Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms

QFour

QFour

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What are the panels views ..

Last MH we had both but every time SWMBO got a pan out of the cupboard the Smoke Alarm went off. Had the same problem on the boat. Alarm always going off.

With all the safety features on modern MH what are the chances of CO2 poisoning if you don't put the BBQ on the front seat :scared:

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I wouldn't want to be without a CO alarm. Flammable gas alarm probably not worth it as I'm quite sure there has never been a fatality by this cause. Better not mention narcotic gas....
 
2cv said:
Written with the home in mind, but still relevant to a MH, this may be useful reading. I certainly found that near the kitchen on a boat an optical smoke alarm was less prone to false alarms.
Smoke Alarms « UK Fire Service Resources
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link.

Looks like a HEAT Detector is better for the kitchen area. They suggest a SMOKE Alarm OUTSIDE the kitchen. So perhaps one in the smallest room would work.

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Photoelectric type are pretty good for motorhomes. Also available (supposedly) are models with a preemptive hush button that disables the alarm for several minutes.

Normal ionization detectors are hopeless in an RV.

CO and Propane detectors are also well worth installing.

In Australia, where smoke detectors have been mandatory in homes for years, recent laws now require a smoke detector in RVs. Not only installed, but penalties apply if they are rendered inoperative.
 
I'm in the lakes and took the battery out of my smoke alarm this morning. Fed up with it going off when I cook or do anything else for that matter.
May have a look at an optical type.
 
We've got a CO alarm & 2 smoke alarms.
The smoke alarm near the hob gets taken down every time we use the hob & then put back after breakfast/dinner etc.
The one over the bed gets taken down whenever we cook toast. We just leave it on the bed so that it always get put back when we go to bed.

Our CO alarm has only gone off once, about 3am at the the first Severn Bore meet. We have no idea why it went off, can only presume it had something to do with Robmac parked next to us after a day on the beer.
 
You need a different type of smoke detector around cookers etc as they work on heat increase, as soon as you open the oven door ours used to go off, but we now have 'Toast Proof' detectors from Fire Angel in the kitchen and hall, and the Thermoptek types elsewhere.

Got two in the trailer plus CO alarm, and in the Mercedes.

http://fireangel.co.uk/Smoke-Alarms/Optical-Smoke-Alarms.aspx

If you buy on ebay, check the battery date on those that have replaceable batteries. Ones we bought last year just gone down with dead batteries, datecode was 11/2010.

Peter
 
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From what I have been told the use of smoke and CO2 alarms is actually a mine field as smoke rises CO2 hagns around or sinking to the floor depending on the concentration of gas and the temperature. If the CO2 alarm is positioned on the roof above the bed and you were in bed you would be dead before the CO2 reaches the alarm. Apparently fumes from an on board battery are more likely to set off the CO2 alarm in roof than those from a faulty gas appliance. So, to ve safe in your bed mount tbe CO2 alarm at sleeping head height and the smoke alarm kn the ceiling above your head. A fuel gas alarm should be at floor level as gas sinks to the floor, hence the reason for drop vents below gas appluances

As I said this is what I have been told by someone who apparently knows but if someone said i was wrong I would not argue.
:goodluck:
 
Cliffy said:
From what I have been told the use of smoke and CO2 alarms is actually a mine field as smoke rises CO2 hagns around or sinking to the floor depending on the concentration of gas and the temperature. If the CO2 alarm is positioned on the roof above the bed and you were in bed you would be dead before the CO2 reaches the alarm. Apparently fumes from an on board battery are more likely to set off the CO2 alarm in roof than those from a faulty gas appliance. So, to ve safe in your bed mount tbe CO2 alarm at sleeping head height and the smoke alarm kn the ceiling above your head. A fuel gas alarm should be at floor level as gas sinks to the floor, hence the reason for drop vents below gas appluances

As I said this is what I have been told by someone who apparently knows but if someone said i was wrong I would not argue.
:goodluck:
Click to expand...

CO2 - Carbon dioxide, the stuff we breathe out - it can kill you by suffocation but unlikely to happen in your house or motorhome
CO - carbon monoxide - this will kill you as your blood has an affinity 200 times greater for it than O2 (Oxygen).
However it is a myth that your alarm should be at floor level
 
Cliffy said:
From what I have been told the use of smoke and CO2 alarms is actually a mine field as smoke rises CO2 hagns around or sinking to the floor depending on the concentration of gas and the temperature. If the CO2 alarm is positioned on the roof above the bed and you were in bed you would be dead before the CO2 reaches the alarm. Apparently fumes from an on board battery are more likely to set off the CO2 alarm in roof than those from a faulty gas appliance. So, to ve safe in your bed mount tbe CO2 alarm at sleeping head height and the smoke alarm kn the ceiling above your head. A fuel gas alarm should be at floor level as gas sinks to the floor, hence the reason for drop vents below gas appluances

As I said this is what I have been told by someone who apparently knows but if someone said i was wrong I would not argue.
:goodluck:
Click to expand...


Just left the wife in bed smoking!!
 
Smoke & Carbon Monoxide alarm

I have a smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarm which speaks the alarm Fire Or Monoxide so theres no doubt which has set it off. had the cooker heating on no problems.
 
Carbon Monoxide Alarm at floor level. Smoke alarm at head level ( with batteries removed!)

Pat
 
iampatman said:
Carbon Monoxide Alarm at floor level. Smoke alarm at head level ( with batteries removed!)

Pat
Click to expand...

My understanding was always that CO detectors should be positioned mid way(ish) up the walls as CO has petty much the same density as air. I think technically its very slightly lighter so will rise, but its minor.

I'd say floor level sensors for heavy gases such as LPG, if you want such an alarm. The gas-safe chap suggested that an LPG alarm was not something he considered massively important.
 
I`m looking for an alarm to alert me when any of my numerous other alarms covering every eventuality known to man are faulty ?
 
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