John61CT wrote:Yes many "no CO" devices are fine,
until they aren't
All heaters have risk. CO, Flamability etc... Life is not without risk. It is a cost / benefit analysis, with mitigations as possible to reduce or eliminate the risk. Improper mainteinance, abuse, etc... can quickly turn a perfectly safe, docile appliance into an instrument of death absolutely!
Electric heaters, can, and often do overdraw underrated power cords and start electrical fires, vented heaters get clogged, and end up pouring CO inside instead of out, a passing 727 could lose a piece of landing gear overhead at just the right spot and crush us all to death, a Polar Bear can wander down to the Sonoran Desert and decide it wants to eat you since there are no seals handy.
How much risk is there really, and how do we mitigate the risks?
Given a properly maintained heater, and used safely, provided sufficient make up air, and keeping flamable things away from the element, the odds of you getting CO poisoning are approaching those of being eaten by a Polar Bear in the Sonoran Desert. Not impossible sure, but not at all likely.
We all accept risk, including risk of CO poisoning. You could potentially have an exhaust leak in your car sucking CO into the cabin as you drive, CO poisoning you, making you sleepy and you die in a horrible crash, before the CO kills you. Again proper maintenance, use, and awareness of risk are all key elements here.
Honestly, about the safest heaters I can think of, are also badly inappropriate for camper usage, are those 1500w oil filled radiators. I have one in my garage workshop that I use to keep the pipes from freezing in the 1 week / year we get reliably below freezing here for more than 8hrs night. They take forever to heat up, and suck up a ton of juice getting hot, but once there, really don't use much keeping hot. Super low fire risk beyond electrical, and barring the oil leaking out and combusting, Zero CO risk. However in an off grid situation, getting the thing up to temp would murder any solar system I can think of, and would require either hook ups, or a generator, which introduces CO risk...
Given the risks, mitigations, and benefits, I am willing to take the risk of using a catalytic heater. They are a safer option than others I am aware of, and can / do operate off grid no worries. They have a long history of safe operation when used correctly and maintained properly. Just like your car, safe operations when used and maintained properly, disasterous results when not.
Oh for what it's worth, I ran across this Hunker article, and I have seen several like it that explain how catalytic heaters work.
https://www.hunker.com/13409397/how-do- ... aters-work
Basically in operation, they produce no CO due to the way the catalytic process works, HOWEVER, they DO consume oxygen, hence the need for fresh air makeup. This is boiled down to soup and nuts, the basic message as I understand it from the various catalytic heater owners guides I have read over the years.