Pa Mountains at a hunting lodge, and snow 3ft deep (Mom said), anyway the snow was deeper than i was tall

anyways..its not about cold or bad weather..or heaters in doors,,( that worked for decades )its about "vigilance" its about the "not so common"
good sense that so few people seem to exhibit anymore.

The above post reminds me of something I've thought about for quite some time:

For ventilation inside an RV during cold weather ... why have a vent up high?

How about a vent somewhere down low so heated air inside the RV would hardly escape at all. Perhaps a small "doggy door" type door installed down low within a side door? Or ... a small "doggy door" type door installed down low in a wall somewhere where there was room?

The object is to have a small opening to the outside for exchanging of air - it doesn't have to be up high via a roof vent. It only has to be well sealed when closed so dust/dirt can't enter when under way on the road.

jrnymn7 wrote:
In certain cases, cracking a window and running a roof exhaust may actually draw fumes into the rv.

Yep ... that's right on. Happened to us when camping in our Class C during warm weather on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. We had a window open in the back, with the roof vent fan in the front turned ON and set to blow OUT ... this brought the sickening odors of "dead stuff" into the RV from the back to the front.

That's why I said in my post above, to turn the roof vent ON and set it to blowing IN (you need a reversible roof vent fan to do this) ... with everything else closed so there is no "flow" possible inside the RV. You just get the roof vent fan "trying to blow in" but not being able to. That's where the slight air pressure build-up inside the RV comes from and how it's maintained, thus preventing any outside generator fumes - from down low where generators are - from getting inside via any small cracks or other tiny openings from less than perfect seals. This relies on "air pressure physics" to prevent carbon monoxide from getting inside, hence no worries about how well-sealed the RV is or how well blocked-off or positioned the generator might be. We have used this technique for safety when running the built-in generator and air conditioner nearly all night so we could sleep when drycamping in extreme heat and humidity. (Remember that an RV's roof air conditioner only recirculates air - it doesn't bring any new air in from the outside - so a roof air vent fan set to blow IN can still maintain positive air pressure inside while the RV's air conditioner is running.)

As I mentioned earlier, this also works well when traveling on dusty roads to keep dust out of the RV. FWIW, I think that some Australian off-road trailer manufacturers design in positive air pressure systems to keep them clean inside when traveling in dusty conditions.