Are camping prices set to explode?

[ardm17]

MSN

www.msn.com

Edited 15/3
So, found this article that may be of interest. Nice to see our 'hobby' is getting some 'national' exposure.
I guess we all expect prices to rise, but what is 'reasonable'? How much is too much?
Metered electricity seems to be the way forward, but there have been articles suggesting that it could then cost way over the typical £5 per night.
Will this push more people to use solar - either fixed or via powerbanks (Jackery, EcoFlow and the like)? Would that bring those prices down or would the manufacturers 'cash in' on demand?

Personally, the 'freedom' of camping is preferable to sitting in a hotel room, but there must come a price point that is prohibitive for all of us. I guess we will each 'vote with our feet' at our own price point on that one.

Should campsites consider going to a 'pitch' price and then a menu of 'add-ons' such as electric, showers, pools, clubhouse etc. - probably too difficult to administer?

For us, somewhere between £25 to £40 per night depending on electric and facilities. Electric for colder months, bit of heating plus a hard-standing. would prefer no electric but most hardstanding come with electric included at present.
For the summer, no electric, basic grass pitch fine. Try to avoid sites with too many pitches, pools, clubhouses, but with kids long gone that's fine for us.

 

[andyinluton]

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I think you are supposed to click on his sentence as its a link to a newspaper article with the same headline.

 

[dspuk]

TLDR. No.

I’d question have prices been too low in previous years.

What with supply, demand, covid and rising energy costs a Torygraph clickbait article requires the least of our attention. Hard to know your view as the least amount of effort possible was expensed in posting that link.

You can always go and pay twice the price and stay in a Premier Inn if it’s a concern. 4x for most other hotels.

Can’t see the stars with a beer or meet like minded great people though.

 

[Amarillo]

Two things.

Prices at the campsite/aquapark in southern Spain where we spent two very happy weeks last Easter has put their pitch prices up by about 35% for this Easter.

I am currently staying in a youth hostel in central Snowdonia with my two boys while their teachers strike (an alternative was two days of near constant screen time or bawling due to lack of screen time). At £34 per night for all three of us in a private room with en-suite, this is cheaper than many campsites (on site parking is £10 extra per 24h).

 

[jimmywease]

Two things.

Prices at the campsite/aquapark in southern Spain where we spent two very happy weeks last Easter has put their pitch prices up by about 35% for this Easter.

I am currently staying in a youth hostel in central Snowdonia with my two boys while their teachers strike (an alternative was two days of near constant screen time or bawling due to lack of screen time). At £34 per night for all three of us in a private room with en-suite, this is cheaper than many campsites (on site parking is £10 extra per 24h).

I’m thinking of getting the ACSI Camping Card for our Easter roadtrip to Xàbia and back. I know you’ve used ACSI extensively. The ACSI website appears to show no exclusions for the Easter weekend at most sites around Barcelona. Did it work for you last Easter?

 

[jimmywease]

“...£5 of electricity on arrival then charges 34p per KwH for any additional use”

This seems sensible to me. I’ve always found it a little odd that there is no incentive for campers to limit their electricity consumption.

 

[Calimili]

“...£5 of electricity on arrival then charges 34p per KwH for any additional use”

This seems sensible to me. I’ve always found it a little odd that there is no incentive for campers to limit their electricity consumption.

the 5 quid are way too much. For what, nothing? In europe in the few places wherethey charge for hook up , it's just like one or two euros. 5 sterling is a joke. Agree on a metered charge per KWh at a reasonable rate.
But with a couple of years or record sales for RVs across UK and Europe (US same trend), new campsites not opening, current campsites reducing capacity (building little bungalows in place of previous pitches) , there is a huge demand and less offer. Pitch prices are going up.

 

[Wildcamper]

No campsite owner is going to be able to absorb the cost of the additional electricity consumed by EV owners. This quite apart from the additional cost of installing chargers, assuming they are even permitted to do so. I see that one site with many hundreds of fixed mobile homes is only being permitted to install 3 EV chargers. Those who use it will have to pay for not only the cost of the electricity but also the installation and maintenance cost. I have no problem with the up front £5 cost. I can always go "no electric".

 

[andyinluton]

the 5 quid are way too much. For what, nothing? In europe in the few places wherethey charge for hook up , it's just like one or two euros. 5 sterling is a joke. Agree on a metered charge per KWh at a reasonable rate.

Do you realise how much electricity costs in the UK?

Its not unusual to pay more than £0.50/Kwh on a commercial tariff.

