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Old 12-28-2014, 09:09 AM   #1
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LP and Carbon Monoxide alarms

I've been looking at different LP and CO monitor alarms there are a lot if them on the market and the reviews on most talk about false alarms and backup battery life could anyone recommend a good monitor

Joe
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Old 12-28-2014, 09:11 AM   #2
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Kidde (the fire extinguisher people) make decent CO and smoke detectors.
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Old 12-28-2014, 01:52 PM   #3
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Thanks I see that Kidde has a combo LP and CO alarm reviews are pretty good too
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Old 12-28-2014, 02:46 PM   #4
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Thanks I see that Kidde has a combo LP and CO alarm reviews are pretty good too
There is one problem with a combined LP and CO detector. It's meant for use with compressed natural gas (CNG) in a home, not propane in an RV. CNG and CO are both lighter than air and need detectors near the ceiling so a combined detector would work. However, propane is heavier than air and needs a detector near the floor, so a combined CO and LPG detector will not work in an RV.

You can get a combined smoke and CO detector for a ceiling mount, but you still need a separate LPG detector near floor level.
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Old 12-28-2014, 09:21 PM   #5
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Thanks I did not know that I will get separate monitors
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Old 12-29-2014, 04:35 PM   #6
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12 volt dc carbon monoxide and LPG alarm by saft Alert for rv's. Replaced with Atwood part number 36636 and is 79.95 and is a duel alarm for LPG and Carbon monoxide for Rv's.. A home one would be 120 volts...originally these were separate .Get updated..
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Old 12-29-2014, 05:00 PM   #7
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Get updated..
Just because they make one "for RVs" doesn't change the laws of physics. Propane is still heavier than air, and you need a detector near the floor. Carbon Monoxide is still lighter than air, and you need a detector near the ceiling. No amount of marketing will change that.

On Edit— Marketing can't change the laws of organic chemistry, either. Forget being blown up by a buildup of propane. You'll get permanent nerve damage from breathing propane long before enough builds up to blow up. Propane is toxic to breathe at 10% of the lower explosive limit. Guess what… LPG detectors sound an alarm at 10% of the lower explosive limit. By the time the alarm sounds, enough has built up to hurt you. Now don't you want your LPG detector at floor level, so that it can detect harmful buildups before they get up to the level of your nose and you're breathing the stuff?
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Old 12-29-2014, 05:13 PM   #8
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It is on the floor!!! The smoke alarm on the ceiling. May be my dog has been damaged as he can set my LPG alarm off....
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Old 12-29-2014, 05:27 PM   #9
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It is on the floor!!! The smoke alarm on the ceiling. May be my dog has been damaged as he can set my LPG alarm off....
Then you've got the opposite problem. Carbon monoxide is still lighter than air and still deadly to breathe and the detector for CO needs to be on the ceiling with the smoke alarm, not down on the floor with the LPG detector.

It's okay to combine smoke and CO detectors. It's not okay to combine LPG and CO detectors. No matter whether that combined LPG/CO detector is on the floor or ceiling, it's still in the wrong place for one of the things it's supposed to detect.
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Old 12-29-2014, 06:16 PM   #10
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Where were you guys when I bought one two weeks ago???
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Old 12-29-2014, 06:42 PM   #11
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Well I am not sleeping up high just a little higher than the alarm,I do think the co will start down low,near the furnace,frige or the hot water heater, so maybe one will be correct, 50 - 50 ,not bad odds. At the present time I am more worried about about the lifetime sealed wheel bearings..
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Old 12-29-2014, 07:39 PM   #12
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There is one problem with a combined LP and CO detector. It's meant for use with compressed natural gas (CNG) in a home, not propane in an RV.
Atwood combination LP and CO detector. $64

"ETL listed and tested to UL 1484 & CSA 6.19.01 for residential and RV applications"
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Old 12-29-2014, 07:53 PM   #13
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How do I install a carbon monoxide alarm?
Heat and smoke rise, which is why we place smoke alarms high on the wall or ceiling. Carbon monoxide, however, mixes with the air. For this reason, it is preferable to install CO alarms at knee level – the approximate height of a sleeping person’s nose and mouth.

