Prius Camping and Ventilation

That's exactly what I've done without problems.

No one would fault you for keeping a CO detector with you inside the car, even one of the more sensitive kind that show a parts-per-million digital display. You might never see it read non-zero, but it will be able to let you know of any problem.

 

No need for a CO monitor. A Prius in the Ready Mode for several days will not generate enough CO to kill you, even in the average two car garage. Outside, where the atmosphere is free range, it would be impossible.

 

I was saying essentially the same thing with "You might never see it read non-zero", but detectors are cheap and I see no reason to discourage anyone with a concern from having one on hand. Generally, it will help instill confidence that there isn't a problem. And who knows, should people find themselves in some situation we assume to be impossible, it will give a heads-up.

 

I'm sure having the fan blowing will be more than enough. I've never camped with the ICE on, I usually leave my sunroof on the ventilation setting or crack a window.

 

I hope you put in a nice fresh cabin air filter before your trip.

 

I use a combination CO/ smoke detector self powered. It has never alerted except during a functional test at the EXHAUST pipe outlet. Remember u can only wake up dead once.

 

I have camped in my Prius a few times now. I purchased window visors so I can crack open the windows a bit and not have the gap visible from the outside but more importantly I can have my windows cracked open when its raining. So far I have only needed to open the front windows.

 

Just to make sure the ancient wisdom isn't lost to the ages, reduced-power ventilation for camping was exactly the topic (but for Gen 2) of this ten-year-old classic of the genre by hobbit.

 

This advice, while seemingly intuitive, is not helpful in the real world. Consumer grade CO detectors are simply not sensitive enough to provide any safety at all.

 

My consumer-grade (but with digital ppm display, not just a honker) has detected the presence of a carpet-cleaning truck on the other side of the street with my windows closed, and also the misadjustment of the burner air shutter in a gas oven. In both cases, the levels detected were apparently too low to dramatically impair my health and functioning, since in both cases I was able to look at the display, think "hmm, why isn't that zero?", and investigate until finding out the reason (and, in the case of the oven burner, correct it). (The carpet cleaning issue corrected itself once the neighbors' carpets were clean.)

Calling that "simply not sensitive enough to provide any safety at all" strikes me as making the perfect be the enemy of the good.

 

I went to Consumer Reports to learn what their independent testing showed regarding consumer grade CO detectors. Their tests indicated that the consumer grade CO detectors were excellent, although the combo CO and smoke detectors were not.