Electricity usage

[newcampers]

Hi all.

I'm looking to finally get away for a week in the summer with our 1 year old.

I'm looking to go down to Devon.

All the sites I've found use metered electric.
I know its not something anyone can be specific on but generally what sort of usage/cost would I been looking

I have the basics In the van
Fridge, TV, lighting.
i do also have a air conditioner as the wofe gets too hot its apparently a low energy one designed for caravans its a Eurom AC2401 if anyone has one.

Any ideas on how expensive camping is going to be ?

 

[DeauxChevaux]

I guess you need to look at the power consumption of each item, we have LED lights throughout so use very little but if you have anything else it will be less efficient, aircon will use 500 watts so will add up, fridge, toaster, kettle, microwave, oven battery charger etc, find out their power consumption and add it all up taking into account how much you will use it and then you can work out what it might cost you

 

[Beardy]

It's a bit of a how long is a piece of string question. What I can tell you is that in summer me and Mrs Beardy use around 7-8 kW per day. That's 2 showers, another tank of water for washing up etc. Heating on for an hour in the morning and an hour at night and a split of electric and gas for cooking. Conversly, we were away for a short break a couple of weeks ago with the temperature dropping to near freezing over night (and not much higher during the day). The heating was on constantly while we were in the caravan. We used around 30 kW per day. The caravan sharing our EHU post used pretty much the same. Cost wise it will depend on the rate the site you stay on charges, it can vary quite a lot.

 

[ProfJohnL]

As you your self have said its difficult to be specific as it all depends on what item you use and for how long, that will give you an idea of the kWh energy you might consume, but that will vary with the temperature and the hours of daylight, and even if it rains.

However it is often simplest to set up and discover how much you have used (assuming you have a metered supply), then if its looking too expensive consider how you might reduce that usage without loosing comfort. Remembering to turn things off when you have stopped using them is a great start.

Often the most surprising appliances that seem to use more power than you might imagine, are lights, which tend to be used for long times, TV's also run them for 3 to 4 hours, and the power used begins to add up. Thankfully modern LED lighting and smaller TV's can be much better than halogen bulbs and older tV sets.

For some electrical items you might be able to choose or use the 12V ddc system which can reduce your peak loads on the 230Vac EHU.

 

[newcampers]

just found this meter to plug in.
I could use it to measure how much i use with everything on and then calculate how much they'll charge me at the site

 

[Buckman]

I think a question that needs to be asked is whether you are looking to go off grid or not. We have been to Devon on numerous occasions and have not used sites where each pitch is metered.

Last year we were in Devon and neither of the two sites had metered pitches. There are probably a lot more sites in Devon that do not have metered pitches than metered.

 

[Dustydog]

This is a useful Guide.

The site cannot charge you a greater rate per kwh than they pay.

In practice last September, it was cold so heating well used cost us just over £5 per night. The same site late Spring , warm, cost just over £2 per night.

 

[newcampers]

I think a question that needs to be asked is whether you are looking to go off grid or not. We have been to Devon on numerous occasions and have not used sites where each pitch is metered.

Last year we were in Devon and neither of the two sites had metered pitches. There are probably a lot more sites in Devon that do not have metered pitches than metered.

I'm going to dawlish warren. Lady's Mile or Cofton

 

[newcampers]

I think a question that needs to be asked is whether you are looking to go off grid or not. We have been to Devon on numerous occasions and have not used sites where each pitch is metered.

Last year we were in Devon and neither of the two sites had metered pitches. There are probably a lot more sites in Devon that do not have metered pitches than metered.

Although if you have recommended sites that don't meter I'd be interested in looking at those

 

[Buckman]

I'm going to dawlish warren. Lady's Mile or Cofton

The last time we were at Cofton, they did not have metered pitches, but that was about 3 - 4 years ago. We use another forum called ukcampsite to search for sites.

 

[otherclive]

just found this meter to plug in.
I could use it to measure how much i use with everything on and then calculate how much they'll charge me at the site

View attachment 8330

Knowing what each item consumes is useful, but you don’t have them all on together you need to estimate a usage profile and we are all different. IE we rarely if ever had heat on overnight even in winter. But many do. Also we never left heating or electric appliance such as water heater in when we were out. If you use site showers that will affect your usage.

