Canvasdale

Carbon monoxide

By the Canvasdale team · Last checked

Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas made when fuel burns. You can't see, smell or taste it, and stoves, BBQs, gas heaters and lanterns all produce it. In a closed tent, awning or porch it can build up while you sleep.

Where you'll see it

Carbon monoxide warnings appear on stove and BBQ instructions, on gas heater labels and on tent and campsite pages that cover cooking or heating. A carbon monoxide alarm made for tents is a backup only. Follow its maker's guidance, and don't treat it as a reason to bring a stove or BBQ inside.

What to check

  • The warning on your stove, BBQ or heater label, and the maker's instructions for outdoor use only.
  • Cook outside in the open air, away from the tent. Never use a stove, BBQ or gas heater inside or at the doorway of a tent, porch or awning.
  • Use a battery LED lantern or head torch inside the tent, never a gas or liquid-fuel lantern.
  • Leave a BBQ outdoors, well away from the tent, until it is completely cold.
  • If anyone feels headachy, dizzy or sick, get everyone into fresh air straight away. Call NHS 111 for advice, or 999 if anyone has difficulty breathing, becomes confused or loses consciousness.
  • Awning: the canopy that can trap carbon monoxide when it's closed in.
  • Porch: the enclosed area that no stove should enter.
  • Gas cartridge: the small canister that many camping stoves burn.

Read more: Carbon monoxide and camping: stoves, BBQs, heaters.