NEED HELP: A question from my wife...

[John Ayers]

My wife asked me a question...
... and to be honest I don't know how to answer this. I need help.
The question goes like this:
(W) - Hon. I know your talking about building the trailer as tight as a drum... and we don't want windows or a hatch on top because that just kills the R Value of the camper, plus we sleep better. But do you think that the three of us sleeping in the camper all night might die of asphyxiation?
(Me) - *In my best Antonio Banderas voice* Don't be ridicules my love... er... uh... :oops:
And then I thought about it.
160 Cubic Feet. 3 humans converting oxygen into carbon dioxide... and suddenly I'm not sure how to explain why we don't die in our sleep. Can someone please help me with this.

[planovet]

Simple. If you built it "as tight as a drum" and don't have any ventilation, then you WILL die.

As usual, the wife is right.

[KenC]

Or you can read this sticky

Air Tight Teardrops can KILL YOU

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=40667

[rbeemer]

I think you will need a vent at the top, you can use any RV vent but most prefer something like the fantastic vent. You will not lose a lot of R value with just the vent plus the air movement will keep moisture down.

Tell the wife that the tight as a drum comment is for the sides and joints of the trailer that will prevent leaking, we will need ventilation because how else are we supposed to get the smells and sounds of the great outdoors inside.

[desertmoose]

Hmmmmm. at my age, I'm more worried about getting the smells of the great INDOORS outside...

Sam

[mcspin50]

My thoughts exactly!!

[Miriam C.]

Ditto the vent! Heat rises and unless you are going to camp only in Winter you will need a vent and some other opening for circulation. I read about some campers gasping for air and decided to make it water tight and never mind the air tight. Got a big window too.

[Aaron Coffee]

As long as we are on the subject, here is a question I've had. If their is now breeze but I have the vent and at lest one window open a little bit, how does the c02 get out and the fresh air get in?

[John Ayers]

LOLZ

Yep, won't be doing that. Maybe I'll make it a convertible...
... or just get more Life Insurance... hard choice to make.

[Miriam C.]

As long as we are on the subject, here is a question I've had. If their is now breeze but I have the vent and at lest one window open a little bit, how does the c02 get out and the fresh air get in?

If C°² sinks then you can expect the oxygenated air to mix with it. Warmer air will flow out the vent causing cooler, fresh air to flow in the window. We call it a draft in the house but in the TD it is circulation..

[chorizon]

(Me) - *In my best Antonio Banderas voice* Don't be ridicules :oops:

Funny, I heard Balki Bartakamous.

[CliffinGA]

John the other thing with the vents and windows is condensation, with them you have very lil and without you wake up with it raining inside , my lil tear has no vent but does have windows and between me and the wife we wake up with the walls sweating. I just tell her its because she's so hot but she never believes me .

Cliff

[oklahomajewel]

When I've slept alone... no problem , but have a crank open roof vent and always keep it just slightly cracked open.

More than once, when I had a friend sharing the camper , and forgot to crack open the vent or had a window open , I did wake up in the middle of the night with a faint feeling ... dizziness. I had to open the vent and open the door for a minute to get some fresh air then I was fine.

GET A VENT of SOME kind.

Jewel

[wannabefree]

This is a fun problem and I did the math once before, but can't find it now. So I'm going on memory this time - sometimes dangerous at my age.

Air, the stuff we breathe, is about 20% oxygen and nearly 80% nitrogen. there are some other gases in the mix, like CO2, but it's less than 1%. Nitrogen is harmless, but CO2 kills.

Now,you breathe about 1 cubic foot of air a minute and convert a portion of the oxygen to CO2. Actually, the air you breathe out is 4-5% CO2 more CO2 than you breathed in, so maybe 16% oxygen. So you can rebreathe that air maybe 5 times before the oxygen is completely depleted.

If your trailer is 160 cubic feet and there are 2 of you breathing, you get 80*5 minutes, or 400 minutes or 6 hours 40 minutes before the air is completely replaced with CO2. But you'll be dead long before then.

So crack a window open, better 2, even better a window and roof vent. The window / roof vent combo is best because you can get some convection going which gives you good air circulation even with no wind.

Sorry for the lengthy post. I'm an engineer. Nuff said.

[jdarkoregon]

John, your wife asked a GREAT question. The solution is simple and we are so glad we won't be reading about your in the obits.

Open a vent or two, You'll stay plenty warm and the fresh air will sure dilute the other odors that might kill you too.

You should be worried more about the condensation now

Have a great time, hug the wife and tell her thank

John