Posted on 22 Aug 2013
If your caravan has a single space for living, sleeping, cooking etc, then mount the alarm high up, between 1 and 3 metres (horizontally) from the gas appliance(s) that could generate carbon monoxide (CO). Do not mount it directly above a source of heat or steam. If the sleeping area is in a separate room, mount a second CO alarm near the bed at roughly pillow height.
The reason for this is that if CO is produced by your own gas appliances, the CO will rise with the warm air and reach a more serious concentration high up in that space. But in the bedroom, the CO will have cooled and will be spreading out in all directions, and if CO enters from outside through a vent, it will already be cool.
Ensure the CO alarm complies with the tough safety standard BS EN 50291, and please don't allow curtains to cover it.
Sad news from Devon this past weekend, yet another camper killed by CO after using a heating/cooking appliance inside a tent. CO is a serious issue in the camping/caravanning world.
