Is it true?
That the Club is to trial electricity meters? I am led to believe that at a recent question time this was the response given in a discussion on electricity costs. Can anyone who attended the East Anglia meeting held last Saturday confirm what was actually said?
peedee
Comments
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Peedee
I have flagged your post up to Rowena. Just a little worried on how easy it will be to track down who said what at such a meeting?
Given the comments at the last AGM acknowledging that payment by use would be the fairest way and giving that the whole energy supply situation has been turned upside down since the AGM perhaps we shouldn't be surprised if wheels are in motion?
David
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From the 2021 AGM minutes,
"In light of the green agenda and the ever-rising price of electricity, will the Club continue to offer members unlimited (and unmetered) electricity when they book a pitch with EHU, or will the club move to some form of metering in the foreseeable future?
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Answer
The fairest way to charge for electricity usage would be based on consumption, and this would also likely influence usage levels from a sustainability perspective. Unfortunately, the cost of infrastructure and subsequent monitoring and payment mechanisms are significantly cost prohibitive at this time. Having said this, the Club is constantly reviewing the technology and opportunities in this space in order to identify cost effective ways of being able to deliver this type of arrangement in the future."0 -
Hi everyone, The recent enormous rises in electricity costs means the Club has to respond in terms of how electricity usage is paid for. Our approach at the moment is to include a fee for average electricity usage in all EHU-equipped pitch fees, which is simple and efficient to administer. However, that doesn't benefit those who use less power and provides no incentive for those currently using more electricity to reduce their consumption. We are actively looking for a fairer solution, which will inevitably involve some form of metering. We are determined to provide a good user experience in terms of ease of use and reliability, however finding a system which will do that on sites which often have challenges like patchy wi-fi is difficult. We hope to trial at least one solution before too long, though.
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The way it was spoken about at the Q&A at Strathclyde Park it was already being rolled out.
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Why not give users the choice of no EHU, would involve a degree of trust (or checking no one lugs in who has not paid) but it would be better than teh current situation. C&CC offer this and ot works well, those who do not need EHU save a few quid and the club also saves on electric costs?
Seems the current position that you only have a few non EHU pitches (which seem to be stuck away under trees in a muddy corner) is not good enough so at least give us a chocie until a solution can be found to meter usage.
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I would expect (optimist as always) that the site fee would be reduced by the notional amount presently included, so that we would not be paying twice. In summer months, when the heating is off, one may find it convenient to plug in for the fridge. A small amount of electricity would be consumed, much less than the above notional amount. We would all win this one. The waster would no longer attempt to heat the campsite by running a heater in the awning day and night, so we would all be winners again.
The club needs good professional advice regarding metering, innovative thinking is needed. The old boys school thinking must be locked up, so that the squillion squanderers are not let loose on this!
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Surely they would have to be? As far as I know the Club have never told us a ball park figure for average daily use, be it summer or winter. I can only go by my own usage but £2 a day at this time of year and perhaps £5 a day in winter would reflect my current home energy costs. I appreciate there may not be a direct comparison viz a viz what I am charged for energy and what the Club might be charged? I imagine they would also have to build in the costs of running the site facility blocks regardless of whether I use them or not so my hoped for reduction might have to be reduced a bit?
What slightly worried me about Rowena's post was the mention of WiFi coupled to the use of meters. That might be because they want monitor and charge for use via reception or perhaps payment credit card which requires a connection to the card issuer? If its going to be a common system across the network perhaps they need to keep it as simple as possible rather than cutting edge?
David
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Wi-Fi is the route to go but as Rowena has pointed out this doesn't work in some areas so that type of metering isn't going to be universal. But I'd guess generally the majority of sites could cope with Wi-Fi metering?
What's the alternative? Lower the amperage supply?
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I suspect that Wi-Fi is the way to go too. It's used in lots of places between here and the Straights of Gibraltar, so I cannot see why not here in Blighty. The answer may not be a one size fits all system. I would be quite happy to swipe my card on arrival, just like buying fuel at an unattended filling station. There may even be a basic voluntary system and an alternative for non-compliant members.
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Brue
I don't think there would be an essential need for WiFi but the downside would be that you would probably have to go for a more basic system. One where pre-paid cards could be used as I am sure the bollards could be programed individually to reset after each visitor. The main form of metering I have used (in Europe) I have always paid at the office, one exception was coin feed which I don't imagine anyone would want? Some of that use was pre widespread use of WiFi on sites. I understand that information can be transferred via power cables so maybe that is the way it is done but it would mean, I imagine, all cables being routed back to a central bank where bills could be calculated and readings reset? We also have the problem of sites on short leases where the investment in metering couldn't be justified so I wonder if we will end up with a two tier system?
David
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What slightly worried me about Rowena's post was the mention of WiFi coupled to the use of meters.
Do not worry - merely use your own Wi-Fi via your mobile phone tethered to a laptop etc.,
I have usually found the clubs Wi-Fi to be relatively useless and more expensive.
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WiFi would not be necessary with a >smart card system< like that supplied by Rolec which I have mentioned before. Members could use a single card across the network with top up facilities and spare cards available in reception, the latter for those who have lost them or forgotten to bring them with them. It might even be possible to incorporate the smart function into the membership card?
No messing with paying on departure, just collect any credit left from the meter for use at the next Club site. It sounds much more reliable than a WiFi system.
peedee
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But use “your own Wi-Fi” to do what?
This is always assuming of course that you have a signal, or a smartphone and that you contract allows tethering!The system that Peedee has mentioned does look to be a reasonable solution.
We attended a rally on a commercial site a while back wher you had to buy a pre paid card but got no refund for unused credit.
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I didn't necessarily mean the internet Peedee, smart readers are indeed a solution. I consider anything that works as a digital reader to be Wi-Fi but some sites can't send signals further on, surely they need Wi-Fi to centralise the system?
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A bit of confusion arising here from years of sloppy use of the term "WiFi". What would be used on power cables is far more like Ethernet, for those who remember it.
Each bollard meters the power used by its sockets and sends information on this through the power cables using data in packets. No wireless involved. The central monitor and charging unit can be anywhere on the cabled network on the consumer side of the supplying transformer. If the monitoring and charging unit needs to send any summated data off site then PSTN would be the way, whether cellular or land-line.
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I would personally prefer pre payment cards. This is a sytem used on the Norfolk Broads and seems to work well. The more you use, the more you pay. Somple, and fair !
https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/facilities/electric-boat-charging-points
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If non-EHU pitches are provided, just watch CAMC locate them under trees where your solar panels won't work!
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How good do the mobile connections have to be and are they able to transmit data from all sites?
