Safety
Safety while living in a car or van.
Carbon Monoxide and gas
Carbon Monoxide and gas can displace oxygen in the air which will result in your death. Whenever you use gas appliances always ensure that you ventilate your vehicle before, during and after such use. Before you light any flames you need to ventilate to ensure that any leaky gas in your vehicle escapes. The best way to ventilate the vehicle is to open the doors for about 20 seconds. However in really cold weather you might not be keen to do that. So at the minimum crank two windows open that are diagonally opposite in the car. For example, if you open the left front window, also open the back right.
When you are burning gas you must also have ventilation to allow oxygen in to the car and carbon monoxide out. A window wound open just a centimeter will allow air in. Carbon Monoxide however sinks. So does propane gas. For this reason I had to have a small hole drilled in the lowest point of the floor of my campervan This was to allow the gas to escape the vehicle if I had a leak. You may consider drilling a hole in the floor of your car or van a bit dramatic though. Unless you are also using it to drain water from a sink, this will not be a viable option. Again cranking open a couple of windows should help allow oxygen in to the car. This is particularly so if there is a breeze.
I watched an episode of Mythbusters some time ago where they tested the myth that a person inside a sealed room could asphyxiate as a result of lack of oxygen over night. In a small room about 12 feet by 10 feet and 8 feet high / 4 meters by 3 meters by 2.5 high (I forget the exact measurements) Jamie slept while the oxygen and carbon dioxide content of the room was measured. They concluded that in order for a single person to asphyxiate in such a room purely from their own breathing while laying on a waist high bed, they would have had to remained in the room for over 18 hours. So unless you sleep for long periods of time you are not likely to die from oxygen deprivation or carbon dioxide poisoning inside an unventilated large motor home.
Inside a car is somewhat different. The car is a lot smaller. If you have efficient weather sealing and the windows wound up the levels of carbon dioxide in a car could climb quite high. If you have vents in your car such as those used on heaters, open them at night. Make sure you set such vents to let in external air. With a reasonable breeze air will enter the car. Yes it will let cold air in, but that air is fresh. If you sleep inside a sleeping bag and wear a woolen beanie you should stay warm. Use of hot water bottles, chemical reaction hand warmers or other non flammable heat sources can help keep you warm.
Carbon monoxide from flames replaces the oxygen in the air much faster than carbon dioxide replaces oxygen from breathing. You MUST ensure adequate ventilation by opening windows.
Hydrogen.
Typical lead acid batteries that are used in cars and deep cycle batteries can give off hydrogen when they are charging. Batteries must be mounted in a way that they are adequately vented to the outside of your vehicle. This is a legal requirement in many places, but if it is not, do it anyway. In my campervan I have the batteries in a compartment under the bed. There is a fan forced vent right above the batteries that sucks air out of the compartment to the outside of the bus. This fan operates off of a small 15 watt solar panel along with four other vent fans in the bus. Every day it sucks air out of the compartment when the sun shines. These periods are the same times that the batteries will be charging so there is no chance of a hydrogen build up in this compartment. Additional passive vents let air into this compartment.
Flames
and heat sources.
Some heat sources such as some camping heaters can be used reasonably safe inside an enclosed space if monitored and attended. You should never use a stove or gas heater inside of a car when you are sleeping. It is far safer and far more efficient to heat up water for a hot water bottle or bottles and use them to keep you warm at night while you are sleeping instead. There will be no worry of accidentally knocking over the stove / heater in your sleep, and no worry of carbon monoxide. Hot water bottles will keep you warm for long periods of time, particularly if they have a fleecy or woolen cover. You can also get metallic hip flasks and fill them with much hotter water than a hot water bottle. Covering them with a couple of layers of socks will allow a bearable amount of heat to keep you warm for long periods of time.
You should never allow any source of naked flame to remain on before you prepare to sleep unless it is in a stable heating device permanently attached to your vehicle and approved for use in camper vans or cars with adequate ventilation A camper van hot water service is an example of such a device.
Smoking inside a car or van is going to be a matter of personal choice. I don't smoke and think it is a filthy habit. But I can realise that some people do. Smoking while in bed or sleepy has been the cause of countless fires around the world. If you smoke, make sure you do it when wide awake. If you've found that you have fallen asleep while smoking in the past ensure you don't smoke when you are sleepy.
Fire extinguishers.
You can buy a cheap fire extinguisher of the powder type for about $25 in Australia. The Kiddie brand start at 2 KG. They could mean the difference between life and death, or between saving or loosing your vehicle I have two 2.5 KG units, and a 1KG unit in my camper van as well as an old 4 KG powder type fire extinguisher. Note that the vibration of travel tends to compact the powder used in these extinguishers so best practice is to have two extinguishers, mount one upside down and every month swap them around.
In emergency almost all soft drinks (not alcohol) can be shaken up and sprayed on to a fire. It is a poor substitute though. These drinks are not designed for fire fighting. They don't last long. They are hard to aim. This would be an emergency use only. A soft drink is no substitute for a proper fire extinguisher. Considering how cheap they are, if you plan to have any sort of naked flame in your car, you should have a fire extinguisher as well.
