Hi Folks,
thought it worthwhile to start a thread to help people grow our knowledge regarding Safety in Caravans.
thought it worthwhile to start a thread to help people grow our knowledge regarding Safety in Caravans.
Last edited:
Interior Caravan Safety - CO Detectors
- Thread starter Holden_man
- Start date
No the detectors should be mounted in an open area of the caravan as there would be no airflow into the cupboard.
Whilst CO is almost the same specific gravity as air, it is generally produced by burning LPG in a van, thus it will be hot and will rise to the ceiling, so mounting on or hear the ceiling would be the best location.
We have mounted ours next to the smoke alarm.
@Holden_man well done on creating this thread.
I have been a professional firefighter for 33 years and get to see how dangerous CO can be.
Carbon Monoxide is not well understood in Australia as we tend not to have the severe winters like they have in parts of the U.S. where they have gas furnaces and lock their homes up.
Because RV's use LPG for cooking, refrigeration and hot water, and some heating, and they are small enclosed spaces, CO can be a real problem.
There are many vents installed to ensure CO can escape and fresh air can enter to prevent the build up of unsafe levels.
The biggest problem for humans with CO is that it is 210 times better at attaching itself to haemoglobin in our blood than oxygen.
So if only a small amount of CO is present, our bodies absorb it before oxygen and we basically suffocate.
We have seen a number of cases of people using outdoor heaters in homes and killing the entire family due to CO.
In a caravan I believe a CO detector is as important as a smoke alarm and everyone should invest in one.
I have been a professional firefighter for 33 years and get to see how dangerous CO can be.
Carbon Monoxide is not well understood in Australia as we tend not to have the severe winters like they have in parts of the U.S. where they have gas furnaces and lock their homes up.
Because RV's use LPG for cooking, refrigeration and hot water, and some heating, and they are small enclosed spaces, CO can be a real problem.
There are many vents installed to ensure CO can escape and fresh air can enter to prevent the build up of unsafe levels.
The biggest problem for humans with CO is that it is 210 times better at attaching itself to haemoglobin in our blood than oxygen.
So if only a small amount of CO is present, our bodies absorb it before oxygen and we basically suffocate.
We have seen a number of cases of people using outdoor heaters in homes and killing the entire family due to CO.
In a caravan I believe a CO detector is as important as a smoke alarm and everyone should invest in one.
We've had CO alarms in our three van. This time around I replaced the Jayco factory smoke alarm with a sealed First Alert smoke/CO combo. 10 year life and it beeps to tell you its time to throw it out.
I remember vividly 2 CO fatal incidents which ensured I would never own a van withouta CO alarm.
The First Alert combo alarms are a neat looking low profile unit, and photoelectric which if im not mistaken @Bellbirdweb is the better of the two available?
I remember vividly 2 CO fatal incidents which ensured I would never own a van withouta CO alarm.
The First Alert combo alarms are a neat looking low profile unit, and photoelectric which if im not mistaken @Bellbirdweb is the better of the two available?
Got one of these coming
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=191503629184&globalID=EBAY-AU
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=191503629184&globalID=EBAY-AU
