metered or fixed price electricity

[Steve L]

Not so long ago there was uproar when site owners started charging by the KW/Hr for electricity. We all got together on the forum and basically made a lot of noise about owners not overcharging for electricty as it is illegal ti profiteer on consumer comodities.

I've been on a metered site since March where as a seasonal user, I pay on the meter reading. About 10p per unit. The casual tourers still pay £2 a day for their electric from the same metered supply. Cutting to the chase, I've been putting £2 a day in my "stiggy bank" so that I don't get wallopped with a huge bill at the end of the season. So after filling "stiggy" I thought it would be appropriate to check the meter and see if the math add's up. To my pleasant suprise i have found that we used on average £1-07p per day.

So it seems to me that ever since we started casual touring, we have been ripped off by the fixed charge.

Has anyone else done the math and found the same?

Atb Steve L.

 

[DeliDave_]

We use a CL with metered supply and have always been pleased with cost,we are using another one in 3 weeks with first 10 units in price of £9 a night and 14p a unit after that.I think its the way forward,it stops waste of resources and is very fair imho

 

[Easyvanner]

We don't want ripping off but don't want to be frigging around with meter readings or coins in slots.
Drive in, pay SITE FEE and up and off when our times up. Overall site fee including whatever for electric is all we're interested in

 

[Jennifer2]

We have not been on a metered site in UK yet, but were on one in Germany several years back and were surprised at how much we had used and what they charged.
In Denmark recently we were on several sites where the electricity was metered and extremely expensive. Using Camping Cheques or ACSI card we were allowed only 5Kwh in the cost, extra Kwhs were charged at between 3 and 3.5 danish kroner, 32-40 pence!!
There is no rule there it seems about not profiteering from the resale of electricity!
We found we used between 10 and 15 units per day, so the costs soon mount up. They also either charge for showers (even though CC and ACSI say you should get 1 shower each per day), or allow you about 2 minutes of hot water, which is really not enough.
Then on top of that several sites have a "green tax" of anything from 40p to £1.50 per head per day.

 

[MikeA]

Hi Steve

I wonder how much influence the meter has in limiting your electricity usage compared to the casual caravanner who is on the fixed price per day tariff. I confess that I am pretty profligate with electricity when I am paying the daily rate. For example I leave the water heater on all the time and let the insulation jacket and thermostat be the only limiters. Whereas, when we were in Germany this Summer on a metered site we turned on the water heater only when we knew we would be using it, and used the excellent facility block a bit more than we might otherwise have done.

You have been monitoring since March - so we are talking about the warmest half of the year. I suspect that if, like most caravanners on the fixed price per day tariff, you heat your van with electricity in late Autumn and Winter, the consumption will much much higher than this. In fact I guess that being an all year round vanner and on a metered tariff you will be doing the heating by gas?

So my guess is that a £2 per day charge for vanners on a daily rate, averaged out over the year might not be so bad after all.

Cheers

Mike A

 

[Steve L]

Hi Mike.

We have been fulltiming and so don't consiously try to be frugal. We went through the winter last year which was bloomin cold. Even then we used £2-50 at the highest point of use. Therefore I am quite pleasently suprised to see just how much electric we do use. We use the usual fan heater in the awning and have several lights in use, plus running a freezer and a domestic fridge as well as the caravan fridge. As the site has no night lights, we are using rechargable torches too.

So I guess you can see where I'm comming from with regard to the fixed price site charges for electric.

Atb Steve L.

 

[SteveW77]

I spent a week on a site near Scarborough this year and had to buy a pre-payment card for electric. As we are out every day, our electric useage is small, boil kettle for breakfast, hot water to wash up, coffe in evening on returnig home. cook on gas, another cup of coffee,wash up. Room heater on gas, tv & and sat system on electric. at the end of the week we had used over £8. I will never go there again.

I only use £7-£8 a week at home, where everthing apart from the central heating is on the eletric.

