I used my Coleman cat heater last week.  I also had a professional type,
small CO(carbon monoxide) detector.  Even so, I chickened out and turned it
off after a half hour---  Went to bed late and had to get up early; did not
want to risk the detector's alarm going off if it hit 35ppm CO and being
woke up at 4 am.

In morning, turned on heater for 1 hour and then checked detector, was at 33
ppm.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey Earl" <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 2:50 PM
Subject: Coleman Propane Heaters

> Members should be aware that the oft-mentioned Coleman
> LP heaters are NOT intended to be used while sleeping,
> according to the warning label on the product and the
> included instruction sheet, though the packaging seems
> content to let you assume otherwise. With any propane
> heater there is always the risk of carbon monoxide
> poisoning resulting from inadequate ventilation.
>
> If one briefly uses such a heater for the morning
> warm-up and for changing clothes, etc., the risk is
> greatly diminished. And if CO levels become too high
> while you're up and around, you're likely to notice
> and turn the unit off or increase ventilation. But if
> one is asleep, results could be more dire: I attended
> an event late last fall at which a family used an LP
> heater inside their tent. In the morning the
> 2-year-old girl awoke to find both her parents dead
> from CO poisoning.
>
> Some small space heaters now have an "ODS", or Oxygen
> Depletion System, which shuts off the heater before
> dangerous levels of carbon monoxide can be produced.
> There is a good article by the US Consumer Product
> Safety Commission regarding such heaters at:
> http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml03/03021.html
>
> I have found only one such "ODS"-equipped model in a
> compact size suitable for Westy camping, the Mr.
> Heater "Portable Buddy Heater", Model No. MH9B.
> Unfortunately, even at its lowest output setting of
> 4000 BTUs, it consumes a standard 16-ounce LP cylinder
> in about six hours.
>
> I'd be interested to know the difference between an
> ODS and a common household CO-detector. Are these
> simply two methods of expressing the same thing: not
> enough oxygen because it's been displaced by
> carbon-monoxide?
>
>
> Jeffrey Earl
> 1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
> http://shopping.yahoo.com
>