Safety

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

I recently bought a FT Voyager and a planning on going to LOTW and camping out in it. Is it safe to run my sunflower heater all night in there to keep it warm or is CO posioning a big risk?

thanks, Dano

[Jeremy airjer W]

I think you should take another look at your owners manual for your sunflower heater. Your decision should be alot easier after that!

Do a search for heaters over the last month there have been some good debates on whats safe, whats smart, and whats not.

[korn_fish]

It's Risky. Get a battery operated CO detector that has a digital display of the CO levels. Try it a couple times before attempting to sleep in there to see what kind of levels you are getting. Then if you do decide to sleep in it, keep an alarm clock with you that wakes you up ever 90 minutes just to make sure.

I used to sleep in my permanent with a sunflower heater. Needed to check tip ups every hour and I swear that the alarm clock waking me up every hour is the only reason I am still alive today. Many times I would awake feeling sick. Didint have a CO detector back then either.

[Ed Carlson]

Any non vented open flame or catalytic heater in an enclosed area burns up O2 and emits CO2, so proper ventilation is a necessity.

CO2 is sneaky stuff and can get you while your sleeping very easily. A CO2 detector is a very wise move in any icehouse and a must in a sleeper.

Ya know, I am surprised that I do not remember seeing any ice hut manufacturers also handle CO2 detectors? If they do, I cannot think of any off hand.

I would think having a system readily available for a hut would sell well and perform a huge service to the client. Smaller more portable CO2 detectors for flip shacks would be a nice deal too.

Even if the shack manufactures do not wish to get into the safety equipment game promoting featuring a well respected CO2 unit would be a wise move and great service to the angler. Good public relations too.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Hey Ed, I'm sure you know this but maybe you didn't have enough coffee before you posted .

CO2 is Carbon Dioxide, found in carbonated beverages and tailpipe emissions but not very dangerous.

CO is Carbon Monoxide, Heaters, furnaces, and tailpipes all emit this. This is the dangerous stuff that will kill you (worst case).