Gas & Electric

[dethleffs640]

Can anyone help with the following, We will soon be going to Spain for Jan, Feb, March £ April we hope to use the ACSI Card, We are Car & Caravan, 2 Adults, 2 very small Dogs.

With the ACSI Card you get 6A connection with a maximum of 5KWh per day.

We have two 7Kg Gas Bottles and will be taking a small Electric oven.

If we boil a kettle about 4 times a day, cook with our electric oven every evening for about 40 minutes, light and TV every day and heating if needed will the 5KWh per day be ok? if not what happens when you reach the 5KWh?

Also is Gas easy to get in Spain and will i need a different Gas Regulater.

 

[dethleffs640]

What i would like to know is what do other long stay Campers use and about how much, Gas & Electric

 

[ValA.]

Usually campsite reception asks whether you want a bigger electric supply when you arrive, and then you pay a supplement accordingly. At least that's the case on French sites - we've never been 'checked' on the 5kwh/day rule, though - and use our kettle and oven a bit more than you - but not heating, since it's usually warm when we're holidaying.

Can't answer you about gas in Spain - though I imagine it will be different and you'll need an adaptor. We seem to be the only country which uses the type of bottles available here.

 

[rayc]

Grenville, I would think that you would be required to pay extra for usage above the 5kWh daily allowance.

If a heater is rated at 1000 watts (1 kilowatt) and that heater is on for one hour then one kilowatt hour is used.

An example of consumption is :

Using a 60 watt light bulb for one hour consumes 0.06 kilowatt hours of electricity. Using a 60 watt light bulb for one thousand hours consumes 60 kilowatt hours of electricity.

If a 100 watt light bulb is on for one hour per day for 30 days that is 30 days X 100/1000 = 3 kilowatt hours.

If your kettle is typically 700 watts then you can run it for 7 hours approx. for your 5000w allowance. Of course you will not use it for 7 hours, say 1 hour at four brew ups a day, so that is 0.7kwh. Find the wattage of your oven, perhaps 2000w and use it for an hour and that is 2kWh. Lights and 230v TV are comparitively low power so I do not think you will use your daily allowance.

Ray

 

[rayc]

Grenville, I would think that you would be required to pay extra for usage above the 5kWh daily allowance.

If a heater is rated at 1000 watts (1 kilowatt) and that heater is on for one hour then one kilowatt hour is used.

An example of consumption is :

Using a 60 watt light bulb for one hour consumes 0.06 kilowatt hours of electricity. Using a 60 watt light bulb for one thousand hours consumes 60 kilowatt hours of electricity.

If a 100 watt light bulb is on for one hour per day for 30 days that is 30 days X 100/1000 = 3 kilowatt hours.

If your kettle is typically 700 watts then you can run it for 7 hours approx. for your 5000w allowance. Of course you will not use it for 7 hours, say 1 hour at four brew ups a day, so that is 0.7kwh. Find the wattage of your oven, perhaps 2000w and use it for an hour and that is 2kWh. Lights and 230v TV are comparitively low power so I do not think you will use your daily allowance.

Ray

Grenville, On a two week Summer holiday in France using EHU I use less than 6kg of gas. I do most of the cooking on the BBQ so perhaps use 2kg on that in addition to the van bottle.

 

[emmitdb]

Grenville,

First the electricity.

Please do not worry about running out on a daily basis. It just won't happen. To relate our circs and judge yourself. We arrived at Benicassim on 5th October and stayed for 30nights. The electricity was metered and because of that we got 10amps. We were charged 31cents per kilowatt and after 30nights we were given a bill for 35euro. That equates roughly to 3 kilowatts per day. Can I give you a tip at this point. We have a 13watt solar panel and we had that connected. We switched off the battery charger in the van and only switched it on when the lights dimmed to NAAFI candle status.(That was about every five days).After overnight charging of the battery we switched it off again.

At the same time and because of a fault with our fridge (wont bore you)we used mainly gas for the fridge. We bought the gas on 28th September in France just before we crossed the border (french gas bottle) it was approx 14kilo gas and when we got home I found that there is approx 4kilo left.

So from all that you can deduce that the 10kilos lasted us for about 5weeks and therefore your 14kilos won't last for three months.

If I were you (and you are a lucky so and so for going that long) I would take ONE 7kgs bottle and either have it refilled by someone who more than likely will be on the site offering that as a service.

The above is not to be recommended because of safety OR;

When you are in Spain arrange to buy a Spanish bottle. I believe the bottle and contents can be bought for about 40euro with 24 of the euros going in hire charges. You will also need either a spanish regulator (if your van predates 2006) or a tail to fit the spanish bottle directly to the van that has the regulator perm. fitted.

