DutchmenSport wrote:
even better than the furnace or electric space heaters, is to simply turn on the 3 burners on the propane stove top. Your camper will heat up in no time.
If using the stove top for heat is so WRONG, then it's WRONG to use it for cooking also.
I would NEVER suggest sleeping with the gas stove lit. Don't do that while sleeping.
The other option, if you want to be a bit safer, is to turn the oven on and leave the door open. This will also generate a BUNCH of heat!
There again, if this is unsafe because of fumes, or whatever, then the stove is unsafe to use for anything ... including cooking! Be smart, it's still an open flame.
I have no intention of criticizing anyone, as that helps no one, but maybe some explanation is in order...
using an open propane flame to cook with in a confined space is much different than using it to heat the space with.
AND, using of the oven to heat with is absolutely no safer..
when cooking, one is up moving about, and will usually notice when something is not right, or that they have suddenly become abnormally tired....
and also when cooking, the task usually doesnt take long and the flame is put out.
but when using the open flame to heat with, one may be laid back reading a book or cuddling under a blanket and they will never know when the CO catches them, as they will just slowly fade off to sleep... the end.
one thinks they will be fine using the propane flame to heat the confined space with, but thats a false thought.
EVERYONE at one time or another has been watching tv or reading a book and has faded off to sleep and not even know it, but when the environment has good ventilation to keep the oxygen levels from dropping, we just wake up, realize we fell asleep, and go about our business just a bit more rested.
with CO poisoning, one fades off just the same and they are not able to know when they are falling asleep... and they never wake up again.
although most people dont like the moisture the propane produces, thats not the problem.
as propane burns, it uses oxygen from the space to support the flame.... as the flame and the occupants of the space use up the oxygen out of the air, the flame begins to starve a bit, and as it starves for oxygen, the carbon monoxide levels rise dramatically and begins to fill the space that the oxygen is being used from.... the process become exponentially worse every minute as more oxygen is used and more CO is produced..
carbon monoxide (CO) when breathed in, attaches itself to the hemoglobin nearly 200 times easier than oxygen does... so the homoglobin quickly becomes saturated with CO and starved for oxygen...
a person can be poisened by CO and still be conscious, but without hyperbaric treatment, they die...
but more often, when someone is using the open flame to heat the space, they will fade off to sleep and are found by someone later.
even if someone becomes a little bit poisoned by CO, where they leave the space for some reason before being overtaken by it, it takes many HOURS to recover.
CO comes from more sources than just propane burning in RV's, but Hopefully someone can get something from this and take extreme care when using an open flame to heat a space with.
