Metered hook up

[Mansfieldman750]

The CAMC site at Totnes meters your electricity use. The charge is 27p/kWh. That’s all they can charge - it is illegal to sell on electricity at a higher price.
It is very simple to set up from the app and you can check your usage as you go along.
So after 2 days with the fridge running and the diesel heater on at setting 6 from about 03.00pm and setting 3 overnight, lights on, watch the football on the iPad, we have used the princely sum of £0.92 of electricity.
So if metered hook ups become a thing, don’t worry about it !

 

[Flower Power]

So this it seems is a better deal than paying a flat rate of 5, 6 or even more euros a day in the middle of Summer at campgrounds I have been too.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

So this it seems is a better deal than paying a flat rate of 5, 6 or even more euros a day in the middle of Summer at campgrounds I have been too.

Yes it makes me cry about all these nights I have paid a fiver or more extra for a hook up and used 46p of electricity.
I asked the lady at reception if the Club would be rolling out the metering to all their sites and she said at the moment Totnes and one other site were the Guinea pigs and no firm decision has been taken.
If it does happen I expect we will end up paying the same as before for hard standing and a hook up, the Club will claim that metering has enabled them to keep down price increases, and the metering will be a disguised price increase.
That’s just the way the world works.
Anyway at 46p a night it’s not something to get worked up about, although that fridge will be working a bit harder in summer, it’s colder outside at the moment.

 

[Wannabecamperman]

The charge is 27p/kWh. That’s all they can charge - it is illegal to sell on electricity at a higher price.

Interesting. That's why so many sites have a fixed £5 or so instead. Then I guess the idiots with outdoor space heaters on all night ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[Canary]

Not how ypu managed 97p well done!

We just had 3 nights at red kite and it cost £11 and we had the diesel heater blazing also due to sub zero temps, huge difference??

 

[Canary]

Please excuse my spelling, blushing.

 

[Hawthorn37]

The site at Burnham Deepdale has had this system for a couple of years. We camped with family sleeping in an awning, complete with fan heater, costing us about £10/ day

The 2nd time we stayed it was two of us in the van for 3 nights, £1.

Careful what you plug in !

 

[cpaharley2008]

That's a massive difference between £11 and 97p for similar usage - wonder if Red Kite has a much higher rate or different metering system? The diesel heater shouldn't use much electric anyway, just the fan really.

 

[Wannabecamperman]

That's a massive difference between £11 and 97p for similar usage - wonder if Red Kite has a much higher rate or different metering system? The diesel heater shouldn't use much electric anyway, just the fan really.

I know the OP says it's illegal to 'load' electricity prices per kWh, however I know of at least one mobile home site that has done so for years, as well as metred water and gas usage.

 

[sidepod]

Leisure bats would’ve handled that, you could’ve save 92p!

 

[Mansfieldman750]

The site at Burnham Deepdale has had this system for a couple of years. We camped with family sleeping in an awning, complete with fan heater, costing us about £10/ day

The 2nd time we stayed it was two of us in the van for 3 nights, £1.

Careful what you plug in !

What sort of fan heater, does it look like this ?

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

It's a different calculation when you turn up in a Caravan.

Our caravan usage for heating and cooking with daytime highs of about 15C and overnight lows of 10C is about 14kwh per day. Vastly more in these freezing temperatures - maybe double or triple that.

So anywhere between £5 and £15 a day without heating an awning!!

 

[Blackbrogue1962]

We regularly stay at Braemar which has had metered electricity for a number of years. As California owners we should welcome this initiative as our consumption is significantly less than for other bigger vans and caravans.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

It's a different calculation when you turn up in a Caravan.

Our caravan usage for heating and cooking with daytime highs of about 15C and overnight lows of 10C is about 14kwh per day. Vastly more in these freezing temperatures - maybe double or triple that.

So anywhere between £5 and £15 a day without heating an awning!!

Exactly. So anyone with a Cali, using the diesel heater, on a metered site is going to have the cheapest electricity bill on the campsite

 

[ejmoore]

We seldom bother with a hookup, unless it's included in the price - this sort of usage is easily covered by the leisure battery, for three or four days.

 

[BananaDuck]

Not how ypu managed 97p well done!

We just had 3 nights at red kite and it cost £11 and we had the diesel heater blazing also due to sub zero temps, huge difference??

That seems incredibly high! Based on their fees (27p rate + 7kWh free/night), spending £11 means you used over 60kWh total. That is massive consumption for three days.

 

[stoobthealien]

Metered power is a godsend for Cali owners in my view - a couple axle caravan with full alde wet heating throughout, massive water tanks for the onboard shower, electric hobs, electric kettles, multiple TVs and lots of lighting are using far far more power than a cali just charging the leisure battery and using a diesel heater - light electric users have been subsidising heavy users for years

 

[Hawthorn37]

I’m guessing sites charge for the electricity consumed plus the amortised cost of the installation. It would seem reasonable to me.

 

[crookrise]

Dont use hook up, no need.
Just spent 3 days in Ireland in free overnight spots with temperature down to -6 C, fridge on, heater on and watching TV on Tablet.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Dont use hook up, no need.
Just spent 3 days in Ireland in free overnight spots with temperature down to -6 C, fridge on, heater on and watching TV on Tablet.

As per post #1 I was using 1.71kWh per day. The leisure batteries ( 150Ah 12v ) can only give 1.8 kWh per day if my memory of Ohms Law is right, so I would have been flat after day one.
Not quite, because we were boiling kettles a lot, whereas we would have used gas for that.
If you were moving on each day to let the batteries recharge, I don’t doubt going off grid is feasible but 3 days in one place without a hook up or solars would be really pushing it.

 

[crookrise]

As per post #1 I was using 1.71kWh per day. The leisure batteries ( 150Ah 12v ) can only give 1.8 kWh per day if my memory of Ohms Law is right, so I would have been flat after day one.
Not quite, because we were boiling kettles a lot, whereas we would have used gas for that.
If you were moving on each day to let the batteries recharge, I don’t doubt going off grid is feasible but 3 days in one place without a hook up or solars would be really pushing it.

Ah But thats not what you posted, check...
"So after 2 days with the fridge running and the diesel heater on at setting 6 from about 03.00pm and setting 3 overnight, lights on, watch the football on the iPad, we have used the princely sum of £0.92 of electricity.
So if metered hook ups become a thing, don’t worry about it !"
No mention of boiling a kettle !!

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Ah But thats not what you posted, check...
"So after 2 days with the fridge running and the diesel heater on at setting 6 from about 03.00pm and setting 3 overnight, lights on, watch the football on the iPad, we have used the princely sum of £0.92 of electricity.
So if metered hook ups become a thing, don’t worry about it !"
No mention of boiling a kettle !!

True, I forgot about that kettle. We were filling hot water bottles and everything !
Don’t get me wrong, we did go 6 consecutive nights without a hook up last September - one of the camping clubs had a 40% discount on grass pitches, but we were out in the van every day so starting with full batteries every night.
I don’t know, has anyone gone more than 3 nights in one place with no hook up, solar panel or running the engine ?