If you have young children or pets that could tamper (play) with your detectors, you can move them up to chest height. Another option is to place them in a hard-to-reach area, where even curious hands and overzealous tails would have a hard time reaching. Bear in mind that a CO detector should never be blocked by furniture, curtains or other objects, as restricted airflow can affect its function.

A single-function carbon monoxide alarm is recommended, but if you are installing a dual smoke-CO detector, place it on the ceiling so it can detect smoke.
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Old 12-29-2014, 07:53 PM   #14
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It's still a bad idea, for the reasons already discussed earlier in the thread. But I'm done arguing about it. Buy it if you want it. But I for one never will. If you do buy one— and trust your life, and the lives of your family and pets to it— I hope you never have to rely on it to warn you of a real danger.

"UL Listed" doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means. It means that if the product is supposed to sound an alarm when the quantity of CO or propane AT THE SENSOR reaches a certain level, the alarm will sound. Whether that sensor is mounted in the right place for what it's trying to detect is not part of any test that UL performs.

When they say that the combined detector meets the requirements of NFPA 1192, the Standards for Recreational Vehicles, then I'll believe it and use it. Not before.
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Old 12-29-2014, 08:00 PM   #15
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It's still a bad idea, for the reasons already discussed earlier in the thread.
Yeah I know what you mean, Industry standards compliance is important - unless we disagree with it,
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Old 12-29-2014, 08:51 PM   #16
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let us not lose sight of the disagreement of where to mount a CO detector. Head high for a sleeping person. CO disperses through out the space, smoke rises in the space, and propane sinks to the lowest level.
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Old 12-29-2014, 09:16 PM   #17
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let us not lose sight of the disagreement of where to mount a CO detector. Head high for a sleeping person. CO disperses through out the space, smoke rises in the space, and propane sinks to the lowest level.
Both the CO and LP detectors trigger the alarm at PPM levels far below that which would cause breathing problems. Mounting them at pillow height makes sense.

The Atwood lp/co model is to be mounted no more than 18" above the floor which is about pillow height.
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Old 12-29-2014, 09:31 PM   #18
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Both the CO and LP detectors trigger the alarm at PPM levels far below that which would cause breathing problems.
True of a cO detector. Not true in the case of an LP detector. Here is a link to a Material Safety Data Sheet for propane:
http://www.co.vermilion.il.us/MSDS/E...%20propane.pdf
Lowe explosive limit for propane is about 2.1% by volume (21,000 parts per million) as stated in the MSDS. The Atwood ProTechTor LPG detector in my Airstream Interstate is typical for hard-wired LP detectors, and triggers an alarm at approximately 2000 parts per million, or just under 10% of the lower explosive limit. Sounds safe, right? Not so.

According to the MSDS, the Permissible Exposure Limit set by OSHA is 1000 parts per million. In other words, the maximum safe level to breathe is only half the level necessary to set off the detector. By the time the detector goes off, you're already breathing too much propane for your health.

So unless you can find an LP detector sensitive enough to warn you of 1000 ppm or less…
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Old 02-03-2015, 02:44 PM   #19
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Then you've got the opposite problem. Carbon monoxide is still lighter than air and still deadly to breathe and the detector for CO needs to be on the ceiling with the smoke alarm, not down on the floor with the LPG detector.

It's okay to combine smoke and CO detectors. It's not okay to combine LPG and CO detectors. No matter whether that combined LPG/CO detector is on the floor or ceiling, it's still in the wrong place for one of the things it's supposed to detect.
Yes this is an old post but I must reply. CO is dispersed evenly throughout the air. The place for the CO detector is not at the ceiling. It should be placed as close as possible to the head height of the sleeping person. Or at waist height otherwise. Again, CO disperses evenly throughout the room air.
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Old 02-04-2015, 04:50 PM   #20
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On the subject of CO detectors....my Interstate's CO detector has failed after two years. I unplugged it and am wondering why do I need to buy one with a 12v power supply? Why not just one with the internal 6v battery. Even the one in the Interstate had an internal 6v battery backup.
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