Is it true?
Comments
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"Perhaps the first 10kwh or £7 per day could be included in the site fee and if you exceed that amount, you pay extra. Installing meters on each pitch could work out to be very expensive and then you have the issue of monitoring the meter when the customer is leaving the site."
I can't follow part of the logic here, to allow any set amount of electrical energy use they would have both to monitor it, ie have meters, and implement a way to invoice those exceeding the allowance.
So, the cost of the meters and the management of them is incurred, it can't be avoided.
Would it not make more sense that we pay for what we use, whether that is a set allowance, more or less?
Just having a set allowance, simply introduces a risk that "we have paid for it we will use it" culture, no benefit to the planet or any other than the user IMO. With any allowance it has to be measured, with associated costs.
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That doesn't quite ring true as numerous LPG outlets have issues with supply, creating problems for those with refillables/on-board tanks. So not all 'bulk' customers are being prioritised.
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I'm not sure on board tanks and refillable can be classed as bulk supplies, can they? To my mind an example of a bulk supply is the tank which feeds 70 homes where we live and which Flogas have kept topped up throughout this period thus enabling people to cook and heat their homes.
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I am not sure what you do not understand, but maybe I put it across incorrectly. At present the cost of a KWH is already included in the current tariff. I used the figures as an example and not written in stone.
If for example, the CAMC currently allows 10kwh of EHU usage per day per pitch at a cost of £7.00 and that it built into the current cost, if the cost then doubles to £14 per day, the CAMC allow 5kwh per pitch which should still be about £7.00. If you use more, you are cut off and have to buy more kwh either from the reception or over Internet by card.
Either way meters per pitch will still need to be fitted to be able to monitor consumption. Whichever way you look at it, using your caravan is going to become very expensive as pitch fees excluding EHU will have to be increased to cover the cost of installing metering plus charging points for EVs.
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CY appeared to be classing on board tank and refillable cylinder users as bulk customers. See the context of his post to which I was replying. Whereas LPG companies are seemingly prioritising bulk users needing gas for heating and cooking. Indeed, they have said as much in statements and TV interviews.
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<panto> Oh no I'm not </panto>. I am referring to the fairly large bulk tanks at garages and other commercial outlets, building suppliers etc., not our piddling little on board tanks/bottles.
Even big companies like Morrrisons are having issues.
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You may not have meant our LV tanks/bottles but that’s the way your post read to me. Obviously the concept of our LV containers being 'bulk' is ludicrous.
I'm pleased to say the 20t tanker still visits regularly to fill our 6 interconnected tanks each of which is around 6 times the size of those seen on CAMC sites. That’s bulk for you😀
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Meters?
surely reducing the bollard to 6A would be an easier and fairer way of being greener.
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Not really a practical solution in the UK with our larger outfits, climate and love of electrical gear. Members might vote with there wheels as well to sites with better hook ups. Meters offer more choice, use as much or as little as you care to pay for
peedee
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I would think that overall it may be cheaper for any site if the individual caravans heated their own water instead of people using the amenities block? We are very much in favour of sites with fully serviced pitches.
On site the amenities block gas is probably supplied by gas heating the water in the amenities block and the gas is probably used 24/7 365 days a year if the site is a year round site and this adds to costs. In other words the gas is still heating water in the amenities block even when no one is using hot water plus some sites have heated amenities blocks so another draw on gas. The bonus is that is unlikely people will leave the tap running when exiting the amenities block.
If the pitch was metered, people would think twice about leaving their own heating on all day and night whether it was heating or just hot water. When we have been on metered pitches in the winter, we turn down the heating during the day when we are out and turn off the hot water only switching it on an hour before hot water is required.
If heating during the winter using gas you will probably go through a 6kg cylinder within less than 5 days. In summer, we turn off the hot water during the day and only switch on an hour before it is required.
Just to add we have not used an amenities block on any site for several or more years.
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I do find the UK obsession with unlimited electrickery curious.
having camped in Switzerland and Bavaria in early winter, -minus double digits, most vans and caravans were either happy with the 6A or using their gas. No matter how cold, the trips to the shower and washing up blocks continued unabated. You certainly didn’t see awning full of free standing electric heaters as you do in the U.K. the minute it even threatens to drop below +10c.
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Out of interest the present UK situation with calor gas isn't good. We finally managed to get a replacement cylinder today, only two arrived at the depot, we got the second one. We can't reserve them either, have to just go and hope there is one available.
So I think there'll be more pressure on the use of electricity over the coming months.
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I have stayed on a lot of sites in Germany and a few in Switzerland have have never come across a ampage as low as 6? Most sites in Germany offer 16 amps as is common in the UK. Perhaps the difference is that they charge excessively for metered electricity.
It should also be realised that the majority of caravanners/motorhomers in the UK probably don't take their outfits abroad and have become accustomed to having the luxury of somewhere between 10 and 16 amp supply. Brue also makes an important point about the supply of gas currently in the UK so to make your suggested change wouldn't work, at least in the short term. I think that if metering became the standard way of charging for electricity there would be a degree of self regulation of use once people started to see how much it was costing them. A bit like the way people in the UK who are falling out of love with their hot tubs and home spa's because they are costing a fortune to heat at current rates.
David
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That may be ok if one only used ones unit for short tours, and those suppliers are close to home. It wouldn't work for those that spend many weeks away at a time and travel far distances from the supplier. It's the convenience of a countrywide company that is the attraction.
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We needed a 4.5kg Butane last week at short notice. Nothing in our county from the usual sources.
Managed to find one at a "very old established", i.e. ancient, DIY store that stopped selling calor gas years ago but someone had given back a near full one as they no longer needed it. Did I want it? Too right, so I swapped my nearly empty one for it. New one still has 4kgs of gas in it. But local gas dealer says he hasn't had a replacement bottle for propane or butane throughout April.
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Why anyone continues to pay the exorbitant prices for exchange cylinders rather than investing in a refillable is beyond me. Once the reality of real cost electricity charges kick in, I suspect there may be quite a rush to go down the refillable gas route for one's energy needs.
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An exchange cylinder lasted us 2-3 years. I think, as an ex-banker, you'll be able to see the financial sense in paying for that as opposed to spending out big bucks on refillables.
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It’s fairly common to only get 6A/4kwHours unless you pay the extra - but many smaller sites only offer the lower option, and if you are using your ACSI card, that’s the deal. It’s unwise to assume the 16A CEE plug is delivering 16As without checking - you can end up doing the walk of shame past your disgruntled neighbours to reception to get the power put back on to the tripped bollard. Italy can be ‘interesting’ - I had just 2A on one site.
U.K. caravaners are often astonishingly profligate with electricity - do dogs in awning really need fan heaters to keep them toasted overnight?
And gas usage? With copious hot water in the washing up rooms and free hot showers, heating your own water to wash up and shower is a very curious British past time. I do have a shower, but it’s never been used since I bought the caravan. Even if I’d had to Chuck a Euro in the meter, always used the much more practical site facilities.
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If you do not use the facilities in your caravan I am wondering why you bought a caravan with a shower etc. As I have mobility issues, showering in the caravan suits me fine and saves running across the road in the rain and cold in my striped PJs and then having to stand in a queue.
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If metering were installed on CAMC pitches, it may be cheaper to use gas if you have a refillable and only using it for cooking, fridge and hot water? Your biggest culprit for energy consumption is obviously heating and even using a refillable will be expensive unless one gives up using the caravan in the cooler months? Catch 22 situation?
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