Camping prices on the increase.. profiteering?

[GrannyJen]

Well, I'm on some sort of roll here

I've just booked 13 campsites for 38 nights next year, all with EHU and toilets, and my average price per night is £21.

My calculations are slightly skewed as 8 of those nights are on Camping and caravanning club sites that give me an old Biddy discount but still quite pleasing

 

[sidepod]

Mt Bartinney Base Camp, St Just, Cornwall | Pitchup.com

View Mt Bartinney Base Camp in Cornwall. Campfires allowed. Best prices, easy booking, no fees with immediate confirmation.

www.pitchup.com

New standard for facilities vs price??

Excellent, where do I sign.

 

[sidepod]

Well, I'm on some sort of roll here

I've just booked 13 campsites for 38 nights next year, all with EHU and toilets, and my average price per night is £21.

My calculations are slightly skewed as 8 of those nights are on Camping and caravanning club sites that give me an old Biddy discount but still quite pleasing

So it's you that's killing spontaneity then?

 

[GrannyJen]

So it's you that's killing spontaneity then?

No.

I have that as well. Probably 60 nights next year in places where I will not know where I am going until I get there.

It's a little bit hard though to be spontaneous when you have a 6.5 metre trailer behind you to facilitate a 600 mile cycle ride where stops and distances between stops need to be planned ahead.

 

[Bobby D]

EHU may be dead in the wood soon with the onset of ECO-Flow Delta units that are small, portable and very quick to recharge.

You can plug one into the vans EHU and power all your sockets for a weekend easily...Hairdryers, Kettles no issue at all. Delta2 looks ideal at £1K... if you do a lot of camping these units are going to change the need for a pitch with EHU.

 

[GrannyJen]

EHU may be dead in the wood soon with the onset of ECO-Flow Delta units that are small, portable and very quick to recharge.

You can plug one into the vans EHU and power all your sockets for a weekend easily...Hairdryers, Kettles no issue at all. Delta2 looks ideal at £1K... if you do a lot of camping these units are going to change the need for a pitch with EHU.

I have an eco flow for just that purpose. I would point out though that whilst lots can be plugged into it 1.3KwH does not last long with kettles and hairdryers. The main thing I use it for, and it's brilliant, are AC chargers, especially bike and laptop, and my slow cooker.

If I'm going to be out all day, especially in winter, and want to come home and use a slow cooker, remoska, kettle, charge my bike up.... I'm looking for a recharge outlet pretty quickly.

 

[Bobby D]

I have an eco flow for just that purpose. I would point out though that whilst lots can be plugged into it 1.3KwH does not last long with kettles and hairdryers. The main thing I use it for, and it's brilliant, are AC chargers, especially bike and laptop, and my slow cooker.

If I'm going to be out all day, especially in winter, and want to come home and use a slow cooker, remoska, kettle, charge my bike up.... I'm looking for a recharge outlet pretty quickly.

The new Delta2 looks mega though, with an 1800W rating and surge upto 2400W, plenty of Kettle boils in the capacity. Mega quick charging via solar or even an inverter off the alternator, some of the recharge rates are unreal on that new Delta2 as it uses the latest type of Lithium.

 

[Bobby D]

I have an eco flow for just that purpose. I would point out though that whilst lots can be plugged into it 1.3KwH does not last long with kettles and hairdryers. The main thing I use it for, and it's brilliant, are AC chargers, especially bike and laptop, and my slow cooker.

If I'm going to be out all day, especially in winter, and want to come home and use a slow cooker, remoska, kettle, charge my bike up.... I'm looking for a recharge outlet pretty quickly.

Do you use it to power the van or do you just plug into it direct?...seen some great set ups where they split the electrics to plug into the Vans EHU, hiding the EcoFlow in a cupboard out of the way and that then powers all the sockets and 12V circuits..recharging from solar and the vans 12V and the mains if required.

 

[Steve1]

EHU may be dead in the wood soon with the onset of ECO-Flow Delta units that are small, portable and very quick to recharge.

You can plug one into the vans EHU and power all your sockets for a weekend easily...Hairdryers, Kettles no issue at all. Delta2 looks ideal at £1K... if you do a lot of camping these units are going to change the need for a pitch with EHU.

