This year I've book at pitch with an EHU and after 20plus years of camping without electric I don't know what I can use in the kitchen area in particular. I have a 3 way fridge which I'm looking forward to plugging in as opposed to giving it a good talking to to light on the gas but what else does every use?
Don’t have 2 things with heating elements on at the same time. And (in simple terms: someone else can explain watts & amps & all) use travel versions of some items - do not take your kettle from the kitchen at home, or you’ll pop the stanchion & make yourself unpopular with neighbours on the same cable. If you have room, take a longer cable: 10m isn’t long enough on some sites & you can’t connect 2 cables together on club sites.
Our MH has an electric hob, others also cook on electric & can advise on equipment (eg air fryers etc, but we don’t have room for those, or toasters).
Safety wise, the advice is to uncoil the cable so it doesn’t overheat; not sure how valid that is with modern insulation material. And if you go away for the day, unhook it: again, I don’t know how valid that advice is that we were given - do children really stick their fingers into the live end?
Anyway, enjoy. It may or may not increase your pitch fee.
We use a cheap electric kettle from Asda never had a problem with it tripping the electric out. Also the same with a toaster.
We.now use an electric double ring for cooking, and we use a electric griddle gril now rather than take the cadac and have to carry a gas bottle as well. We are carful what we run at the same time, as above don't use to items that use. Cheating element. This year we have also added an air fryer. We use the electric we are paying for already rather than use gas that we also have to pay for.
Works for us might not work for others.
Also as above I make sure all cables are un wound so they don't over heat. Never heard off not plugging 2 leads together but then never stayed on a club site.
We wouldn't camp now without electric!
Low wattage kettle. An induction hob - but then you need suitable pans - we don't use our hob on full power unless the hook-up is 13 amps. Make sure you get a proper hook-up lead for a tent with a circuit breaker - eg .... like this.
I kitted out my van without gas/LPG and it is electric only except for the diesel heater/hot water. I also have an immersion heater for hot water as back-up.
I have a 2-burner induction hob, and cannot recommend induction hobs highly enough. Vango has low wattage ones in a single and a double. However, if you already have gas/LPG for cooking, then you probably don't need to get an induction hob.
I have a mini convaction oven with grill, which will do breakfast items such as toasts, croissants and crumpets. It will heat up chips and ready meals and cook single serving items such as a confit of duck leg etc., which is sufficient for me as I camp on my own with the dog.
Also a small 1L kettle 2kW power, the ones that one could find in a hotel room, again, fine by me as I am on my own.
As the others have already mentioned, only use one item of electrical appliance with a heating element no more than 2kW at a time to avoid tripping the EHU.
This was what I did when I was a tenter. I made the mistake once by boiling the kettle when the heater was on at the same time during a cold weather trip, and had to do the walk of shame to request for it to be reset.
Some campers rave about airfryers; however, I find them too bulky for my liking - the mini oven with grill is sufficient for my cooking needs as my preferred method of cooking is pan/wok-frying.
Not in the kitchen, however, a 2kW maximum fan heater was a must-have when I was a tenter as I camped throughout the year.
If you are planning to venture into Europe, then you would need to get a 2-pin adapter as not all campsites are equipped with the blue IP44 sockets.
Enjoy having EHU!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
We never go to sites without EHU unless it's just for an overnight stay. With our ancient caravan we rely on it to run our domestic fridge and to heat our water, as well as for charging our leisure battery which runs the lights and water pump.
My advice would be to check the wattage of all devices you intend to use and don't exceed 2kw at any one time. The highest wattage devices are those with a heating element, so don't use 2 of those at the same time unless they are very low wattage devices. If we need to use our electric convector heater we turn off our water heater. The water stays hot for quite a while anyway as it is well insulated.
One dilemma is usually how long a cable do you need? - no one but the site can answer that for you! You may get away with 10m, you mostly will be fine with 15m, BUT not unknown for 25m to be NEEDED! (I've used my full 25m a few times on caravan sites!). You can cant stretch a too short cable, neither on most sites are you allowed to add an extension (for very good safety reasons! - The plugs and sockets are NOT waterproof, and the protective boxes available to cover joints are of unknown worth as none are actually tested or safety rated!). 'Too much cable' can be safely allowed to lie in very loose 'coils' (I use the term advisedly, more a heap to gather cable up and reduce trip hazards) on the ground with good air flow around, but must NEVER be tightly coiled on a spool or drum for risk of overheating and catching fire! Any drum/spool mounted cable needs to be FULLY unwound even if the length is not needed.
Do NOT be tempted to use an ordinary unprotected domestic extension lead (by fitting a blue plug for the EHU bollard!), or one of the budget ones sold for camping) that doesn't have safety breakers at the user end, you need the proper type.
Most tent type cables with the sockets and breakers on one end seem to be mostly fitted with 10A rated cable these days (instead of the more desirable 16A rated), but they should be fine as the breaker is only rated to 10A, so even on a 16A rated EHU, you can't really overload the cable.
Your 3-way fridge will be rated around 75W so will draw a tiny amount of power from the mains, around 1/3Amp. They work very well indeed off EHU and usually have a thermostat control as well, so frozen contents at breakfast time can be avoided (What! You've never frozen the contents overnight on gas! - I certainly have, many a time breakfast delayed until thawing complete!)!
Domestic appliances from home can be too high powered, so caution needed in what you take, anything rated below 2Kw should be fine, but as previously said, only ONE high powered device on at a time! It's a shame to have EHU and not use it, so cooking on a portable induction hob, electric kettle, hairdryer!, heating for chilly nights (small fan heaters are great, but can be a little noisy when sleeping for some), and don't forget lights (the joy of proper light as opposed to grubbing about by torchlight!!!!), can all up the ease and comfort levels of camping. Don't forget chargers for phones and gadgets.
Be mindful of of all the gadgets you could take still have to fit in the car along with the essential camping kit.
When I was a tenter, the roller EHU unit had 15m of cable (sold when I switched to a MH), and I only ever needed to use a 25m extension cable that I carried once on the advice of a site warden when I was put on a pitch with a great view without EHU.
The joint was put on the dividing hedge to minimise water ingress.
Nowadays, I carry 3 cables in my van - 5m, 10m and 25m (the original one from my tenting days); and I use mainly the 25m cable.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Thanks to everyone who has answered I didn't even think that I would need an extension lead but now you have all said it it makes sense. I'm now going around checking the wattage of things I;m going to take
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: New to EHU
via mobile 07/6/2026 at 8:57am
