And BTW, that ice coverage is still dropping in the arctic, it broke the all-time record on 8/24 and it still shows no signs of leveling off. The “lowest ice” date is still 3 weeks off.

Arctic ice cover in late August is now about half what it was in the 1980s. From 8 to 4 million sq km in 30 years. And have you noticed how quiet all the denialists have been lately?

http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/en/home/seaice_extent.htm

The combustible gas – CO sensor is $40, and a good smoke – CO detector would be about $30. For $170 one would have a good chance of being notified of a fire, propane leak, CO and CO2 buildups. Sounds good to me.

Thanks for the help.

Oh, yes. It has a 40 gallon fresh water tank, and I don’t know how big the black water and gray water tanks are. However, the black water doesn’t get used much, as gas stations and rest areas are regular stops anyway.

The gray water can usually be run out onto the ground. It’s mainly water from washing dishes and considered sanitary. So is urine, for that matter, but the public isn’t ready for that yet.

Thanks again.

Probably more work and money than you want to spend.

If you’re “dry camping,” I’d stick with the RV furnace for heat. That’s what it’s designed for.

AC? Hopefully you won’t need too much.

Make sure your waste tank and water tanks are empty and full respectively, too.

I’m not sure if those folks are open much during the winter, but if they are a small electric heater would be perfect.

My fantasies center around what’s called “boondocking”, or dry camping. That can be anything from a Wal-Mart parking lot to a wide spot in a gravel road in Death Valley or Bryce Canyon. That’s when one has to make do with the resources one is carrying, sort of like backpacking.

Here is the message I got from the CO2 censor people regarding gutting another alarm except for the alarm and substituting their sensor.

“Have a look at the K30 sensor data sheet, it has 4 programmable outputs (fill in the sheet when you order if you want it programed other than stock).

2 are digital open collectors and the other 2 can be analog or digital.

You have to determine what the input to the old alarm requires you can probably make this work.”

And they do make 12VDC electric blankets. Those puppies do suck up electrons, though, but the generator will run all night.

Two matters I’ve resolved for winter travel to cold climates. It is possible to purchase 92 or 93 octane fuel without alcohol in it for the generator. It does much better with that. And it is possible to purchase a fitting which allows one to attach a conventional propane tank to the system, doubling the propane available.

Now that I think about it, a 600 watt heater would be quite do-able with a Honda EU 2000i generator, which is good for 1600 continuous watts (they claim). And I think 600 watts would heat the place fairly well.

The LPG furnace would be much quieter, though.

Thanks for the suggestions. This is really fun for me.

To avoid running gas heaters as much as possible:

I don’t know that much about RV 110 circuit capacity, but if you do a lot of traveling to campsites in cold areas that have electricity available, you might consider a small electric heater. I had safe “oil heater” types in my kid’s rooms, switchable from 600 to 1400 watts, but that’s a pretty big heater. Don’t know if they make small ones.

And don’t overlook the simple solution of a good quality electric blanket.

I’m sure you are correct, that CO2 isn’t a problem and there is plenty of ventilation in an old RV even though the previous owners have used a lot of tarry caulk wherever they could. Duct tape is used, too. It does have various holes, most of which have been sealed. However, the battery bay is open to the world, apparently because people tend to use batteries which require maintenance.

I’m going to move that down the list, unless I get serious about having to seal it up in very cold weather. I haven’t experienced that in it yet, we’ll see what happens.

Next project is to see how the various water containers, fresh water, gray water, black water and the lines are prevented from freezing while keeping the fresh water potable. I don’t particularly want to attach heat tape everywhere.

Thanks for the CO2 sensor link. That may pay off.

CO (carbon monoxide) is another matter. I’ve got a CO alarm near our furnace which is upstairs not far from the bedroom.

Your link is the first alarm I’ve seen that can also detect propane fumes, and that seems like a very good idea for an RV. I would buy one of those, along with the standard smoke alarm. All should be battery powered since an RV is not always connected to, or generating, line current.

You can get smoke alarms and monoxide detectors with strobes or “shakers” for people hard of hearing, but I don’t know if there are propane detectors like that. This is where dogs come in handy.

They do make CO2 sensors, but not cheap ones.