Vloggers Experience of Metering

 I'm amazed that anyone leaves the heating at 18C overnight. We normally turn ours off but in very severe overnight temperatures ( -5C) we do set the heating to come on at 5C. 

If we feel cold in bed we just add another thin duvet. I normally have the opposite problem of overheating and spend most of the night, home and away, with my feet uncovered.

What surprised me was how surprised the vlogger was. He thought his energy usage was not that profligate. I’d suspect his attitude and behaviour is pretty typical of many of us winter vanners. I must add though that a few of us do abuse the non metered sites energy consumption, maybe metering is the way forward, at least it will make many of us think!

I don’t think many who use big modern, power hungry outfits have much idea beyond the basics of just how much electricity they use. Many folks like to tow/drive away a tiny replica of what they have at home, with all the gadgets, all the plug ins, all the convenience, all the warmth, and very little effort, and don’t fully understand that this is going to cost quite a bit to run. Nothing wrong with it if it’s your choice, but you either do the maths around running heating and a tower fridge freezer via gas or electric, and decide on what suits you best, or you don’t. 

We are happy with metered pitches, if the differential on having hook up or not prices is realistic. 

Whilst I am equally amazed that anyone only sets it to come on at 5C. We are all different. I don’t have a problem with paying for what I use, if the CAMC go down that route and won’t be keeping the van any less warm, although might use gas more depending on the relative costs.

I do wish people would do the maths around their power use also. For example some seem to think that a large LV fridge freezer is power hungry. In fact most use less than 200W, about only about 0.8A or just 0.2kW per hour electric and on gas (LPG) they use about 0.33kWh.  Of course they only run as required, so in cold weather their consumption is much reduced.  

As ever the provision of hot water and heating is the biggest power consumer and where the biggest economies can be made. 

I do wish people would do the maths around their power use also. For example some seem to think that a large LV fridge freezer is power hungry.

Whist in comparison to heating  they aren’t a major player, in comparison to the standard fridges we had in both our caravans they are power hungry, particularly when using gas.

As I said on gas (LPG) they use about 0.33kWh but don't run continually and that is not really a massive mount.  What are your figures?

This year, during the hot weather in France we used less than 11kg / 22 ltrs of LPG in about 60 days.  That covered water heating, a bit of cooking and running the FF.  Total cost about £14.  What are your figures?

I think some are over thinking this. All the Vlogger was doing was contrasting sites where electricity is included in the site fees and what seemingly was a first experience of using a metered connection particularly at this time of year when temperature can dip below freezing both during the day and overnight. This is a situation that more and more people will be finding themselves in, especially during the past year or so with the energy crisis. This was a retrospective review that is being reported in this vlog which some might find useful. Having had that experience might well lead to doing differently in the future. 

David

"Having had that experience might well lead to doing differently in the future."

Exactly, David!  Which is why we continued with our policy of using gas for heating / hot water later in the year when it was warmer and had overall power costs of little more than £3 per day (including gas) - so saving about £2 per day on the previous pitch fee there.

However - when at Bridlington in November - where we had already 'paid' the electricity costs with the pitch fee, we reverted back to using electricity for heating etc. 

Methinks, the sooner CAMC roll our metering everywhere - and REDUCES the pitch fee accordingly, the better - then there's an incentive to minimise power usage.

I was surprised he used so much electricity as the van looked fairly modern, certainly compared to ours!     We do not have the level of insulation that vans built since 2009 have, so would use a lot of electricity if heating in very cold weather.

We are however aware of that, and used to metering abroad, so we would switch the heating to gas as we have refillables.  We do not normally take the van out in winter, so the problem rarely arises.

What surprised me were the written comments claiming the owners were overcharging and that electricity could not possibly cost that much, people should check the prices that businesses have to pay, not assume it will be the same as in their homes.

I was also astounded at the temperatures he was setting his heating to!!