Electric Hook up

We don’t have safefill, but then being quite old our MH only has a small fridge, so we roll along nicely and cheaply with what we have. We have done Summer holidays almost totally off grid, the odd night on a CL to top up bike batteries, and even the one time our fridge stopped working on gas didn’t phase us. We are out most days, so easy enough to pick up any fresh food we need. Not perhaps how many would want to tour nowadays, but perfectly doable with a bit of planning and compromise. We go back to the drinks bottles in a bucket of cold water generation😁 

"I would suggest it is over the winter months where metering would come into its own but I think the Club have to be sure they are not taking a hammer to crack a nut so to speak?"

I think it would 'come into its own' from the Clubs perspective, to try and curb the profligate use mentioned by TTDA earlier, but with prolonged cold (say, Christmas and New Year breaks) most will need/want to have the van kept warm...they may spend more time in it!

but this will put severe price pressure onto those 'late year holidays' as pitches will already be at peak prices...as I mentioned earlier, lowering the price by £8 and then having to use £10-£15 of electric doesn't work.

again, as TTDA mentions, the club is probably either going to realise it's just not worth it for members or it will need to go right back to the drawing board to establish new 'proper' vfm pitch prices that includes electric.

for the customer, this will (should) mean that the summer 'seasonal' element and the winter 'electric' element results in prices much closer together than some sites offer.

the current process of the 'computer' just adding x% to every days price (hence the silly amounts littering the price boards) needs a real overhaul.

Club pitch pricing does seem to have got more and more involved and convoluted since 2000. It’s not just a new, last couple of years thing by any means, but there’s no doubt that there’s been a huge escalation in charges, and I personally don’t think it’s all to do with fuel costs. Club is refurbishing sites, buying new ones, and, has expanded its HQ staff quite a bit. There’s no real transparency around pitch pricing on a Club site, unlike you get on a CL of course. So it’s a lot more difficult if you want to understand how Membership income is apportioned.

I’m honest and up front enough to admit to a degree of miffedness at what happens on some Club Sites, sometimes. We had a pitch at Clumber Park last September with our little MH, parked up with another couple of ladies both in small camper vans. As you do, we got chatting, shared a few cuppas, and watched a huge fabulous coach sized A class, with sliders, everything electronic, pull onto a close by pitch. Owner was very friendly, and we got chatting with him. We were a bit miffed because we had paid the same price as he had, he was delighted because he had paid the same price as us. No axe to grind with him, he was filling his boots topping everything up. We were all running a small fridge, and charging a bike battery. Hence for me, and I suspect others, a one price for everyone somehow creates huge winners and losers. There’s just not enough choice or incentive with Club Sites nowadays, and I don’t think metering will be total answer. But it’s not really that much of a personal issue, we compromise and go elsewhere, utilise lots of different options. 

There is a report on the metering trial at Wyatts Covert in the January magazine, and in that it states that consumption of electricity has dropped by 30%, but there are no details given.

Was the consumption via  bollards able to be  measured separately previously?   So 30% less  via  bollards, or is it 30% less over the whole site?

If 30% less via bollards, has use in facility blocks increased, or not?

How has the weather been compared to last year?  That will affect the amount used for heating.

Is the ratio of  MHs to caravans using the site the same as before?  MHs will be more likely to have refillable gas, and be able to be "off grid" for longer.

A  lot of variables to consider.

Metering is not something that bothers us, and would not stop us using a site, though the price being charged per kWh and the site fee otherwise might well do so!   

 We do have refillable gas, so can use that for heating if it would work out less expensive, which at 40p+ per kWh it  certainly would.

Using gas also gets the van warmed up more quickly, so we often use it for a few hours at the start of an Easter or Autumn stay on a site

However, we do not use the caravan after late October, or before mid March, so all largely academic.

2023 was the hottest year on record.

The Club have already mentioned metering as being a fairer way of charging for electricity, and TDA's post above just shows how true this is.

We are all used to having our electricity, and gas, metered at home, so why should the fact we are on holiday make a difference?   When arguing that hotels do not do so, I do not think that is really comparable to camp sites.  

Hotel rooms do vary in size, but are larger rooms not more expensive to start with?  And a larger cottage more expensive to rent?    Both  hotels and cottages are more likely to be well insulated, and in most  cases not using electricity for heating, which as we all know, works out far more expensive than using gas.

Comparing electricity use at home with what you use on a campsite is not really sensible either, unless you are using the same fuels for the same purposes, and of course there is the use of alternatives for showering and dishwashing while on a campsite.

When the price of electricity was much lower than today, these differences did not add up  to  such a large cost difference between use by smaller and larger outfits, but that has all changed now.

"There is a report on the metering trial at Wyatts Covert in the January magazine, and in that it states that consumption of electricity has dropped by 30%, but there are no details given"

Thanks for that factual info, Kj 👍🏻. As you say, there are factors which may need to be taken into consideration, eg see Corners' post.

Just done a few calculations based on the AGM figures for 2022 which are the latest figures available. 

Site revenue £72 million

Surplus after operating costs approx £1.7 million

Site nights for 2022 2.44 million

Working on those figures The average price per night was £29.50

The cost site staff 90p per site night

Surplus/Profit 75p per site night

Electricity £6.2 million, so an average of £2.54 per site night.

As we are talking electricity here, in the main, there is no separation of electricity usage between pitches and other on site services as far as I can tell.

More than happy for someone to check my calculations based on the figures provided here 

David

I do not think you can apply that generally.

For us, while we were away in the caravan, 2022 was much warmer, and here at home the winter months of 2023  certainly did not feel mild.  Easter 2023 was cold, wet and windy where we were.

Without an accurate record for a particular place, it will be very  difficult to know how the  weather may have affected the use of fuels.

The Club saying a 30% reduction at Wyatts Covert certainly lacks detail, and they have not yet completed a full year on the trial.  

Nor have they given any details on occupancy rates, which may reflect whether members are in favour of metering......or not.

UK or Worldwide Corners? And I know our Summer here (May to September) wasn’t anything like as hot as 2020 during first COVID lockdown. Something to consider I agree, but it’s not an exact science, like all the other variables.