You can buy a lot of nights of electric hookup for £1000 and that unit definitely wouldn't last a week of kettle use.

 

[GrannyJen]

Do you use it to power the van or do you just plug into it direct?...seen some great set ups where they split the electrics to plug into the Vans EHU, hiding the EcoFlow in a cupboard out of the way and that then powers all the sockets and 12V circuits..recharging from solar and the vans 12V and the mains if required.

Self-standing.

I use the leisure batteries and whatever they can get out of the solar panels to power interior 12v electrics. For me it really is the AC output that is important. Most of my off-grid trips would involve a lot of cycling on my electric bike and in the Yorkshire dales, with all those hills, I would need to charge twice which would take around 60% of the eco flow capacity.

 

[subthree]

Hairdryers? That's not camping!

 

[Bobby D]

You can buy a lot of nights of electric hookup for £1000 and that unit definitely wouldn't last a week of kettle use.

They do have a minimum 8 year life though...and will allow people to camp in more remote spots without the need to worry about EHU.

It will also last a week easily if you have solar, it will do an easy 3 days/nights on one charge, powering the Van (remember you can run them down to zero unlike your standard AGM/GEL battery)..then either a 45minute 240V charge or a day on solar, or 2 hours whilst driving via the alternator and a 2KW inverter..Jobs a peach.

They really are the future these new Lithium cells, much better that the ones from 2-3 years ago. They charge so much faster, over a minimum of 8 year I reckon it would more than pay for itself.

 

[sidepod]

Physical dimensions? I'm guessing a big lump of kit to drag around with you?

And on the subject of kettles, why on earth do people use electric kettles when you have a perfectly good gas hob?

 

[Bobby D]

Physical dimensions? I'm guessing a big lump of kit to drag around with you?

And on the subject of kettles, why on earth do people use electric kettles when you have a perfectly good gas hob?

400 x 211 x 281 mm and 12KG..not too bad, they do smaller ones but don't pack much capacity.

I think once these come on in another 2-3 years and the size shrinks again, most people will jump at them. Remember how popular Clayton power units used to be and they were £3K+ and only did the same thing but with a much slower recharge rate.

 

[Bobby D]

Physical dimensions? I'm guessing a big lump of kit to drag around with you?

And on the subject of kettles, why on earth do people use electric kettles when you have a perfectly good gas hob?

Hey...try camping with 3 females...everything is electric...Phones,Tablets, Kettles, Hairdryers...Gas doesn't cut it lol.

 

[Corradobrit]

400 x 211 x 281 mm and 12KG..not too bad, they do smaller ones but don't pack much capacity.

I think once these come on in another 2-3 years and the size shrinks again, most people will jump at them. Remember how popular Clayton power units used to be and they were £3K+ and only did the same thing but with a much slower recharge rate.

And if the Delta is too much (size, weight and price) the new redesigned River 2 with the same LiPO4 technology is on the market next week. LiPO4 is also safer and won't self combust if the cells are damaged eg in a collision. The case has also been redesigned which allows for stacking.

With the ease of charging I see solar being even more advantageous. I just sold my 12 month old tech River Max for what I paid in anticipation of getting the new River 2 Max.

 

[Bobby D]

And if the Delta is too much (size, weight and price) the new redesigned River 2 with the same LiPO4 technology is on the market next week. LiPO4 is also safer and won't self combust if the cells are damaged eg in a collision. The case has also been redesigned which allows for stacking.

With the ease of charging I see solar being even more advantageous. I just sold my 12 month old tech River Max for what I paid in anticipation of getting the new River 2 Max.

These will be interesting, especially if they produce a small unit with 1500W rating (+surge) as it will power many home appliances and the River is quite a compact unit..do you know any of the tech specs?

The rate of charge from solar is amazing for these new units. The old set ups of vans with a wet/agm/gel Leisure battery will be dead within 2-3 years

 

[Steve1]

Physical dimensions? I'm guessing a big lump of kit to drag around with you?

And on the subject of kettles, why on earth do people use electric kettles when you have a perfectly good gas hob?

