OP touched my hot button. As an ex Burg and Fire alarm co. owner - I am really upset with RV manufacturers design ideas when it comes to fire/heat detection and more importantly smoke detection and warning. At a MINIMUM there should be one smoke detector in every sleeping area and at least one in the central area. By way of example a 38 foot with master, bunk and forward sleeping area would need four and maybe even five smoke detectors. As far as I know the majority of installed RV detectors are ionization that alarm on things we can't see. In the close quarters of an RV that equals false alarms and eventually detector batteries being removed and then ZERO protection. IMO photoelectric detectors are much more suitable in the RV environment. They alarm on visible air particles. When our coach was new we could not even make toast light brown without setting off the closest detector. I changed to photoelectric detectors, added one and not one false alarm since. In the OP's case I really wonder if detectors in the basement would wake sleeping occupants, unless they are the newer wireless INTERCONNECTED (if one detector sounds alarm ALL detectors in that system will sound) battery operated detectors such as the
RF-SM-DC - smoke detector chirping, smoke detector sound - Battery Operated Wireless Interconnect Smoke Alarm
Sorry to say but my mental knowledge base has not been updated for a few years so there may even be something better on the tech front. Don't know for sure but suspect wireless battery operated heat detectors are available and would be much more suitable the OP's basement application since nobody (normally) sleeps in the basement. A little smoke in the basement won't hurt anyone sleeping above - but heat - say 210 degrees could indicate a real problem. When you are awake the nose it the BEST smoke detector but when asleep it is pretty much shut off.
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