Alarm... Alarm... why don't they put the right alarms in these things?

Why is it that RV companies, even fairly expensive ones, use the absolute cheapest stuff sometimes? The difference is just a couple of bucks, but I guess that if you do that a couple of dozen times, you fill out the bottom line. Still, at an $82K MSRP, I'm still surprised they went with the bare minimum just to meet the requirements. Maybe that's why they quit the biz?

I'm talking about smoke alarms. I just don't understand using alarms that you can't mute near a kitchen. I don't buy that's its being cautious - I'm thinking its really just all about being cheap and lazy.

Anyhow - I spent $10 and upgraded the alarm near the central area of the RV with one that not only has a 'pause' button on it (muting it if it goes off from burning something on the stove), but also has a light on it that lights the entire door/evacuation area when it truly goes off. Any normal house would have this (I hope) so that people don't go crazy, and the upgrade cost was minimal. The mounting bracket even fit into the same mounting holes. How easy can a mod be? ;)

All that stuff I read about the simple, little life-mods really makes sense to me. This one should be done by every RV'er, though it would make more sense if RV companies just spent the extra - what - 2 dollars wholesale? - and put them in.