Caravan in use Electric consumption.

[Darren.H]

Quick update.

Tuesday to Wednesday

06.30 to 06.30 Alde was the only heat source, and hot water function was turned on.
We left Alde on at 19 degrees pretty much for all of the 24 hour period as that is how we previously had the heating, and showered in the caravan.

32 kwh used, a substantial increase over our average 20 kwh per day.
I had a late night, didn't go to bed until around 1 am, and during the day the caravan was unoccupied, blinds closed for 8 hours.

Yes Alde is very convenient
Yes Alde warmed the entire caravan
But at an increased energy consumption of 60% over our newly established routine as detailed.

 

[Ern]

The extra 10 kWh is probably unnecessary. You didn't really compare using the Alde for heating in the same conditions, because you usually use the site showers, and usually don't set at 19 deg overnight. Use the Alde, with overnight 17deg and the hot water off. In the day have 21 deg setting, but turn it down to about 18 if you go out, and turn the water heating off. Use the site showers.
I suspect your extreme frugality is saving you about a quid a day!

 

[Darren.H]

The extra 10 kWh is probably unnecessary. You didn't really compare using the Alde for heating in the same conditions, because you usually use the site showers, and usually don't set at 19 deg overnight. Use the Alde, with overnight 17deg and the hot water off. In the day have 21 deg setting, but turn it down to about 18 if you go out, and turn the water heating off. Use the site showers.
I suspect your extreme frugality is saving you about a quid a day!

What leaving the Alde on did was represent how we would normally use the caravan.
I suspect its how the majority do when on an inclusive pitch fee.

The savings for us are multiplied by 98 as thats the number of nights we have booked.
12 to 15 kwh is the daily saving without being frugale but sensible plus a little innovative.
That equates to approximately 1176 to 1470 kwh, multiple that by x to represent the number of caravaners on holiday in colder months and that by anybodies standards is alot of waste.
I'm sat in the caravan now, 5.34 am, partition closed, fan heater on, Alde is showing its 25 degrees up front, whilst in the bedroom area a nice chill to the air.
My thread was about giving a real life example of use, with reductions on electric waste which for me it has, and also the caravan can now for the first time have heat zones, so not just a financial benefit, well over £200 for our stay, but environmental and comfort too.
A 24 hour period
Ultra frugle was 11 kwh
24 hour Alde @19 was 32 kwh
A mix of Alde (Using "time Modes" & No hot water) with Fan Heater is around 17 to 20 kwh

The cost benefits will rise once the new rates hit.

 

[Tobes]

What leaving the Alde on did was represent how we would normally use the caravan.
I suspect its how the majority do when on an inclusive pitch fee.

The savings for us are multiplied by 98 as thats the number of nights we have booked.
12 to 15 kwh is the daily saving without being frugale but sensible plus a little innovative.
That equates to approximately 1176 to 1470 kwh, multiple that by x to represent the number of caravaners on holiday in colder months and that by anybodies standards is alot of waste.
I'm sat in the caravan now, 5.34 am, partition closed, fan heater on, Alde is showing its 25 degrees up front, whilst in the bedroom area a nice chill to the air.
My thread was about giving a real life example of use, with reductions on electric waste which for me it has, and also the caravan can now for the first time have heat zones, so not just a financial benefit, well over £200 for our stay, but environmental and comfort too.
A 24 hour period
Ultra frugle was 11 kwh
24 hour Alde @19 was 32 kwh
A mix of Alde (Using "time Modes" & No hot water) with Fan Heater is around 17 to 20 kwh

The cost benefits will rise once the new rates hit.

This is an excellent summary, and so relevant for the world we find ourselves in. With a little work (or even just being thoughtful) it’s possible to reduce one’s usage footprint of a resource. Just because a resource is not obviously paid for does not mean it is there to be wasted. 👍👍👍

 

[Gafferbill]

......most caravan owners don't use their caravans in winter!
Their caravans sit in storage using no energy.....you could argue that they are all doing their bit to save the planet

 

[otherclive]

......most caravan owners don't use their caravans in winter!
Their caravans sit in storage using no energy.....you could argue that they are all doing their bit to save the planet

I wonder if they use more energy heating the houses than heating the caravan. Perhaps living in the van in winter, whilst the home heating is set to “ frost protection” could be the way to go.

 

[Buckman]

I wonder if they use more energy heating the houses than heating the caravan. Perhaps living in the van in winter, whilst the home heating is set to “ frost protection” could be the way to go.

At home you need to pay the standing charge so using the caravan that will be a saving of £0.25 per day!

 

[Tobes]

At home you need to pay the standing charge so using the caravan that will be a saving of £0.25 per day!

At home, you own the whole bill! As Darren.H points out, if you are on an unmetered pitch, the temptation to go out and leave the heating and water on all the time is there, but doing so can waste 10kWh of someone else’s electricity.

 

[RogerL]

At home you need to pay the standing charge so using the caravan that will be a saving of £0.25 per day!

There's no saving - the standing charge still has to be paid at home even when you're away in the caravan

 

[Buckman]

There's no saving - the standing charge still has to be paid at home even when you're away in the caravan

it was a joke hence the smiley!

