Coed-Y-Llwyn Caravan Club Site - Electricity
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I have been on metered sites and it does nothing to improve ones holiday.
I don't understand your problem AD. I have been on sites which meter electricity in a number of different ways and have never had a problem. I do agree it can be a bit concerning at first, probably more so for those on a tight budget, but once you get to know what your consumption pattern is like, it is not a problem coming up with good estimates of usage per day and for the duration of your stay. I acknowledge that some systems may require you to check out of a site but is that really a difficulty especially if you are paying for your pitch when you leave rather than on arrival.
peedee
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Regardless of it it were per night fixed price or metered EHU, if there WAS an option for an non EHU economy pitch ( but on a hard-standing ) there may well be members who would choose that option. I know I choose that option at home, I never heat with electricity at home, always use gas as its both cheaper and quicker. So if there was a demand for HS non EHU pitches on sites, that would benefit others as it would free up site electrical capacity for others to use would it not ?
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in fact, my local LPG is a tad less than 60p so a bigger saving......
A good price and probably cheaper than most outlets.
throw in the fact that the heating is more powerful on gas and the fridge performs better on gas than leccy, what's not to like....?
Fridge performs fine for me on electric. As for more powerful heating most of us do not need more powerful heating very often. Very nice on initial set up in cold weather though.
and as the TV/Sat/lights/charging all work from 12v (all free from the daylight) and the oven and hob are gas, do we really need mains electric.....and if so, surely not at 16a.....?
No you probably do not need mains EHU. However at present very few of the sites that I use allow for non EHU pricing.
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do we really need mains electric.....and if so, surely not at 16a.....?
Great eulogy
there BB but yes we doI don't want/have a solar panel - £300 to have one on my next van or £100 plus fitting)
I don't have/want any inverters - the ones I've just looked at cost in the hundreds?)
I don't have a TV that works off 12V -those Avtex ones cost hundreds just seen one for £349, while my 240V cost £100
So to live the way you want us to holiday would cost about £700? That's 28 nights on a site where I can holiday the way I wish?
Also I'm not gas expert like you are so could you explain
the fact that the heating is more powerful on gas and the fridge performs better on gas than leccy,
perhaps a reference and footnote on this fact would be useful? I was always taught that electric heating was around 100% efficient while gas was was about 60%, (a quick check on google seems to suggest I'm right, but I'm probably wrong). Are you confusing output with efficiency?
I have no idea how fridges run better on gas at all, if true why not home fridges on gas?
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We've used metered electricity with ease, it makes you think a bit about what you're using and it doesn't cost too much either. At present those of us who are a bit more careful with electricity and take on board the club's request to not use it to excess are subsidising the huge bills the club has to pay and putting up with the discomforts caused by others.
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Corners I don't know the technicalities but if the van is cold and I turn the heating on using gas the van warms up a heck of a lot quicker than if I use the same settings on electric. That is just my unscientific view.
We have a 100w solar panel but don't have an inverter as the cost/benefit for us just didn't make sense. I believe that inverter's are quite power hungry. We never use a telly and have 12volt chargers for phones/i pad/camera batteries etc.
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You haven't got the efficiency part right BB, yes gas heaters have higher outputs as they lose about 40% of their heating so they have to be.
so a 3 kw gas fire will only give out 1.8 kw of heat, while a 2 kw electric will give out about 2 kw.
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As always when this debate comes up I am left puzzled by the fact that folk go to great lengths and great expense to gear their units up for off grid adventures and then book to stay on club sites and complain about the club's EHU policy!
I think I might have asked this question before, but have never really got a satisfactory answer other than along the lines of "we're members so it's our right to stay on club sites"!
Well, yes, and of course it's all down to personal choice, but Merve seems to be the go to guy on this subject - would you expect to find him on a club site?
We don't have any fancy gizmos in our van and I consider us to be pretty frugal users of electricity - but I'm on holiday I don't want to be constantly checking the meter or going to pay an electricity bill before leaving site. We probably do subsidise others, but am I really bothered about that?
There must be loads of CLs out there near club sites just waiting for folk to give them their custom and probably quite happy to negotiate a non EHU rate. Why not give them your custom?