If the site has hook-up available, electric kettle on hook-up is usually cheaper and certainly more convenient than the gas one (not having to replace gas bottle constantly). Off hook-up a 907 cylinder will last us around 12 days for all washing up water, tea and sometimes portable shower water. On hook up where the cooker is just used for cooking, no boiling water we can do 50 days without replacing the cylinder. Then as a bonus the van doesnt require running on idle for 45 mins a day to charge the batteries to run the fridge (set low enough to keep meat fresh).
Off hook-up works best for short weekends, or if the no-hookup pitch is so much better than the hook-up one that it's worth the extra effort

 

[Corradobrit]

These will be interesting, especially if they produce a small unit with 1500W rating (+surge) as it will power many home appliances and the River is quite a compact unit..do you know any of the tech specs?

The rate of charge from solar is amazing for these new units. The old set ups of vans with a wet/agm/gel Leisure battery will be dead within 2-3 years

And compared to the old tech although this comparo is for the base unit.

 

[Steve1]

They do have a minimum 8 year life though...and will allow people to camp in more remote spots without the need to worry about EHU.

It will also last a week easily if you have solar, it will do an easy 3 days/nights on one charge, powering the Van (remember you can run them down to zero unlike your standard AGM/GEL battery)..then either a 45minute 240V charge or a day on solar, or 2 hours whilst driving via the alternator and a 2KW inverter..Jobs a peach.

They really are the future these new Lithium cells, much better that the ones from 2-3 years ago. They charge so much faster, over a minimum of 8 year I reckon it would more than pay for itself.

1.2kWh could only boil the kettle around 12 times though, which if you use it for all hot water might only be about a days worth. While hook-up is only £2 - 3 a day.
I am not saying they are not useful when you are not on hook-up to extend your time,
but i think your statement about it replacing EHU soon is probably a bit optimistic if you go for more than a weekend, especially at the huge cost.

 

[Corradobrit]

And if the Delta is too much (size, weight and price) the new redesigned River 2 with the same LiPO4 technology is on the market next week. LiPO4 is also safer and won't self combust if the cells are damaged eg in a collision. The case has also been redesigned which allows for stacking.

With the ease of charging I see solar being even more advantageous. I just sold my 12 month old tech River Max for what I paid in anticipation of getting the new River 2 Max.

Its the Pro not the Max that I had and will be buying again. LiPO4 was the one feature I really missed on the original River Pro.
I did find the River Max wouldn't run my 12V tire inflator/compressor due to the amperage which was annoying. I may have to consider upping my game and getting the Delta 2 instead.

 

[Bobby D]

1.2kWh could only boil the kettle around 12 times though, which if you use it for all hot water might only be about a days worth. While hook-up is only £2 - 3 a day.
I am not saying they are not useful when you are not on hook-up to extend your time,
but i think your statement about it replacing EHU soon is probably a bit optimistic if you go for more than a weekend, especially at the huge cost.

Delta 2 is 1800W, so not sure how many times that would boil say a Litre of Water..but that's missing the point. It's the speed of recharge of these new style Lithium packs that is the game changer. A decent solar set up of say 200W would re-charge from zero in a day. Thats before you connect to the alternator and use a 2000W inverter to charge from the Van when travelling etc.

 

[Corradobrit]

These will be interesting, especially if they produce a small unit with 1500W rating (+surge) as it will power many home appliances and the River is quite a compact unit..do you know any of the tech specs?

The rate of charge from solar is amazing for these new units. The old set ups of vans with a wet/agm/gel Leisure battery will be dead within 2-3 years

The issue with the Delta 2 is that its noisy when the fans kick in. I hope the River 2 series will be as quiet as the original which is particularly beneficial in a confined space like a campervan.
Secondly the Delta 2 is described as a UPS but reviewers have demonstrated that the switching is too slow do prevent electronics from shutting down. This probably wouldn't be an issue for our intended purposes though.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Hurley campsite near Marlow. £17 per night, poshest facilities in uk, definitely bucking the trend.

 

[Cali Phillip]

Hurley campsite near Marlow. £17 per night, poshest facilities in uk, definitely bucking the trend.

Sounds more like it, just ditched the C&MC as even the CL sites are often more than the small basic private sites we like or more often free camping near the walk or climbing start.