Is EHU metering a good investment?

Posted on 29/11/2022 10:46 by SteveL

We kept ours in storage and in cold weather it was very useful to initially heat up the van. We then reduced it to 2 / 1 KW depending on how cold it was. 2 was needed to keep the bathroom warm in cold weather. Now with the MH, the cab heating takes the chill off on the journey and the 1.8 KW blown air is fine. Not felt the need to boost it with gas yet.

Posted on 29/11/2022 10:09 by JVB66

I would think as with the cc and it seems other companies as well the senior management seem to turn a deaf ear to staff from the coal face who have voiced their opinions when a new untested properly system is rolled out with many problems that it seems were voiced by staff who have had to deal with the consequences 

Posted on 29/11/2022 10:37 by

My experience  of "honesty" also goes back a long way but most  recently  3 months ago . People in the UK are no more dishonest that those those pesky foreigners over there, it works and and meters are a solution looking for a problem

Posted on 29/11/2022 10:59 by Tinwheeler

Right, thanks. That's a popular view from those who only see one side of the coin. One wonders how on earth big business has succeeded decade after decade with such seemingly inept senior decision makers. 🙂

There appear to be similarities between Tesco, CAMC, and just about any other business.

Posted on 28/11/2022 17:23 by GEandGJE

I was going to post this in the thread that has been deleted as a number of folk were saying that EHU Metering would make pitch prices cheaper, so Let's play the You Said, We Listened and Implemented game. This is my view based on my experience as an IT Infrastructure Project Manager and in IT Procurement.  To satisfy the We don't want EHU and want cheaper pitch prices group of people, the We only want to pay for the electricity we use group of people and the I'll pay whatever as I'm on holiday group of people, the clubs only option is to move to metered usage. How does the club do that and what investment would be needed. Lets estimate that the club has over 10,000 pitches with an average of 2 hookups per bollard that's 5,000 bollards that will need to be modified and/or replaced and some of those will need groundwork undertaken for new cabling etc, it will require  putting all pitches out of action and subsequent loss of income whilst the work takes place. This can't all be done at once and I think that a 5 year rollout period would be a stretch and it would take a dedicated team at HQ to manage. They would need to procure equipment, electrical installation teams, groundwork teams, IT systems and software to operate the metering and payments, negotiate contracts with all the power companies who supply the club sites and negotiate with any land owners. I don't think you would get much change from a £5 million investment of the clubs (our) money. Issues that the club would need to consider 1) leased sites where the land owner doesn't give permission for the work to be carried out or the lease will soon come to an end 2) the price per kW from each of the power suppliers will vary depending on contract length and renewal dates, so do they average that price out across all sites or do you have different EHU costs in different areas of the network 3) do you factor the suppliers standing charge into the  metered cost,  4) the club would need to move to a credit card only payment system where the payment for EUH used is automatically deducted at the end of your stay 5) a central dispute resolution team, as there will always be people who will challenge the bill and that shouldn't be the on site teams and finally the biggest question for the club, 6) what return on investment will the club get. I doubt very much that the savings made from the electricity used would come close to the investment needed therefore the remaining investment would need to come from reserves and most likely recouped from increased pitch prices. Lastly this would give the club a very inconsistent offering with not all sites offering metered EUH, the cost of EHU could vary from site to site and an even bigger price variance across the network. Not a very good Business Case in my view, in terms of both investment and inconvenience to the membership so I can't see it happening I'm afraid.

Posted on 29/11/2022 10:59 by

Has there been a 2 kw version Steve?

I ask because I had a Lunar  with Aldi heating 7 years and never found it a problem but do confess I dont seek out cold places and didnt use it a lot.

Posted on 29/11/2022 11:23 by

Much of what you say is correct and once past "This can't all be done at once..." some of it.

Rather than speculate I have recently spoken to perhaps the largest supplier / installer of caravan park electrical systems in the country.  They may even be used by CC Ltd.  The rough quote I got for the supply and installation of a single RFID metered bollard with four euro sockets (outlets) was £1k.  Of course the unit price would drop considerably for the manufacture supply and installation of a very large number, i.e. a big contract.  CC Ltd would not need the mass of "teams" you suggest as once contracted the supplier would carry out the work i.a.w. with current regulations, only needing to have it approved and signed off prior to it going live.  Yes, there would be other unique site challenges and downtime costs but I think £5m is on the high side based on the 10k pitches you quote.  

Posted on 29/11/2022 11:45 by JVB66

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