 

[Buckman]

In the past 20 or more years never found the need to meter our consumption and we have been on sites where it was limited to 4amp, but we were still able to use the air con. Water heating and fridge were on gas.

After all when at home whether you like it or not, you still have to pay for electric usage so why worry about it on site as you are not using that electric at home?

 

[birdman101]

In all our 50+ years of caravanning we have never even thought of the electricity being used as we are using less than when at home. So we look at it this way as when away from home we are actually making a saving as very little is still being used whilst away. As we use super pitches we find that those with a meter where we swipe a card actually work out cheaper than the ones with Electric price combined in the pitch price.

 

[RogerL]

On metered pitches, I work on the basis of 10 kwh per night - it drops to about 8 in a good summer and goes up to 12-15 in a cold spring or autumn - your aircon would add to that in summer.

Commercial sites will recharge electric at their commercial input rate which is roughly double that of domestic rates but some CL/CS are able to just charge their normal domestic rate.

 

[Buckman]

On metered pitches, I work on the basis of 10 kwh per night - it drops to about 8 in a good summer and goes up to 12-15 in a cold spring or autumn - your aircon would add to that in summer.

Commercial sites will recharge electric at their commercial input rate which is roughly double that of domestic rates but some CL/CS are able to just charge their normal domestic rate.

Surprisingly our air con made hardly any difference to consumption. If using the heating facility on it, then it is using over 4amps which is why we never bothered with using it.

 

[newcampers]

I'm off to a site next weekend that isn't metered so I'll get that meter from amazon and see what we use to give me a ball park figure

 

[otherclive]

I'm off to a site next weekend that isn't metered so I'll get that meter from amazon and see what we use to give me a ball park figure

It may not be metered but the EHU bollard may have a read out of usage.

 

[newcampers]

It may not be metered but the EHU bollard may have a read out of usage.

It doesn't just a plug for the hook up.

 

[Hutch]

I'm off to a site next weekend that isn't metered so I'll get that meter from amazon and see what we use to give me a ball park figure

Is it worth spending £41 just to see how many units your using, that could be 4 night worth of electric.

 

[newcampers]

Is it worth spending £41 just to see how many units your using, that could be 4 night worth of electric.

if i have my own reading i can confirm what ever charges they bill me for as well

 

[otherclive]

if i have my own reading i can confirm what ever charges they bill me for as well

Doesn’t the site have a meter that is available for you to see. After all if they charge you for metered electricity I would expect there to be visibility to the customer.

 

[newcampers]

The site with metered will have one yes just trying to find out roughly what it'll cost me
There is another site 10 mins away that isn't metered but is about £45 more for the stay
I'd just like know how much it'll cost using the van as it seems alot of places now have the added charge

 

[RogerL]

The site with metered will have one yes just trying to find out roughly what it'll cost me
There is another site 10 mins away that isn't metered but is about £45 more for the stay
I'd just like know how much it'll cost using the van as it seems alot of places now have the added charge

With aircon in summer use I'd suggest £40-60 on a commercial site for 7 nights - so swings and roundabouts really.

 

[newcampers]

With aircon in summer use I'd suggest £40-60 on a commercial site for 7 nights - so swings and roundabouts really.

Haven't used the air con yet it's only 400 watts apparently not sure how good it is but will find out soon enough

 

[ProfJohnL]

Whilst it may be interesting to know how much energy you use, would I be correct your really trying to work out how much its going to cost you? And there is another problem.

Back in response #7 Dustydog pointed out one of the facets of electric hook ups, and that is the caravan site (or in fact any reseller) cannot make a profit on the energy they sell, it against the law in the UK. But the other side to that fact is that the cost of the electricity to the site is based on a commercial supply which is not protected by th e energy price cap, and most commercial electric tariffs are based on peak loads of the business, which means the price you will pay may vary from site to site, but will almost certainly greater than you might pay at home.

So even though you might want to compare meter readings, the amount you end up paying may vary considerably.