How to thrive on a non EHU site .
Comments
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Hi Hedge. Right. The thing with a Calor Cylinders (apart from the expensive gas) is that you don't know how much you have left so that forces you to carry a second because you could be cooking a Sunday roast or whatever when it runs out- with a Safefill, you know exactly what you have left and it is at a time of YOUR choosing when you disconnect, and stick it in the car so you can fill it during a day out( the fridge will stay cold for a good few hours) or slip to the refill point to get it 'topped up'. No waste- ever! I normally take my 10.3kg as the fill up interval is greater obviously and if I need to fill it I have about 3ins in the bottom- a long way from being empty but certainly a convenient point to top up. So you only really need one! All my Calor Cylinders have gone now and I hope they make plough shears out of them!
Now, your point about having a complete Section on non EHU camping. Nice idea but it won't happen. Why? because it impinges on the CMHC profits- it's as simple as that. Now, before I go any further, I wish to state I am very fond of this club- it's been there beside me for over 22 yrs, it's helped me with recovery on one occasion, a theft of a caravan on another and this forum is nothing but brilliant with all the knowledgable folk and the experience is so valuable, so yes, the CMHC is like an old pair of slippers- comfortable to have around and familiar. Now, having said that, I don't think I'm the sort of customer they really want. By that I mean I never go to their club sites - just isn't my bag and to be honest- too expensive, I don't buy their gas either- they get the yearly subscription and van insurance and that's it. The rest of the time I'm on CLs (non EHU) and doing my own thing. But the point I am trying to make is why would they want anything to promote a form of caravanning that they can't make money out of? They have spent hundreds of thousands no doubt in EHUs throughout their network- would they really want to promote something that might stop people using ( and paying for) them? No and that's quite understandable. I have asked their editorial dept twice by email and phone if they would run a FULL AND UNBIASED article on MODERN non EHU caravanning and the new techs have dropped into our laps and using my van as a model, to take photos and whatever else they needed- twice I was promised that I would be contacted- twice I was disappointed- not for me , but for all those people out there who never come to the forum and have never had the opportunity to learn what is going on in the caravan world and there are many believe me. Only today, at the storage site, I got talking to a guy who had come to get his van ready for the road to tow to Kendal Club site. I explained how I did my caravanning, and how much I had reduced my costs- I showed him the Safefill cylinder, the USB powered items- the toothbrush, the music system etc the inverter, etc and he was utterly gobsmacked "I can't believe it!" was one of his phrases. He was fully on board and very excited about the future and the money saving opportunities it offered when we parted- how many are like him? Thousands! So, the CMHC are not going to cut their own throat by shouting about non EHU - the only time I have known an article which was very small it was entitledi 'Back to basics' - a title I would say estimated to offer little interest!! So I think we are very lucky to have this thread. Those of us who look at it, learn from it and do it are the tiny minority. But at least we are here for others to look if they want to so keep posting Hedge and well done on your first offgrid experience. I hope there are many more- I'm sure there will be. I hope I have been able to answer some of your questions.
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FULL AND UNBIASED article on MODERN non EHU
Perhaps you could do the same Merve and stop promoting Safefill..... There are other alternatives so maybe refillable gas system?
We also had 2 calor bottles so we never wasted any, and even though we have a refillable system now I still have a calor bottle as backup in case I do run out when not near a filling station.
Also you must take into account you may be camped miles from a filling point so its not always practical to just pop out to refill.
I do think the CMC are trying to promote more basic sites but you have to face it the majority of members want an EHU, they like it... however as more MH's are used maybe this will change and they will have to supply more economy pitches. Both economy and the basic sites without toilet blocks are as cheap if not cheaper than some local CL alternatives...
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I do think the CMC are trying to promote more basic sites but you have to face it the majority of members want an EHU, they like it... however as more MH's are used maybe this will change and they will have to supply more economy pitches. Both economy and the basic sites without toilet blocks are as cheap if not cheaper than some local CL alternatives...
Over the last 20 years I have felt the opposite. EHU included in pitch fee. Upgrading sites to provide shower blocks etc, increased numbers of fully serviced pitches, not aware of any new non-facility sites, I am aware of the loss of non facility sites.
As for MHs usage altering this I cannot see how it would change things. When I use a non facility site I usually see proportionally less MHs than on full fat sites and particularly where such sites are near towns/villages.
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The onset of SF becoming mainstream has probably altered being miles from a filling point wouldn't you say. The 'promotion ' of SF as you call it Micheal is not a promotion of Safefill, it's a help and advice to non EHUers. With non EHU SF is a massive part of it. If I were paying £25 a night, I wouldn't use gas either- I'd use electricity for everything! Again, my views are for non EHUer or for people who are interested in trying it- not for the thousands of happy vanners who prefer EHU.
