I missed something to save money
I am off to an 80th birthday party in Devon soon and looking for an overnight stop I stumbled over the option for Non EHU pitch at Cheltenham Club Site. Admittedly I haven't read a club magazine for quite a while but I am pleased to have a cheap stop on the way! I know I could also look for basic CLs but with the online booking system so easy to use - I generally look for a club site first. Its a great option - well done the Club! Perhaps there could be a Sticky in the sites section listing those with the Non EHU option?
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Hi, yes i've been using the non EHU pitches at Cheltenham for the past couple of years during the summer months, it's a good saving on the standard pitch price. It's a pity that the Wincanton site closed as that was even cheaper for non EHU.
I am down in Cornwall at the moment and intend going to the Tintangel site, where there are also non EHU pitches. Although not as heavily discounted as those at Cheltenham, the saving on the standard pitch is worth considering at this time of year.
Mike
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It would be good to see them marked on site plans in a similar way to awning and non awning etc. I seem to recall Treamble in Cornwall had some nice non EHU pitches. We use Steamer Quay in Totnes which is totally non EHU but it's a bit more expensive than some due to where it is.
Hope you enjoy your good value overnight stop Pippa!
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Thanks Steve - there always seems to be something to learn! I clearly don't know my way round the Booking Area! Very useful indeed.
Thank you Bru it looks like a place to relax and good for the dogs too. I don't always find it easy to enjoy the journey but its just about the half way mark.
Pippa
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You call it Location. I suspect it's 'I will rip them off because I can'
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Great idea but why are some of them so expensive?
Six of them are over £14 a night, the price of some sites for unit, 2 adults, & up to 4 children, EHU, but no toilet blocks.
Confusing or what?
The only thing you are not getting on a non EHU pitch, is the electric. You still have full access to the toilet block, dish washing, laundry etc. So to me, at this time of year, a £5.30 saving (at Cheltenham) seems fair enough. You are unlikely to come anywhere close to this value of electric in the summer months.
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So to me, at this time of year, a £5.30 saving (at Cheltenham) seems fair enough. You are unlikely to come anywhere close to this value of electric in the summer months.
Genuine question - how much gas then would a typical van fridge use per 24 hour period in the warm weather....??
We seemed to fairly quickly deplete most of a 6kg propane cylinder over 48 hours on a recent trip to Scotland using it to power the fridge, but I have no actual measurements obviously, it was only my perception........
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Just done a bit of google searching and would reckon on no more than half a kilo of gas per 24 hour period so around £2 or less on that basis to work the fridge, giving a net saving then of about £3 per night.
Assuming you don't need EHU for anything else there is a bit of a saving.......
Edit - thanks boff, just done the sums myself as well !!
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Pippah, I was basing my estimate on the 6kg calor Propane cylinders that we use.......
Obviously if you are using refillable LPG it will be even cheaper....
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Excellent Tintent. I wish my fridge wasn't so reluctant to work on gas I almost gave in last time then remembered I had been advised to try and start it in the other modes on about the fifth try it fired up and stayed fired up! I wouldn't normally worry too much for one night but I am carrying a party fish dish!
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I know that this thread has gone incredibly off topic but with gas fridges. I find that it is very easy to get too much gas in the system. Then what I find is you get one of two things. First one the flame doesn't light or it does light with a bang and blows itself out. The best solution I have found is firstly light a ring on the hob to get gas vaguely close to the fridge. Secondly start sparking before you press the gas button works for me most times. If all else fails then maybe your fridge needs a service?
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That's very useful Boff. Mine often fires up but goes out after several minutes - just when I think it's OK.
As long as I have dogs I won't be using Cheltenham again it's far too far to the nearest patch of grass! But otherwise lovely views from the site.
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Pippah, that sounds like a dodgy flame failure device. Dodgy either because it is faulty or it is simply not quite sitting in the flame so not staying hot. Maybe a service might be money well spent?