A 12 hour hookup drawing 2.5 amps = 9Kwh so £4.50. I must admit if we have a hookup we do our best to get everything that needs charging charged & would use the electric kettle instead of gas. So I can see that £5 is not unreasonable even for a Campervan.

 

[RockinNRollin]

I've thought about the electricity charge-out before now too. It makes sense for a base cost to be incorporated to support the infrastructure, then a price per kWh on top of that. As above, commercial tariffs don't benefit from the price cap in the same way so can be higher too. I know someone who has a purely electric heated conversion and the current draw they must pull from EHU must be huge. I don't think it's unreasonable, in fact I'd say it's totally expected, for a campsite to charge the energy cost plus an overhead for maintaining the infrastructure to that supply.

 

[Digger]

Wow, so sorry, I just thought it was a link to a subject that might interest some people. I don't have any particular opinion one way or another.

I'll think carefully before posting again.

No need to say sorry. Maybe original posting was too brief but you highlighted something of interest.
The fact is the rises will continue and that is as certain as death and taxes.

 

[ardm17]

TLDR. No.

I’d question have prices been too low in previous years.

What with supply, demand, covid and rising energy costs a Torygraph clickbait article requires the least of our attention. Hard to know your view as the least amount of effort possible was expensed in posting that link.

You can always go and pay twice the price and stay in a Premier Inn if it’s a concern. 4x for most other hotels.

Can’t see the stars with a beer or meet like minded great people though.

Ok, point taken. I didn't really have a view, just thought it might be of general interest. I will think carefully about any future post content.

FWIW - I agree, camping is more appealing that a Premier Inn.

 

[larrylamb]

I will think carefully about any future post content.

Your post was fine, ignore the grumpy reply.

 

[Calimili]

Do you realise how much electricity costs in the UK?

Its not unusual to pay more than £0.50/Kwh on a commercial tariff.

A 12 hour hookup drawing 2.5 amps = 9Kwh so £4.50. I must admit if we have a hookup we do our best to get everything that needs charging charged & would use the electric kettle instead of gas. So I can see that £5 is not unreasonable even for a Campervan.

The 5 pounds (or couple of Euros in Europe) is just for the hook up. I.e. just for the "permission" to hook up. And then you are charged per Kwh. So if you stay one night and charge everything and in total you consume 1 Kwh, you'll be charge 5 pounds PLUS whatever they charge for a KWh, ~50-80 pence/cents.

What I find interesting, in the EV thread people manage to have contracts to charge their EV at night at less than 10p per KWh, making EVs cheap to run. Here though the issue is that the electricity costs too much. i appreciate there is a difference in timing, but still...

 

[andyinluton]

The 5 pounds (or couple of Euros in Europe) is just for the hook up. I.e. just for the "permission" to hook up. And then you are charged per Kwh. So if you stay one night and charge everything and in total you consume 1 Kwh, you'll be charge 5 pounds PLUS whatever they charge for a KWh, ~50-80 pence/cents.

You havn't read the article properly, it said the pitches were individually metered. "that includes £5 of electricity on arrival then charges 34p per KwH for any additional use" so if you use more than £5 worth you get charged the extra.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

What I find interesting, in the EV thread people manage to have contracts to charge their EV at night at less than 10p per KWh, making EVs cheap to run. Here though the issue is that the electricity costs too much. i appreciate there is a difference in timing, but still...

In fact you could actually charge an EV for zero pKWH...but you would have invest a substantial sum in solar panels + possibly a home battery, so the actual cost to the Owner works out far more than 10p per KWH when yu factor in the outlay costs, but of course you do also benefit from cheaper electricity at home whilst your car is not charging.

We have an 11 year old Cali + EV. Buying a new Cali would cost us than running the two current vehicles combined, so guess it all comes down to how people want to spend their hard earned cash.

 

[Calimili]

You havn't read the article properly, it said the pitches were individually metered. "that includes £5 of electricity on arrival then charges 34p per KwH for any additional use" so if you use more than £5 worth you get charged the extra.

I'm sorry you are correct. I incorrectly assumed that the 5quids were just a charge purely to connect as in Europe it does work mostly that way.
Still a lot though if you are staying just a weekend in a Cali, as , even assuming 1£ per Kwh, you are unlikely to consume 5 Kwh

 

[andyinluton]

I'm sorry you are correct. I incorrectly assumed that the 5quids were just a charge purely to connect as in Europe it does work mostly that way.
Still a lot though if you are staying just a weekend in a Cali, as , even assuming 1£ per Kwh, you are unlikely to consume 5 Kwh

You need to work out how much electricity your van will really use, just 1 amp at 220v is 0.22Kw. so 24 hours of that is 5.28KWh

Just plugging the van in, due to the charging regime, will use a chunk as it charges 2x100Ah batteries from 80% to 100% using the vans charger.

