Overlooked Safety Items

Occupying an RV is already living on the edge, fortunately there are some safety items installed to protect us from hazards.

Two of those hazards are fire and and even more deadly, carbon monoxide (CO).  CO is an invisible gas, does not smell and is produced by engines and generators.  Properly vented, it is not a problem, but a loose exhaust pipe, or when boondocking, a change in wind direction can introduce CO into the interior of an RV.  RVs are not air tight.

Installed on our Journey, we have both a smoke detector and a CO detector. 

(Click on the pictures to enlarge.)

We all have heard and most of us do change the batteries in the detectors every six months.  But did you know that CO and smoke detectors have a specific life span and they need to be replaced?

They have a five year working life.  On the CO detector, there is a tiny atomic particle in the mechanism to sense the presence of CO and activate the alarm.  The atomic particle breaks down after five years and no longer works.

I’m not sure what is used in the smoke detector to make it function, but mine had a five year replacement date on it, too.

A trip to Home Depot provided me with two detectors, a plain smoke detector and an upgraded dual CO and smoke detector (for the bedroom).

Simple installs and I’m good for another five years of happy travels.  I’ll replace this unit five years from the date of manufacture.

Also, in my military mind, I like redundancy of systems, always good to have a backup.  I purchased an additional small CO detector for the bedroom that has dual voltage, you plug it in to a regular wall socket and it has a battery backup for off the grid times.

We worked a long time to get to the place where we can live our dream. Just like to be sure that we’ll be around to enjoy it.  :c)

Next project:  Checking out the LP gas detector.

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