Serviced pitches
Comments
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"Also nice to be able to nip out and fill the kettle without walking miles!!!"
David, its only a few feet to our kitchen tap, and no chance of it raining there. if i wanted some exercise, i wouldnt be going for a kettle full of water......
re: serviced pitches, im more than happy to let other have (and pay dearly) for them.
large water tanks mean we dont need to fill/empty for between 6-11 days, depending on where we shower....
however, in Spain we have just been on a SP (included in the ACSI deal) and i did connect the waste as we were there for 2.5 weeks... but i wouldnt pay per night as we only need access to water once every 8/9 days on average.....
i do think this 'guarantee a HS' is a bit naughty.....many folk might appreciate a HS but have no need for a fully serviced pitch, for imstance we wouldnt when staying for (say) a week...but im damned if im going to pay an extra £3.90 a night for (effectively) the HS and a SP i wouldnt need.
BTW....note the text from the CC website doesnt confirm that booking a SP 'guarantees' a HS.....
Serviced pitchesThese pitches mostly provide all-weather surface and generally an individual ground level inlet to accept grey water. Further shared facilities include illuminated electrical hook up bollard and drinking water. There is an additional charge for this pitch type.
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Just shows we all have different priorities BB. We came to caravanning from 30 plus years of tenting. In our 50's at the time, we decided we wanted something more like a hotel and less like a tent, but with the advantages of being able to take it where we wanted. I don't know the size of your tanks, but those on vans we have been looking at were around 100 litres. So making do on 9 to 16.6 litres a day just would not cut it for us. If I am going to use the shower, I like to make full use of the tank of hot water, plus of couse we wash up in the van.
Even if we switch to a MH, as we have been considering. This would be to get away from towing and give us more flexibility. If we were going somewhere like Grantown in Spey, we would still stop a week and have a service pitch. I could then top up and dump, as often as I liked, without moving the van. Shopping, excellent walking and good bus services are all available. To me, caravan or motorhome, the premium is well worth it.
Oh,although we might charge for our Service Pitches, at least we don't expect the water to drain uphill.😂
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We enjoyed a week up in the lakes this year on a serviced pitch, glad to hook up to everything and not think about topping up etc. We had a service pitch because it was the only one left (other club, Keswick) so it cost a lot more but it made a nice change. I'm not keen on many of the club service pitches due to their position, we're going to Hillhead next month and hope we'll get a sea view, none of the serviced pitches there are in places I like on that site. Same at Exmoor House, the service pitches are under trees in the shade. The only ones I've liked were the ones you mentioned at Seacroft but we didn't use one there. We've been on other types of sites were the service pitches don't have easy access to the drains etc so it's always worth taking the longest possible flexible piping.
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We carry 6m of rigid pipe plus a few joins and bends, which is usually enough, but we also have about 6m of flexible stuff with us too, which we need a bit of occasionally.
I do like a serviced pitch, we always hook up, there is little point paying for such a pitch IMO if you do not plan to use the facilities. Like DK , I think many book one just to secure a hardstanding, which is a pity as it may then prevent someone who struggles with the water and waste from being able to book one.
However, with the price of pitches already high IMO, we find the premium for the serviced pitch has pushed the cost too high for us, so we have not used any here this year.
We have a good sink, plenty of space to wash up, and a spacious shower, so always wash up in the van and frequently shower in the van, so are always pleased when we find pitches abroad with water and waste on the pitch as standard.
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Well we like and use service pitches as often as we can when using club sites,it makes the holiday easier .unlike some on here we use our on board facilities,shower ,toilet,cooker etc.I can’t see the point of spending large amount of money on our motorhomes and caravans and not useing them as they were intended.
Brian & Jo
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I have a different take. Yes we use our on board facilities as we are happy to use non facility sites. However when we use a facility site we probably pay £8 a night for the provision of showers etc. We see no merit in using our own washroom on such sites and cleaning our own shower when a clean one is provided. I don't like using a shower that is wet before I start and as I shower early I never do. We need no more than one aquaroll of water for our stay of 5 nights on such sites. So, as we already pay around £8 a night extra for the facilities see no merit in paying a further £3.80 a night.
As far as I am aware there are no serviced pitches on non-facility sites. Many serviced pitches on CC sites are not located where we would otherwise choose to pitch.
