OK, I'll place a disclaimer here to notify everyone of the real dangers, but please start another thread if you want to continue the safety topic.
According to the US Product Safety Commission, about 170 people in the US die each year from non-automotive consumer products (The CDC says ~400 total including autos). Most all of these deaths are attributed to using fuel burning devices in non-approved enclosed areas, usually during power outages due to severe weather (Generators, wood fires, non-vented propane and kerosene heaters, etc...). That's 170 out of 300 Million. That's one in every 1.76 Million because they didn't follow the directions on the large warning stickers attached to these devices.
In the cases of furnaces and Water heaters I believe most of the CO problems are from exhaust vents which are blocked by things like bird nests, crushed pipes, or pipes which have simply not been run outside of the home. Only a small percentage are from the plenum or heat-exchanger rusting out.
Practical Experience:
I've been lucky to carry a portable Honeywell CO/O2 monitor which is made for compromised environments on my person for the last 20 years or so. They are more accurate than the items you buy for your home, and I've placed the little buggers wherever I thought might be a risky area and have never had one even peep except to tell me the battery was low. Last year a friend of mine who is a HVAC technician was freaking out on my 40-some year old Heat-a-lator fireplace in my home, claiming it was going to kill me from CO poisoning. I calibrated the CO detector and let it sit right in front of the airflow for several days while I stoked the fireplace and got no CO reading at all.
Risky business:
When I picked up my trailer the other day I knew it had a furnace issue so I didn't even try to use it. I stopped for the night, and at about 1am I awoke frozen to the core. I wish I had brought a portable heater but I hadn't. I turned on all four burners of the stove and the oven full tilt for about 10 minutes, and then shut everything down leaving only the rear two burners of the stove on super low. This kept me warm enough to sleep. I wasn't doing anything the trailer wasn't designed for (it has a range-hood vented outside and was made to cook in). Neither the wall-mounted CO detector or my portable unit ever alarmed.
I'm not promoting recklessness, but I do think there is a great amount of hype concerning CO, mostly spread by the appliance manufacturer's who would like us to dispose of anything that is older than their warrantee.
Remember the safety rules of compromised environments:
If your CO detector ever goes off GET OUT! Don't stand around tapping on it, or trying to reset it - GET OUT! Don't breath, just GET OUT! Once you are outside take a few good breaths to make sure you're ok, and if someone is still inside call them out or go get them once you know you are safe and others are present. Don't breath while you are inside. You can hold your breath for the 20-30 seconds it takes to run in and drag someone out. Most postings say you should stay outside and wait for Emergency services, but if they are delayed it could be the difference in someone living or dying. That's a choice I think we all have to make in the moment.
Just my 2 cents on replacing appliances:
I've seen quite a few trailers with "new" appliances which were installed in haphazard ways. Often the intakes and exhausts on a replacement unit aren't in the same location as the original (which is exactly the case with replacing mine), so the installer will make compromises to make it fit as well as possible without ruining the interior around it. I've pulled units that had gaps in the exhaust vents, or which had vents run horizontally too far to be effectively vented. Now, the installer might think because the unit is "new" that it is inherently safer, but I don't necessarily agree. I had new heating and AC installed in my home several years ago, and when I examined the air handler I could feel plenty of air leaks from the stock covers and wiring entrances. Since it's an all electric unit I wasn't worried about CO, but sealing the leaks with aluminum duct tape certainly did improve my efficiency, and if it were a gas unit it would have reduced the possibility of CO entering the environment. The biggest culprit to most people's problems is not changing air filters as needed, which starves the blower of fresh return air, so it has to pull it from somewhere else which could be an unsealed firebox. Also, a clogged filter means the condensation which collects inside does not evaporate as quickly, which contributes to the unit rusting out.
That being said, let's all have fun with our travel trailers in as safe a way as possible. Also, please realize that safety is a "perception" that each of us maintains individually. Some people need a fancy brake controller and sway bars to feel safe whereas others see the whole unit as a danger to the highways.
If there wasn't an element of danger it wouldn't be fun at all. :)
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