Steve W

 

[susiep]

This doesn't add up
You paid £8 for a weeks electricity via a prepaid card, but if site had EHU even at £2 per day that would have been £6 more, so am I missing your point????

 

[trickydicky]

Hello Steve,
I think paying £2/day for electricity is a heck of a lot.This is equivalent to £730/annum or £60.83/month for what is in effect a 2 roomed property.I pay £57/month for my electricity at home,and have got 14 rooms.So the average cost taken over a full year is £30.42/month/room for the caravan on a fixed charge and £4.07 for my house on a standard meter.This means the fixed charge electricity is roughly 7.5 times more expensive than my metered costs at home.
It does skew the figures somewhat when you look at the overall cost/room since there aren't high usage things in each room,but even so it puts a perspective on it.Much fairer to be charged for what is used over the year.
I also get a dual fuel discount every year,I dont know if that would be possible in a caravan using bottled gas.It would be interesting to know what the gas charges work out to for a year,so then you would be able to get a total energy cost,and fill the piggy bank accordingly.
Cheers Richard

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Steve
Mike A says it all imo

.
It all depends on the time of year.
I suspect you are connected to a 16amp EHU so don't worry as much about trip outs with say a 10amp feed.
Have you actually calculated your total average daily power consumption including SWMBO hair dryer

.
Maplins sell those power consumption meters. Have you tried one of those?
Personally I still prefer the CC all inclusive 16 amp. Only time will tell I suppose.

 

[SteveW77]

As I was already payning £24 a night in September, I think that paying extra for electrity at that rate is extortionate.

Steve W

 

[SteveW77]

The better half uses her hair dryer once a day for 5 minutes, she also uses it at home for the same time and as I have already said, I don't use that much electricity at home where ever thing is electric apart from heating. This includes TV & Video in every room, power showers enought lights to light the near by runway, but I still pay less than £8 a week over the year.

Steve W

 

[susiep]

Lucky you Steve!
My electricity bill for 3 bed semi with 4 adults is £300 per quarter!!!!
You are getting off light!!!
I'm sure the bill will go down when the teenagers leave home but in this current financial and house price climate I'm not holding my breath!!
Best regards

 

[Surfer]

Having lived permanently on a seasonal site for well over 2 years I think that £1.50 is a good average for winter months and £1 for summer months based on cost being approximately £0.14p per unit.

 

[Steve L]

I was thinking about the same. Since March we have averaged £1-07p per day electric and used two 7kg gas bottles.
MOH uses our full gas cooker extensively. the other day she had a baking spree banging out 10 lamb & mint pasties, a dozen cheese and bacon slices, followed by a beef wellington each with jacket spuds. It happened to be a cold day but after baking that lot, the van was very warm.
I was talking to her sister last night and she has put over £900 through her top up key electric meter in 11 months running her 3 bed semi which is all electric. The electric supplier reckons the meter isn't wound up. I'm going round with my electrical kit to check her consumption against the meter's readings to see if se's not being ripped off !!

I'm just glad we're in the caravan if that's what it costs to run a house.
Been full timing for nearly three years and still not fed up with it.

Atb steve L.

 

[Jennifer2]

Lucky you Steve!
My electricity bill for 3 bed semi with 4 adults is £300 per quarter!!!!
You are getting off light!!!
I'm sure the bill will go down when the teenagers leave home but in this current financial and house price climate I'm not holding my breath!!
Best regards

That is huge!!! Do you heat with electricity?
In our 5 bed detached we use about £700 per annum in electricity, but also £900 in gas for the heating and hot water. Usually only 2 of us now, sometimes 3. We are waiting for our daughter to get settled permanently, then we can downsize.

 

[Gafferbill]

stevinleo......if you are able to use a 13kg gas bottle it will save you money.
An empty for the exchange can be picked up cheaply from small ads etc.
I actually found my first empty dumped in a skip! ( yes I have been known to rummage)

 

[ProfJohnL]

There are strict regulations that determine how much a caravan site can re-sell electricity for in the UK, in essence the site cannot charge you more than they pay, but it is difficult to compare the amount you pay for your domestic electricity at home, to the power you buy at a caravan site, they are governed by different tarrifs, caravan sites are considered commercial premesis, and they pay more that you do at home.