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Steve, 120l i think....so without using showers but washing up (twice), cleaning teeth, drinking tea/coffee etc, a full tank would be an allowance of 12l a day for a 10 days stay....more than ample IMHO.....
we probably use a bit less than this in actual fact as the van has never run out...so perhaps we manage on 10l a day....so could go perhaps upto 12 days...
add in two showers, say 12l between us (hot tank 10l plus 2l of cold to get correct temp) and we might use 22l a day when showering....so 5-6 days was a pretty good estimate.
however you look at it,without reheating the water there is only 10l (plus some cold) of hot available to two people so, like you, we make full use of the hot water but this still only amounts to 10l plus a couple of litres of cold.
i actually said we need access to water ' on average' every 6-11 days, depending on where we shower, so again about right.....for us.
we certainly don't 'make do' with our water and i don't think we are particularly frugal with water either, just dont like wasting it, so dont leave taps running when cleaning teeth, dont need a full bowl to wash up a few breakfast things, however our showers are plenty long enough (although we do linger longer when using site showers).
so, based on our usage, we (you) wouldnt need to even think about topping up when on site for a week, especially if showering on that site, so we dont top up, just fill once on entry and empty on exit.....
we dont use SP because there is no need to, for a stay of a week or less....even for longer stays, in a MH you only need to refill the tank once (and dump once) to get set up for another week....so why would i want to pay a daily fee for something i would use once in a fortnight?
...also, its extremely unlikely that i would be staying on a cc site for longer than a week...
different priorities, as you say, and for us certainly wouldnt be spending £28 a week on top of CC site fee for something we would not use.
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We shower in the van but don't generally wash up in the van and on average use about 40 litres a day. I save a bit by walking to the tap to fill the kettle of course which must make a major difference
David
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@ BB
You give water usage a lot more thought than me ..... I fill my 60? litre on board tank & the 40 litre Aquaroll, set the caravan to use the on board tank which, when empty will auto change over to the Aquaroll. When I notice, I refill them both.
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Probably 40 litres, some these days are only 30 litres..
When we get to a site, if we are staying more than a couple of nights, I fill our 40 litre onboard tank and fetch another 40 litres.
With 2 showering in the van, plus washing up etc etc, we use about 40 litres in 36 hours.
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i dont give it any thought at all, merely that i know (from experience) that we generally last 5 days or so when travelling using our own facilites when on aires or on THS sites.
similarly, we also know (from experience) that we generally last 10 days or so when on a long term site where we use site showers.
not difficult to do the maths to work out (if interested) what the daily consumption is in each different situation.
BTW, whats an Aquaroll?
David, do you wait for the tank to reheat so that each of you can use 10 ltr of hot water in your showers? even so, thats only 10ltr each plus a bit of cold....say 25ltr absolute tops
as you dont wash up in the van and your kettle is filled from an outside tap im actually amazed that you can can use 40 litres of water a day
add in a litre or so for teeth cleaning and toilet flushing and hand washing and you must be leaking about 10-15 litres a day somewhere, hopefully not inside the van
when's your next damp check?
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David, do you wait for the tank to reheat so that each of you can use 10 ltr of hot water in your showers? even so, thats only 10ltr each plus a bit of cold....say 25ltr absolute tops
as you dont wash up in the van and your kettle is filled from an outside tap im actually amazed that you can can use 40 litres of water a day.
Don't know about DK but we would certainly be close to that sort of usage much of the year. Our Alde is about 8 litres, and on boost heats the water to 70C. In the warmer times of the year the dilution of cold is certainly more than a couple of litres. Plus of couse you get an extra bit of hot as it is heating as you shower. We always wait for it to heat between showers, about 20 / 30 mins, depending on how you heat it. Checking has shown a good shower (my definition😀) uses at least 15 litres.
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Quite a few posters commenting about how many days/weeks they can last on one fill. I personally don't much fancy using water that has been lying in an Aquaroll, or in an onboard tank, for that length of time - unless it was to rinse the toilet, and that is a different tank altogether.
That the caravan makers fit sinks and showers to suit their current layout does not help usability. The outlets need to be near to the axle as that will always be a high point above ground whatever way the pitch slopes, so some layouts have a long pipe run below the floor, others have them located where they cannot be used on a slope at all.
So, to help the OP, it is a good idea to carry some empty plastic bottles to use with tops cut off at an appropriate height as supports for the waste pipes on their way to a drain that may be at a similar height to the caravan outlet.
