The lure of ehu

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i've never  thought about how much electric I use , I use what is needed to make my holiday comfortable , if that is more than the next person then sorry 

Good post, HD. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I guess we probably use less electricity than most. Does that bother me? Do I get depressed about subsidising others? Not in the least! I would hate to be metered for electricity but I'd be quite relaxed about the option of non EHU being offered to what I reckon from experience on sites to be the relatively small number who are happy to go without. 

Evening

As you've stayed on this site on the cc&c rally (cheaper than I pay). you know that this and most sites get cheaper the longer you stay. The same electric allowance applies to all tariffs though and that is 4kw per day. Anything over that is charges at 35 cents per kw per day. Not sure what my pitch fees have to do with anything as they also vary according to pitch size.

JK

Well, I am happy to admit that our use of electricity does change when it is metered.

In say November or March, with Alde heating running all day, though turned down on the thermostat when we are out, and HW left to tick over, but using the van shower and washing up in the van, if it is very cold, we can get through up to 40kwh in 24 hours.  More usual in spring and autumn is about 30kwh.  Our van is 11 years old, so not as well insulated as newer vans.

We know exactly how much we are using as I have installed a device that measures and records our consumption.

We have spent quite a lot of time touring in Germany and Austria, where metering is common and the kWh price is high compared to UK, the usual charge is 60-75 euro cents.

So 30kwh would be 18- 22.5 euros per day.  However with ACSI we get some included in the site fee, 4kwh I think, so that would cut it to about an extra 15-19 euros, which is still as much again as the site fee.

This is obviously very undesirable, so we change our habits.  We leave the fridge on electricity, that alone will use the 4kwh, but we cook on gas, we heat with gas, we turn the heating off when we go out, and shiver for a while when we return.  The HW is not left on, rather turned on only when needed, we use the dish washing area, and I use the site showers.  By doing this we can cut our electricity use to a max of around 8kwh per day.

This of course means we use much more gas, but with refillable bottles it works out much less expensive.

If it was a UK site charging say 15p per kWh, the electricity cost would be less....more like £4.50 per day, but using gas would still work out less expensive.

Yes, quite a hassle compared to hooking up and forgetting about it, but you soon get used to it.

if you want to worry about a few pounds compared to the cost of the holiday and/or want to rough it then I suppose you have to get used to it, and please carry on, just don't fore it on the rest of us. I don't want the cost of sites fees to go up.

Our normal 90 nights each year at say £3 per night is £270 per year. Now £270 might be a "few pounds" to some but its a considerable amount to others.

Using gas and solar is merely using alternative power sources, not "roughing it", everything works just fine. Many manufacturers are now fitting solar panels to caravans and motor homes to make them less reliant on EHU.

No-one, as I recall,  is forcing anything on anyone apart from club sites where you are mostly forced to take and pay for  EHU whether you require it or not. When EHU was first brought in in the 80's, you could choose to have it or not, even on club sites. All that is required is the ability to opt out of EHU for those that choose to, with an appropriate reduction in fees resulting in a proportionate reduction in the club's electricity bill.

I don't foresee that this would result in site fees going up, it may actually benefit the club by reducing demand on the EHU system.

 

Cornersteady was referring to metering Justice and not opting in or out of EHU. If there were metering then prices would no doubt increase to cover its installation.

Many sites don't offer the option of EHU or non EHU. Some sites do offer non EHU grass pitch.

 

Ah yes, you are correct. I do feel, however, that in our hobby, we have become too reliant on electricity as a power source. It never used to be like that. The price per KWhr is steadily increasing, and any campsites electricity bill must be increasing massively too. I don't believe that we are anywhere near what the charge will be in a few years to come. It may double quite soon or worse. It has become a huge proportion of the overnight site fee and yet we are able to offset that by use of solar and gas but most choose not to. Many manufacturers fit solar as standard, refillable tanks too on many motor-homes and gas bottles for caravans. I merely welcome the opportunity for those who can reduce the reliance on electricity as the main power source to do so, and suspect that the desire to do so may also increase as site electricity charges continue to rise.

I was simply alluding to the fact that the pitch fee, regardless of where pitched, would be much higher if all the electricity consumed was included in the pitch fee.

peedee