As you use the fridge & diesel heater, anything used by them will be topped up.

5KWh isn't an awful lot.

 

[Amarillo]

I’m thinking of getting the ACSI Camping Card for our Easter roadtrip to Xàbia and back. I know you’ve used ACSI extensively. The ACSI website appears to show no exclusions for the Easter weekend at most sites around Barcelona. Did it work for you last Easter?

No. We stayed at quite an expensive resort type campground all the way south near Alicante. I wanted the boys swimming daily to help consolidate the swimming lessons they have, and you need to go quite a long way south to find open air pools open over Easter.

Marina Resorts

Conoce La Marina Camping Resort en el que podrás disfrutar de tus vacaciones en un espacio al aire libre con buen clima y miles de actividades para toda la familia

www.lamarinaresorts.com

€868 for two weeks over Easter on a 60m2 pitch for a family of four is quite steep, even if the resort takes your kids for 2 x 2hr sessions daily for no extra charge.

 

[ardm17]

Deep breath ...

We recently had a 2 night stay in the Forest of Dean. Hard standing pitch with electric included.
Temps were minus overnight and only 4-5C daytime, so we took a 700w oil-filled rad.

Running that from around 6pm through to 8am - even assuming only a 40% duty-cycle, used around 4Kwh, include in the approx 6 uses per day of the 1Kw kettle at 5 mins per boil, plus the top-up battery charging and we easily got to around 5Kwh per night.
.
At £47.08 for 2 nights, I'd say we had a good deal, OK out of season price, but happy to extend our van usage further across the year.

Unless commercial electricity rates come down substantially over the summer, there will be plenty more sites either metering, raising pitch prices or offering no hook-up deals this year. On balance, assuming fair rates, I'd think metering is the fairest way overall.

Maybe using the diesel heater on hook-up is a balance to electric consumption, but add the extra noise and exhaust (not huge, but ..) might be the way to go, if metered.

Roll on the summer, no need for electric, heaters etc. (we spend most days out and about, so charging batteries - the main reason for getting a van over hotel stays) and outdoor cooking on gas (which also doesn't come as cheap now, but I love burning the burgers..).

 

[WelshGas]

A Motorhome will use substantially more electric power than any Campervan will. I’ve even seen a fairly large fan heater running in an awning, day and night.

 

[Wildcamper]

I have no issue with the "hook up charge". If I don't like it then I will go "no hook up". The Cali, as I understand it, can run off grid without problem especially if solar panels are installed. I do not have a Cali but can rely on my solar panels, twin leisure batteries, and LPG (at £0.80/liter, tank holds 15 litres - a cold afternoon/evening's heating uses between 1 and 1.5 litres of lpg) for heating and cooking for at least a week. So long as I can obtain water I am happy. I can even hot shower, hot wash up (LPG heated) and use the on-board toilet - not a porta potty!

 

[B J G]

A Motorhome will use substantially more electric power than any Campervan will. I’ve even seen a fairly large fan heater running in an awning, day and night.

Same could apply to a Campervan awning.

From when I had a Motorhome the only difference (between it & Cali) in power consumed would have been by the Fridge.

 

[Anthony1]

Do you realise how much electricity costs in the UK?

Its not unusual to pay more than £0.50/Kwh on a commercial tariff.

A 12 hour hookup drawing 2.5 amps = 9Kwh so £4.50. I must admit if we have a hookup we do our best to get everything that needs charging charged & would use the electric kettle instead of gas. So I can see that £5 is not unreasonable even for a Campervan.

Same here, we use electric kettle, toaster, electric hob and if cold, small fan heater.

 

[Wannabecamperman]

“...£5 of electricity on arrival then charges 34p per KwH for any additional use”

This seems sensible to me. I’ve always found it a little odd that there is no incentive for campers to limit their electricity consumption.

The fact that my local Tescos charge 28p per kWh (used to be free) mean that the 34p seems perfectly reasonable to me. What does NOT seem reasonable if the fiver for what? The privilege of being able to buy electricity at additional cost, on what is likely to be at most a 6 amp feed? That's downright greedy in my view.