At the end of the hols you can either bring the spanish bottle back or put an advert on the sites notice board and I guarantee therw'll be a queue of folks outside your door to give you the 24euros you paid.

Have a happy and stress free holiday.

 

[dethleffs640]

Grenville,

First the electricity.

Please do not worry about running out on a daily basis. It just won't happen. To relate our circs and judge yourself. We arrived at Benicassim on 5th October and stayed for 30nights. The electricity was metered and because of that we got 10amps. We were charged 31cents per kilowatt and after 30nights we were given a bill for 35euro. That equates roughly to 3 kilowatts per day. Can I give you a tip at this point. We have a 13watt solar panel and we had that connected. We switched off the battery charger in the van and only switched it on when the lights dimmed to NAAFI candle status.(That was about every five days).After overnight charging of the battery we switched it off again.

At the same time and because of a fault with our fridge (wont bore you)we used mainly gas for the fridge. We bought the gas on 28th September in France just before we crossed the border (french gas bottle) it was approx 14kilo gas and when we got home I found that there is approx 4kilo left.

So from all that you can deduce that the 10kilos lasted us for about 5weeks and therefore your 14kilos won't last for three months.

If I were you (and you are a lucky so and so for going that long) I would take ONE 7kgs bottle and either have it refilled by someone who more than likely will be on the site offering that as a service.

The above is not to be recommended because of safety OR;

When you are in Spain arrange to buy a Spanish bottle. I believe the bottle and contents can be bought for about 40euro with 24 of the euros going in hire charges. You will also need either a spanish regulator (if your van predates 2006) or a tail to fit the spanish bottle directly to the van that has the regulator perm. fitted.

At the end of the hols you can either bring the spanish bottle back or put an advert on the sites notice board and I guarantee therw'll be a queue of folks outside your door to give you the 24euros you paid.

Have a happy and stress free holiday.

Thanks Del, I too have a 13 watt Briefcase Solar Panel, I might give your tip a try if i can find were to turn the Charge off.

Thanks again.

Grenville

 

[emmitdb]

Thanks Del, I too have a 13 watt Briefcase Solar Panel, I might give your tip a try if i can find were to turn the Charge off.

Thanks again.

Grenville

Grenville,

Its either at the front of your consumer unit as a seperate switch or you could identify the fuse and pull it out.

Either way, the battery charger is approx 120watts but, because you would be using your 12volt for a million and one uses, the battery charger will be on most of the time. 120watts x say 18hrs a day = 2160watts. If you were on Benicassim that equates to 62cents for no real reason.

I'm still jealous!!!

 

[EvansofSprot]

Camping Gaz is very readily available in Spain and much cheaper than elsewhere!

 

[Jaydug]

Gas cylinders supplied in Spain are either Cespa or Repsol butano. The Calor regulator won't fit but regulators can be bought in the hypermarkets. It's a rather complicated business obtaining a Spanish cylinder in the first place. A certificate has to be produced after the proposed installation has been inspected. Having said that, sometime empty bottles can be bought at boot sales.

 

[Clive-Cardiff]

The weather in Spain at that time of year is generally a lot milder than the UK but if you sit in the awning in the evenings you will probably find that you will need some sort of heating.

This can eat into your gas supply.

I would say that two 7kg bottles would not be sufficient for your stay, but who knows. If you get a very warm spell and you are people who do not use much gas it may be OK.

As John Douglas has said Cepsa and repsol are available everywhere and both use the same type of regulator, which you can buy quite cheaply.

We have always found that Spanish gas is far cheaper than any available in the UK, so I try to come home with a full bottle to last me the summer in the UK.

I made up a small hose to connect the regulator direct to the gas BBQ outlet and run my gas in that way.

If you prefer I believe that Gaslow can supply a hose and fitting direct to your bulkhead regulator

 

[Dave_5040173]

I envy you with your plans to travel to Spain away from this cold and damp climate and have long wished to do likewise. I am planning to go soon after Xmas but not too sure where is the best place for dry climate as I suffer from the old arthritis and my wife's asthma could benefit also. Would appreciate any useful tips, it being my first winter trip.

 

[SwingLowJim]

We have an electric ring on the cooker hot plate and use a Charcoal BBQ A LOT!! so use very little gas over a six week break to Portugal in winter and again in France Aug/Sept.

 

[SwingLowJim]

Gas cylinders supplied in Spain are either Cespa or Repsol butano. The Calor regulator won't fit but regulators can be bought in the hypermarkets. It's a rather complicated business obtaining a Spanish cylinder in the first place. A certificate has to be produced after the proposed installation has been inspected. Having said that, sometime empty bottles can be bought at boot sales.

John, are you the JD who was based at Aylesford with Cory's in the good old days pre E.M.O.?

Happy Christmas

Jim S(Ser.Eng.)