 

[Gafferbill]

Just been away for a week with the caravan....CAMC club site with unmetered electricity.
Nightly charge was £19.50 all in.
Caravan has blown air heating, a seperate 1kw fan heater, a 1kw convection heater and a 0.8kw radiant heater.
A combination of these heaters (up to wattage available) gives a fast warm up of the caravan unlike Alde heating.
I don't leave any mains electricity powered appliances on when we are not in the caravan except the refrigerator.
I never use any gas when I'm on a pitch with EHU.
For me a good compromise between keeping warm economically without being wasteful

PS....saved £3.50/day on house energy usage whilst away.

 

[Beachball]

Just been away for a week with the caravan....CAMC club site with unmetered electricity.
Nightly charge was £19.50 all in.
Caravan has blown air heating, a seperate 1kw fan heater, a 1kw convection heater and a 0.8kw radiant heater.
A combination of these heaters (up to wattage available) gives a fast warm up of the caravan unlike Alde heating.
I don't leave any mains electricity powered appliances on when we are not in the caravan except the refrigerator.
I never use any gas when I'm on a pitch with EHU.
For me a good compromise between keeping warm economically without being wasteful

PS....saved £3.50/day on house energy usage whilst away.

Sounds very reasonable at that price I hope you had a nice time

 

[Jcloughie]

Just been away for a week with the caravan....CAMC club site with unmetered electricity.
Nightly charge was £19.50 all in.
Caravan has blown air heating, a seperate 1kw fan heater, a 1kw convection heater and a 0.8kw radiant heater.
A combination of these heaters (up to wattage available) gives a fast warm up of the caravan unlike Alde heating.
I don't leave any mains electricity powered appliances on when we are not in the caravan except the refrigerator.
I never use any gas when I'm on a pitch with EHU.
For me a good compromise between keeping warm economically without being wasteful

PS....saved £3.50/day on house energy usage whilst away.

When you need 2.8 kw supplementary heating on top of your warm air, seems odd to compare to Alde. But it is true, the Alde is initially slower to heat from very cold. Not because of available kw, but because it also heats the carcass. Therefore we maintain a background heat when we leave the van to save the yo-yo effect.

I don’t know which is most cost efficient, yo-yo or constant.

John

 

[otherclive]

What leaving the Alde on did was represent how we would normally use the caravan.
I suspect its how the majority do when on an inclusive pitch fee.

The savings for us are multiplied by 98 as thats the number of nights we have booked.
12 to 15 kwh is the daily saving without being frugale but sensible plus a little innovative.
That equates to approximately 1176 to 1470 kwh, multiple that by x to represent the number of caravaners on holiday in colder months and that by anybodies standards is alot of waste.
I'm sat in the caravan now, 5.34 am, partition closed, fan heater on, Alde is showing its 25 degrees up front, whilst in the bedroom area a nice chill to the air.
My thread was about giving a real life example of use, with reductions on electric waste which for me it has, and also the caravan can now for the first time have heat zones, so not just a financial benefit, well over £200 for our stay, but environmental and comfort too.
A 24 hour period
Ultra frugle was 11 kwh
24 hour Alde @19 was 32 kwh
A mix of Alde (Using "time Modes" & No hot water) with Fan Heater is around 17 to 20 kwh

The cost benefits will rise once the new rates hit.

Hope that your new house does better than this one. It was due to complete August 2021. It’s a major upgrade to a 1960s bungalow. It started off okay but roof timbers became a holding factor. They completed around Christmas but roofing tiles are still awaited. It’s not much better inside either.

 

[Malx]

Interesting results, pretty much what I expected after my own ”experiment” over Christmas. My daughter turned up unexpectedly one night (with half an hour notice) , infected with Covid. Next day I attached an energy meter and let it run for the whole time she was there. the average consumption was 18 kWh per day. Virtually all on heating Using the Alde wet heating system. We have never found the pump noise intrusive even when it came on at night inside the wardrobe next to the bed.

Just changed the van. Again with Alde heating. Hope it’s not noisy!

Now the next round of energy prices will force many more site owners to think about how they charge for electricity. I’m thinking of making a change to refillable gas cylinders for heating. Likely to be half the cost of electricity after the next increase.

Little known fact about the next energy cap, April 2022. I saw the figures the other day. This is what I remember

Electricity standing charge going up from daily 23p to 45p. Or £165 a year! . Before you use any electricity. Per kWh it’s going from 21 to 28p a unit.

gas going up to 7p per kWh , from about 4p now. Standing charge from 21p a day to 22p.

 

[Buckman]

I really do not understand why there should be a large leap in the standing charge and if there is it should be questioned? I can understand increases in kwh.

 

[Malx]

i didn’t understand that either, but all the detailed figures were hidden under the global £695 or whatever price rise for the average customer. I suppose everyone has electricity, so everyone can be charged … note the price rise for electricity is less %wise than gas, when you look at the costs of each type of energy.

heating a home with electricity is very expensive already, perhaps it was unpalatable to penalise those who don’t have cheap gas? And remember Boris has a heat pump scheme, so keep electricity cheap to show what a good idea heat pumps are?

 

[Buckman]

The standing charge is there for maintenance of the cabling, metering, Meter operator, Data Aggregator and Data Collector etc. SC should not change drastically.

 

[Buckman]

With the cost of water jumping up on averaeg by about 7% maybe we will also start having to monitor water consumption? In the Severn Trent area it is increasing by 10% according to Martin Lewis.
Will it even end?