PS if you are confident enough a bit of a look to make sure it is in the flame and maybe a vacuum out of the burner area can work wonders.
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My fridge is just beginning to play up a bit with the same reluctance as Pippah's to light or, once lit, stay lit. I have always been ok in the end but I think you're right Boff- a Service would be money well spent. Being non EHU it's vital the fridge works on gas. We have an Electrolux camping fridge too which we sometimes take with us. We took it to Dorset for 3 weeks in that hot weather and attached it to a 3kg Calor cylinder ( yes, I know but it's one that's been knocking about the house forever and I want it empty and OUT) and it ran all three weeks with still some still left in it! Amazing and amazingly useful!
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Boff, our Dometic tower fridge/freezer must be working well...
we had 2 x 5 day stints recently off grid and the gas powered the fridge and a tank of hot water for a shower each morning and numerous hob kettles for tea/coffee/washing up....
i topped up on the way home and it took around 10 ltr (5kg) which is 1ltr/500g (60p worth!) a day....
so, the Truma (and Dometic hob) must have been pretty good, too.
perhaps the f/f was getting by on, say, 400g per day and the rest was the hot water....?
either way, blooming efficient.
will check out the clubs non-ehu offerings, i do fancy Steamer Key
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The last 17 days or so of my recent holiday fridge was run on gas as electric side failed. I kept the fridge on lowest setting and weather was hot to warm even overnight. Foodstuffs kept fine .Gas used on hob and grill occasionally as well but mainly light use for light bites in the hot weather.
I can report that a 3.9kg bottle lasted 10 days (almost exactly).
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TT, im sure you did need hot water, though, with a CC non-ehu site, its possible to wash/shower/wash up at 'the block', and keep hot water requirements to a minimum......tea/coffee etc...
my post above gives a recent example of usage/costs (based on pumped LPG at 60p a ltr) including 'normal' hot water requirements for showers, washing up etc.
we also used the hob for cooking, which i didnt mention above.
good luck
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For a dometic fridge at least there is a quoted gas consumption which must depend on where you set the dial. But it is quoted on the data sticker which is in the fridge. Just looked up online they quote 18.3g/hr for a 8000 series fridge. This equates to 439.2g per day. Or approximately 50p at autogas prices a lot more at 3.9kg prices. I am not sure but I think that with gas operation it isn't thermostatically controlled, it is just controlled by flame height. I know on our fridge if we run it on the maximum cooling setting then we end up with frozen milk and salad so maybe in practise the consumption is less than quoted
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I thought the same Boff regarding thermostatic control. I know that 25 years ago I removed the frozen food compartment door, turned gas to max and used it as a freezer at the end of a holiday and subsequently filled the fridge with our catch of lots of gutted fish. Worked fine.
However when running on gas on this occasion I could discern the noise of the gas jet at all times. On occasion though there would be a click and a boost in the sound of gas burning.
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You could well be correct we have a dometic tower unit I can't remember the model number on occasions you can certainly hear the burner roar, so maybe there might be some sort of control.
Merve, we also have an old Electrolux camping fridge. Used in at the weekend because we were doing a cooked breakfast , for 35 people so need the extra fridge space. It lives in the Dinning room last Christmas Day the electric element failed so the wine didn't chill. I haven't been able to bring myself to shell out £40+ for a new element as the fridge only cost £8 from a car boot years ago.
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I have just caught up with comments about my fridge being reluctant to stay lit - on gas - The van had a full service in March - but on another thread the advice seems to be to light a couple of burners before firing up the fridge. All started up and stayed lit on my second non EHU place after that one at Cheltenham a CS near Bourton on the Water. Another £3 a night saving
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That's good Pippa, glad it worked ok. On our recent non ehu rally we lasted a week on a virtually empty gas bottle, fridge, cooking and hot water. I mentioned somewhere it finally gave up at 12.30am on the last night. We've been existing on bottles of the free replacement calor for at least two years plus one from a friend. One bottle left, we've had some very cheap stays!
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