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i don't like to see some folk subsidising others, I don't like to see the demand going so sky high that it causes infrastructure issues and I don't like to see that demand pushing site prices ever higher...
+1
I would go even further, I like choice. Oh and you forgot to add household fridges are efficient using electricity because they use compressors not a heat source as in van absorption fridges. peedee
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We're geared up for EHU and non EHU but if I'm paying a site fee including EHU I would expect it to work. If it doesn't work because someone has over used the supply we're back to using gas and battery although we've paid for electric use.
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Like CS we don't have a solar panel, or refillable gas cylinders, or inverters, and don't holiday on the type of sites that require them, or produce cost savings. (Do have an Avtex TV though, well worth the money even on 240 volt) So the investment of several hundred pounds would not be justified. Even if sites start metering, the saving over paying 13p a Kw it would take ages to pay back. This would also be the case for folk who don't use their vans as much as we do. Just some weekends, bank holidays and 2/3 weeks in the summer on CC type sites. Why would they want to spend money on a non EHU set up.
However, when we switch to a Motorhome we fully intend to get the required features fitted. As part of the cost of a new acquisition, the costs are minuscule. It will make sense as it will allow us to use Aires. Although in general I suspect we will still stick to EHU sites, although if metered electric, as we have the equipment, it would give us the choice.
It really comes down to the way you holiday, wether a non EHU set up makes sense.
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As always when this debate comes up I am left puzzled by the fact that folk go to great lengths and great expense to gear their units up for off grid adventures and then book to stay on club sites and complain about the club's EHU policy!
It gives choice Moulesy but I wasn't complaining about the Clubs policy in this thread merely suggesting metering was more than likely a solution to preventing site overloading although in my eyes it does have other benefits.
In comparison to outfit costs it isn't expensive these days to gear up for off grid adventures.
peedee
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We don't have any fancy gizmos in our van and I consider us to be pretty frugal users of electricity - but I'm on holiday I don't want to be constantly checking the meter or going to pay an electricity bill before leaving site. We probably do subsidise others, but am I really bothered about that?
Much my view. What does make me raise my eyebrows though are when temperatures are around 5C and I see outfits with all top lights fully open! Makes heating an awning seem very economical.
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A lot of folks have no idea of how much electric they are drawing from hook up. We and three other couples once had the delight of sharing a very nice CL with a pair of vanning virgins. Big new van, they tripped the site three times in one night. Next morning, some of us wandered across to see if we could help. They had no gas, used hot plate and microwave for cooking, heating on full, kettle plugged in, big TV plugged in and to top it all a blasted Glade plug in air freshener! Trying to use everything at same time! They hadn't got a clue. Thought van was faulty. Didn't want any help. After two more trip issues, folks got rather fed up with them, and it got less polite. They were last seen heading towards nearby Club Site, much to everyone else's relief.
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I agree about choice, PD - in fact if you'd quoted a bit more of my post it would have been clear that I actually said that!
As far as expense is concerned, maybe for anyone constantly changing units or with top of the range models the expense may not ne comparatively great, but for those of us with older models and not looking to update - what's a ball park figure for converting everything so that one could run completely off grid "a la Merve" assuming one had the desire to do so?
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In comparison to outfit costs it isn't expensive these days to gear up for off grid adventures.
Probably not but for many probably pointless. And for me definitely pointless as of the sites that I am likely to use almost all include EHU and are not metered.
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In comparison to outfit costs it isn't expensive these days to gear up for off grid adventures.
Probably not but for many probably pointless. And for me definitely pointless as of the sites that I am likely to use almost all include EHU and are not metered.
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what's a ball park figure for converting everything so that one could run completely off grid "a la Merve"
How long is a piece of string? It all depends on what and how you power your electrical devices. Keeping it simple all you need is a good battery, a solar panel is an added bonus to extend your EHU free stay beyond say a weekend. There is not much these days which cannot be run from 12 volts so you don't necessarily need an inverter. Solar panels can be portable free standing, no need to buy another when you change vans and even mains non portable TVs can be run off a cheap inverter. You don't need refillable gas cylinders either.
peedee
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