And remember to flush through the water supply pipe for a few minutes before connecting to the Aquroll/caravan inlet.
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Steve
I tend to agree with what you say about usage. Certainly in colder months we always have the hot water heating on gas and electric which does provide quicker heat up. (we don't have the luxury of Alde!) I still use an Aquaroll as not only is my motorhome geared up to use one but for our style of camping it suits us. I usually replenish the onboard tank once a day with one full Aquaroll so that is how I know, in general, how much I use.
How serious are you about changing?
David
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We have two Aquarolls one in use and the other full on stand-by. We use what we use.
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wow, are you guys on meters at home?
seriously, it just shows different the usage can be, and nothing wrong with that....
our pals are forever filling their van when we go away with them probably, like you, using about twice what we do...
when we were in their van for coffee one day, after which, xxx did the washing up......
the hot tap came on, of course it ran cold for a bit (down the plughole), then the water ran hot, which made the bowl (filled to the brim) too hot, which meant more cold had to be run, after pouring some hot away to make room for it....
xxx then washed up the four coffee cups in, probably, twice the required water....
the 'fresh low' light came on and yyy then had to go outside and fill the tank, scratching his head as to why a 90 ltr tank had to be refilled virtually every day.....
now, im not saying theres a right or a wrong way to wash up, but if you use resources from a tap without thinking, then the upshot is that you'll be lugging water more regularly than some others. i can think of other things to be doing instead...
we're not specifically thrifty, nor 'green', just don't like waste, whether it be water, electricity or most other resources.
however, each to their own but you wont see me at the 'tap' nor paying for a serviced pitch, it just doesnt make sense for us, well not to pay for the privilege anyway.
re: the OP, on the occasons we do use SP (when its included in the pitch price, many commercials and lotsof the overseas sites we've used) we have a coiled up length(s) of typical caravan waste water pipe. that can be used separately or together, similar to the one/two hoses we use for the fresh.
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You might laugh but my father in law used to record his water meter reading every week and keep a note of it, they moved house and he did the same thing every week,went to good old Benidorm for a month came back checked the reading and a load of water had been used.
upon the water board checking they found he was piped upto his next doors who did not have a meter.
full refund was estimated for the whole time they were living there and was given
it pays to check!
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Good scheme, Steve. We did Orkney and Shetland in the MH this year and, although it would be doable with a cvan, I'm certain it was easier in the MH.
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I am probably sad but I enjoy a stroll to a tap in the morning (except when its pouring down), so a service pitch is not an attraction to me. Each to their own though.
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Easy T, what size is your aquaroll ?, 5 days on one fill up !! you say you would pay the extra for a serviced pitch but not use it as intended but that it is handy for filling aquaroll, as you only use one fillup of aquaroll why do you feel the need to block caravaners who want these facilities from using them. I think you are typical of a lot of members these days who like to be awkward.
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I think you are typical of a lot of members these days who like to be awkward.
And I think that you are one of those rare breed of forum users who are keyboard warriors and expect malicious intent of others.
We might of course both be wrong!
I don't know where you got the impression that I booked service pitches. I posted earlier 'If I am on a service pitch (rare) I would not dream of faffing about with hoses etc. But then with the amount of water I use why would I. 5 day stay I would fill and empty once. A convenience to be close to tap and drain'.
I have booked a serviced pitch 3 times in the last 200+ CC site visits as far as I recall. Once by mistake and I amended on arrival.
Once to obtain a hard stand on a site, at the end of September, with a lot of grass pitches at that time. I also booked a serviced pitch for a 15 nights stay in December at Southport. At that time I had been having walking difficulties and could not manage the walk from new toilet block are to site office without a couple of rests.
I was also given a serviced pitch at no extra charge because a CC member had failed to leave his pitch on a full site and had disappeared on his departure day. Apparently he did not know the day of the week.
The rain was horizontal and after a warming coffee in the back room of the wardens office with OH the warden managed to contact the chap and gave us the last available pitch which was serviced. I have been on a number of commercial sites which have serviced pitches by chance and this is where I said that it was handy on set up. We generally stay for 5 nights and move. On sites with facilities we use the showers provided and no way would I pay nearly £20 to fill the aquaroll and empty waste once.
I think that you might have misread fella.
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