However that is not the end of the story. Whilst a site cannot charge more than they pay, they can charge for the supply/hire of the delivery equipment i.e. the sites wiring and bollard.

If you are on a site where the supply is metered, they charge per KWh, but they can also levie a service charge, just like your electricity company does, but the charges should be shown as separate items on your bill.

Where sites only set a single price per day, the site is effectively giving you the power but charging for the use of the equipment.

 

[Steve L]

Hi John.
I am very aware of the fixed charges levid by both caravan site owners and the electricity companies.

I pay an annual service charge of £21 at our seasonal site which is very reasonable.

My mother-in-law was recently zapped witha 62p per day fixed charge by her supplier. We did a bit of digging and found out that if you are of pensionable age, disabled, unemployed, or living on a low income, you can apply for "social tarrif" which means that electricity and gas suppliers have to sell qualifying people the cheapest rate available and without daily fixed charges. They obviously don't advertise this and will try to deny knowledge but once you mention citizens advice and age concern they suddenly have a miraculas recovery from amnesia. My mother-in-law now pays £14 a month and no fixed charge, she would of been paying £18-60 in fixed charges alone.

Gaffer.
Unfortunately a 13Kg bottle doesn't fit my locker and the warden won't allow bottles free standing by tourers. But I too do some "skip ratting". Got 2 sets of near new steel wind breaker poles the other day. "One mans rubbish is another's salvation".

Atb Steve L.

 

[Surfer]

Your statement regarding they pay more is probably incorrect. In fact caravan parks normally pay less as they are commercial and get discounts on volume consumption. Secondly some have three phase so get it even cheaper and thirdly if they have statics then those sites probably have half hour metering which is even cheaper. However they pay more tax on power but can claim this back at the end of the year. In essence they pay less. I based this on the fact that as a supplier we supplied several caravan parks with electric including CC.
Correct that they cannot charge more per unit and cannot include the standing charge or installation charges in their tariff. The way they get around it is to charge £2 -£5 extra per night for the facility and that is now becoming a problem for Ofgem as obviously the site owner is making a massive profit at £2 plus per night unless the custoemr has fan heaters running in their awning etc for 6 months of the year1

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Uvongo

You may well be correct re the actual price per unit, but I know of several small commercial users who find they pay considerably more for their lecy at work than they do at home.

I don't think OFGEM has much interest or influence on touring site charges. basically no one is forced to use a particular site, so the commercial arrangements have no social or poverty implications. In essence if you don't like the charges don't use the site.

When the site owner sees they are loosing custom they will do something about it.

 

[susiep]

Hi Jennifer
No we don't heat with electricity, never have only cook and all the other usual things, just got new gas combi boiler installed a year ago. We checked electricity meter readings for 4 months daily, same time every night we averaged between 20 -24 units a day and when the bill came we agreed the usage was correct!!! Guess we just put up with it as downsizing right now is not option. Now where did I put that lottery ticket??!!
Sue

 

[Jennifer2]

20-24 units per day is not bad, especially with 4 adults to wash clothes etc for, I guess you must be paying rather more for your units than we are. I think we pay about 7.5 or 8p per unit, certainly not more than 8p. We just moved ours last May after finishing a 5 year fix.

Also in the process of moving our gas to get a better deal.

 

[susiep]

Have never switched supplier, think that must be next option, anyway, what's all this got to do with caravanning!!!!
Cheers
Sue

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

Have never switched supplier, think that must be next option, anyway, what's all this got to do with caravanning!!!!
Cheers
Sue

it has got to do with caravanning because the OP posed the question about metered leccy on site being on a seasonal pitch versus fixed price, a fair question,
someone then ran a comparison of van usage versus domestic usage using metered units to asses the price difference. to see if sites overcharged for electric or not.
happy now.