Air Tight Teardrops can KILL YOU

[parnold]

Well I guess it's still not my time then! I had never read the thread about open windows without a heater. I've read plenty where it talked about windows and heaters, lanterns, candles, etc.

Of course, when I got home from my little expedition, what was waiting for me on my front porch? My new 12v electric blanket of course.

[robfisher]

It the teardrop is air tight you won't run out of oxygen but instead you will poison yourself with CO2. An average person at rest expells about .6 cubic feet of CO2 per hour. CO2 is considered toxic at 40 parts/10,000. If I've done my math right that concentration could be reached in an average teardrop in as little as 1/2 hour if it is truely air tight.

Should have went right out and bought a lottery ticket. You're lucky.

[wannabefree]

Just for fun, according to Wikipedia you breathe 6L of air per minute,or about 0.2 cubic feet. The volume of a typical tear is 4x8x4 = 128 cubic feet, minus 28 cubic feet for bed, bodies, and to make the math easy. That leaves 100 cubic feet of air.

Now, if there are 2 of you, breathing 0.4 cubic feet per minute, you will breathe all that air once in 250 minutes, just over 4 hours.

When you breathe, you take in some of the available oxygen and expel the rest along with some extra carbon dioxide you produced. So you haven't run out of oxygen in 4 hours, but there is maybe 25% less than when you started,and more carbon dioxide.

Bottom line - don't seal yourself in a box.

[Goldwing]

Remember that you don't have to deplete all of the oxygen to get into trouble, the key factor is CO2 levels. Think Apollo 13. Lots of O2, Lots of CO2 = Your dead.

All this being true I do admire the fact that you built your TD as tight as one of the old VW beetles!

P.S. We seem to have left out what should be very obvious if were are dealing with any type of combustion in a closed area, DON'T DO IT. Carbon Monoxide (CO) will also kill you very quickly.

[Miriam C.]

OH MY! We sleep with a vent or window opened slightly. Just got back and had nights in the 40-50*s....Mine is bigger and I had read about someone else getting in trouble over a too tight TD. Mine is not air tight....It is not going to be and I have a zero degree sleeping bag.... Now my granddaughter slept under a thin fuzzy blanket.... She made me turn the heat off...

Once you get your TD warmed up it will hold the heat for a long time...Just remember that you are a heater too.

[jplock]

I have been there and done that too. Always leave it vented while sleeping.

jplock

[Cliffmeister2000]

I built my trailer with a large air passage to the galley, and there is a non-close-able vent in the galley. I didn't do it on purpose, but I'm glad it worked out that way.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Paul it sounds as if your construction skills are top notch!

Seriously though, glad this didn't turn out any worse and you woke up in time!

I would not have known about the suffocation factor had I not gone over to Kerry's house to check out his Cubby way back in the spring. I remember him telling me to always sleep with a vent at least cracked - to allow for airflow to prevent suffocation, and to reduce moisture in the air.

Maybe there should be a STICKY about suffocation somewhere?

[BILLYL]

May I add to MadJACK -

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER and NEVER do that.

My son borrowed DA MOOSE and did the same thing you did and woke up - Thank God - gasping for air. Since then I added a small side vents that are always open and can't be blocked to the sides of the DA MOOSE.

So at least if you forget to crack a window or the vent there will be a vent opened.

Consider it.

Bill

[mikeschn]

Billy,

That's a really good idea... How big were the side vents? And of course, do you have a picture?

Mike...

[planovet]

Is it possible that the trailer is so air tight I was running out of air after 3 hours or so?

Lesson learned. You do have a roof vent, don't you? I know it's been talked about several times on several threads over the years, but you DO NOT sleep in a teardrop all closed up. Because if it was built correctly, it will be air tight.

Well, MY teardrop was built correctly but it is not airtight. The permanently installed air conditioner allows for some ventilation even when it is not being used. That is unless adding an air conditioner is not "building correctly".


That being said, I always crack my roof vent anyway.

[stumphugger]

I crack the window on the dog's side of the trailer. I figure he'll heat it up a bit. I carry a blanket for him but so far he's not needed it--unlike his first time tenting in coolish weather.

[evane]

You may have just saved my life, and others, with this post. I'm almost finished with my first TD and wouldn't have even thought about CO poisoning.
Thank You, and glad your OK.

[jdarkoregon]

Paul, Glad to have you with us, and I just bet you NEVER make that error again. I've camping in 15 degrees with snow on the ground, I don't gave very big cracks in the windows and vents, but they are there. Having the fresh air also helps decrease the humidity.

When I made the same mistake I woke up in a rain shower, and I was still inside my trailer.

John

[bohemian]

I also thought that this might happen so I put a dedicated air vent in.
It runs inside the closet from under the trailer to the top of the headboard.
It consists of 2" PVC and a screen and grill that cant be covered, so you always have fresh air even if you close her up tight.
Wayne