Campsite costs
Comments
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Just read some interesting reviews of a nice looking CL that has EHU metered charges. Most folks were fine with the daily allowance, but one reviewer had a bit of a wake-up call to find they had an extra amount to pay at the end of their stay. CL makes a very reasonable £17.50 per night charge, including a set amount of usage each day, then extra charges above. Seems very fair to me, you pay extra if you want to use extra. (It was a big van, heating on throughout)
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£20 a night was the price when I booked (January 2022) and rather unusually this CL takes full payment on booking with the caveat that if you cancel 30 days, or more, before arrival you get a full refund and 14 days before you get 50% back which seems fair to me. I did notice that the price had edged up a little!
David
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We just stayed on a site with new EHU meters. 10kWh included per pitch per night for £20. Any excess usage paid for at 29p/kWh. For 2 of us using heating, hot water, fridge and shower, we used 31kWh over the 4 nights we were there.
More than happy at that level of both cost and facility (6A hookup, water, CDP, bins, secure gate and a fantastic view).
It also gave us the choice to charge the car if we wanted to on site. Turns out we didn't need to, but we were safe in the knowledge we would be paying our way if we did.
2 weeks ago we were on a non-EHU site for £11 per night. Very well kept with picknic tables, fire pits & chimneys both with fuel, grey waste extension tubes, and portable solar panels with an inverter available to use if you needed. All in addition to CDP, recycling, water and a secure gate. Felt good value in todays terms.
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Both those sites sound good value CTrees. Plenty of options, which I think is the best way forward personally. I had a look at the list of new CLs last night, they range from £12 with no hook up, right up to £25. Options for all preferences. I think HS provision will be the deal breaker for those who want to tap into the growth in MH/campervans.
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It’s camping TG…….but not as we know it😁
But, each to their own👍
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Stayed there last year and agree with you.
Funnily enough we were looking at CL sites for a 1 night stop to break the journey on Thursday this week. Had a look at a prospective one and found that the price advertised was £14. Looked at the reviews and there was one from 2017 that said that the price had increased to £20!!! So imagine what the price is today yet the price quoted in the book and on the website is still £14!!! How can that be?
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We have also noticed that fees creeping up and given the increase in utilities I can understand it. A couple of our regulars have increased by a pound here and there and we're still happy to pay.
However, looking to book for New Year at one of our regular sites, they plan to increase from £18 to £25 per night. For this you get an unreliable 10amp electricity connection, and a very nice hard standing, but otherwise nothing special - in summer there are lovely views (not quite the same in Winter). There is a toilet but it's a good walk up from the actual site and not something we'd use.
Needless to say, we declined and have booked elsewhere at £17 per night.
Additionally, we have definitely reduced our trips as by the time we've paid £30+ for the site, at least a tank of diesel £50 and maybe a lunch out, we're talking £80-£100 per week, not something we can currently justify. We're restricting ourselves to only one/two trips per month and seeing how it goes. Jobs around the house are taking priority.
Having said that - this weekend, we're at Dyke Bottom Farm near Harrogate (£18pn all in) as we've got vouchers for an afternoon tea on the Skipton canal - looking forward to it.
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It’s a pitch sellers market at the moment, hence some CL pitch prices have risen greatly. I know cost of electricity has risen, but that is definitely not the only factor driving the increase in fees.
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If it’s a CL we haven’t used before, I am tending to get an email response on the price if I can. That way both parties are singing from the same hymn sheet. I can understand prices altering if a booking is made months in advance, but not a few days. Have actually had a couple of CL owners say to me “thinking of putting it up by a pound next week”.
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Off-grid is one way to keep your costs down. If you must have "all singing and dancing", it's going to cost you.
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There's that shrewd banking mind again CY
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Have you ever worked out what it would cost an owner to go from mains power dependent to totally off grid & how many nights away would be needed to actually recoup the initial outlay CY, genuine question as I struggle to find any proof-‘Off grid is one way to keep your costs down’🤔
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I agree Rocky, it certainly isn't that apparent to me when you take into consideration all the outlay there is to get to the stages of self sufficient off grid status talked about on this forum. I can understand the quest for the remote locations, but not the so called savings, it just doesn't add up.
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I’m sure we all remember the saga of one member's quest for off grid savings, Rocky. Solar panels and controller and a lithium battery don’t come cheap.
Then there’s the old adage of the more gizmos you have, the more there is to go wrong.😟
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It must all depend on how well equipped your van was when you first bought it? Mine was all 12volt and came with an inverter and 200APH battery. All I had to add was a DIY solar panel kit comprising a 140w panel with MPPT controller at a cost of £240. At zero to £10 per night for an off grid pitch you don't need too many nights to recoup that. Over the years I have had mine it has given me more flexibility over where I can stay and has certainly paid for itself.
peedee
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But, PD, you didn’t get the rest of your gear as a free gift. You paid for it as part of the van's total cost.
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No doubt but it still cost you to have that off grid gear. It didn’t come FOC so £240 for solar wasn’t the only cost you paid for 'cheaper' camping.
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I suspect many of us started off “camping on the cheap” without too many bits of additional kit bought for our outfits. We find it isn’t about what bits of kit you have added, it’s what you need/ desire as extra bits of comfort, like a TV, a toaster, a coffee maker, heating on all the time, hot water on demand. These and running sophisticated/ computerised operating systems. Our van is getting on in years, and we don’t need the gadgets, so the solar panel it came with, and utilising our easily charged iPads for entertainment/music/ information etc, and our iPhones and we have all we need to have quite extensive periods off grid. Small fridge as well of course, but easily enough room for three days worth of meals.
Electric toothbrush is our luxury. And a damn nuisance to recharge, but it does last over a week for the two of us using it properly. There’s probably a usb chargeable version out there, but I bet it costs a small fortune.1 -
Too true TW👍🏻, I love debate & finding out about folks gear & their travels but I just wish it could be done to help folk & not being disingenuous☹️
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So you're saying your well equipped van was the same cost as one without all that extra.
To do the sum correctly you would have to find the difference between the 'basic' van and all your extras and then find out how many nights that would take to recoup that.
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Perhaps they do, but if one wants a van that can off grid of it's going to be more expensive than one just going to be used on club type sites with only EHU all the time.
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+1 there for telling it as it is👍🏻
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brigade