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I write this by the banks of the Dordogne river whilst staying at a Camping Municipal near Domme. We are here with friends who are using EHU on their adjacent pitch. We are 'striving' on non EHU. We're paying €3 per night less then they are but we share exactly the same facilities. This is a common arrangement in France whereas the choice is yours, whether you hook up or not. Largely, back home, the same choice is unavailable on the clubs network of sites including CL's.
You say "I do think the CMC are trying to promote more basic sites but you have to face it the majority of members want an EHU". Unfortunately, MOST members are unaware that it is possible to enjoy their hobby without having to compromise on their chosen facilities. They only want EHU because they are unaware of any alternative source if power. I believe that if those members were educated, through the magazine and the website, about what is possible, then they would consider using Solar Panals, refillable containers etc. As I have said previously, the club is designed to be run for the benefit of its members. It shouldn't have to be the case that I, and many others are educated by Merve and all the other contributors on here, it should provided by the club itself.
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Hi Merve, long time no chat.
I pinched your link above and posted it on The Caravan Chat forum, where it is appreciated as good information.
Thanks for the info and keep up the good work.....
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Hi Brian, good to hear from you. Yes, please make as many people aware as possible and print it out so that you are armed with the evidence you need to convince service stations that they can now fill Safefill Cylinders. I was talking to Neil from Safefill today regarding various things after I had visited sites in my home town of Leicester and he told me of 5 people within an hour went into a petrol station in Sheffield I believe it was, but I could be wrong, and asked to fill their Safefill Cylinders- they were all refused due to this on going animosity from Autogas (Calor). However, if that sort of thing goes on for much longer, and of course it will, area managers will start to question why they are losing so much business when they don't have to!! Calor are losing the battle and they will lose the war eventually and we can all help Safefill and others to total victory by writing to our MPs, Autogas, petrol companies etc etc. and demanding that the law regarding restrictive practices be enforced. Safefill can do no more. They have brought an amazing product to market, jumped over all the hurdles, missed the banana skins, dived through the hoops and have driven through the road blocks on their way to this acceptance into the mainstream. They deserve our help and if we are going to secure a better deal for future generations, then we need to back them. So please, use the link whenever and wherever you like and thank you.
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Out of time edit
That should read....The Caravan and Motorhome Chat Forum.
Thanks for the reply Merve, I may try a few places that refused me in the past, just to see their reaction to the print out, the main one being Shell, it's their loss. I haven't used a Shell forecourt for the past two/three years anywhere in the country.......
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Shell seems to be a particularly hard nut to crack Brian. - even now . I have written to Shell and have had acknowledgement of my Email but as yet, I haven't had a reply. - perhaps they are hoping I'll just go away- they don't know me! Autogas, who, for all intents and purposes is Calor, are, from what I gleaned yesterday, still withholding permission to fill Safefill at Shell forecourts. Why Shell are being dictated too by Autogas I can't imagine but, there is absolutely no excuse now for that, and certainly no reason why they can't be filled.I ask everyone, if you come across a forecourt where they won't fill because they haven't been given permission from Autogas, please report it together with names if possible to Safefill or leave details on the thread and I will deal with it. Safefill refuse to engage on forums for very sound commercial reasons but they are asking that we pass them information so a legal case can proceed.
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TO THE MODS: sorry for shouting but you didn't hear me the first time. Can you unsticky the 'how to survive ' thread and stick this one please- the title 'thrive' is more relevant. If Someone started a thread on Refillables , as Pippah suggests, can that be made sticky too? I think whilst we are fighting to get properly constructed refillables recognised by those that hope they would go away, it would be a well used thread and a reference point for who was holding out against the inevitable!
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We too took the same alternative whilst in France and save more than €6 a night on one site.
Until we had a MH I was no interested refillable systems and the SP was only used to keep the battery on the caravan topped up in storage. We used less than 1 calor lite bottle a season/year so the cost to convert was prohibitive and we were quite happy to have EHU and pay for it.
However now we have a MH we want a bit more freedom and when in France and Euroland in general we want to be able to use Aires which many do not have a hook up, or indeed sites that only offer 3amp EHU which is no good to run a fridge in hot weather.
So we were aware of alternatives but chose not to convert, I am sure many other CMC members are also aware and also choose not to change and are happy to pay the extra. As I say the CMC do seem to be offering more basic sites and promoting economy pitches as well as articles in the magazine about SP etc.
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