Hi all
I am considering updating EHU points to individual metered points on my campsite.
Am asking for feedback please, good or bad. Had a quote for approx £500 to convert 1 x 4 gang EHU box!! from electrician. I have more to do.
Based in South West.
Any suggestions as to go card meter or which is the best manufacturer gratefully appreciated. I understand Rolec make these meters, are they any good or problematic? WIFI not available as rural.
Thanks for reading.
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Hi HappyAdminGal,
I have to ask why you feel the need to go to metered EHU from an owners pov.Perhaps it would give us site users an insight into the reasons behind owners switching to metered pitches. Personally I have never been on a metered pitch and assume part of the nightly pitch fee covers energy costs.
I've never stayed on a site with metered supplies so no direct experience except being an electrical engineer. I know the site supply is usually pretty large and can carry a large load especially when it's cold with lots of heaters on.
I suspect the typical cost of an EHU of £2 or £3 or so probably covers the cost of elec consumed. Don't forget you'll get nothing on an empty pitch which you probably know is a large part of the year.
I suspect you may find you can only charge each unit at the cost you paid which is going to be relatively small.
You'll probably end up having to charge much less for the EHU that you currently charge and only get a fraction of that back from the meter especially as most stays will be during the summer months.
I really can't get my head around what the effect of electric car charging will have especially as they seem not to be popular with caravanners.
Quote: Originally posted by allisd on 21/9/2024
Hi HappyAdminGal,
I have to ask why you feel the need to go to metered EHU from an owners pov.Perhaps it would give us site users an insight into the reasons behind owners switching to metered pitches. Personally I have never been on a metered pitch and assume part of the nightly pitch fee covers energy costs.
Reply:
During the past few weeks l have been researching this topic and l gleaned that many campsite customers preferred the individual payment meter method opposed to random EHU tariffs, that vary from venue to venue.
Thank you for your reply. I would be interested to hear other campsite owners or managers, what their views may be? Whether individual meters or general daily tariffs are better.
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Quote: Originally posted by navver on 21/9/2024
I've never stayed on a site with metered supplies so no direct experience except being an electrical engineer. I know the site supply is usually pretty large and can carry a large load especially when it's cold with lots of heaters on.
I suspect the typical cost of an EHU of £2 or £3 or so probably covers the cost of elec consumed. Don't forget you'll get nothing on an empty pitch which you probably know is a large part of the year.
I suspect you may find you can only charge each unit at the cost you paid which is going to be relatively small.
You'll probably end up having to charge much less for the EHU that you currently charge and only get a fraction of that back from the meter especially as most stays will be during the summer months.
I really can't get my head around what the effect of electric car charging will have especially as they seem not to be popular with caravanners.
Post last edited on 21/09/2024 19:58:49
Thanks for your reply. Yes, l agree with your point about being better off financially charging per night, however l have read many opinions from unhappy customers, feeling "ripped off" and it ruins their holiday experience, by the daily tariffs. Resulting in campsites getting a bad review.
After trawling through various forums, the general customer concensus seems to be happy (for those whom have used) to use the meters. So l thought l would canvas some thoughts. £500 to upgrade a 4 gang Rolex is a lot of money to me to invest. I want happy campers!
We avoid sites with metered electricity as we would rather know up front how much our stay is going to cost, especially as we tend to use our caravan a lot during the cooler months.
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We are always reluctant to use metered pitch. I know that some here will say they only use £2 - £3 of electric per week, but we prefer a set charge as we rarely use gas and with my wife feeling cold even in what most consider warm weather, our electric use is much larger.
Having said that, our limit is £20-£25 per night. There are still a number of farm sites that offer this. We do not use other “facilities “, simply requiring ehu, a water supply and grey and black disposal points. Heated shower blocks are to us not required and a waste of money.
Our next site we are going to has meterd. We put whatever amount we want on the card and swipe it on meter. When leaving swipe it again and then reception refund what is not used. They lowered their pitch fees from previously priced. So if you the pitch and you do not need electric you are now not paying for what you do not use. We now find that with metered electric we pay less than pre metered price. So if they are wanting £500 to upgrade just four pitches and then people use less electricity I can see the site well out of pocket. That installation charge will never be recouped. If metered electric cost is added to the present pitch price without reducing the base cost it will deter people from using the site due to extra cost. ie paying double for electric.
We are on a CL. The owner read the meter when we arrived on Friday and will read it again before we leave today. I think she will have to swim across the field, it's raining so much, has been for hours. Thunderstorm in the night.
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I have arranged the installation of metering on a few caravan sites. If the meters are metered then they need to be calibrated annually.
Be prepared for people like ourselves to argue when you think that the meter is not reading correct as we were able to prove. How does one manage to go through nearly £10 of electric during the night when heating and fridge are on gas?
Now we avoid sites with metered electric as we have no idea of when last the meter was calibrated to make sure it was correct.
If you do decide to go with metered electricity, then make sure it is the sort that can be topped up at any time of the day or night by the customer. I was reading a post elsewhere a few weeks ago from a lady who was on a site with a card meter but the only way to top up the card was at reception which was only open for a few hours each day. She had put something like £10 of electric on the card at the start of her week, assuming that it would last the whole holiday and she would get the leftovers refunded at the end, but she used a lot more than she thought and it ran out just after the reception closed and she had to wait until the next day to top up again at reception. This resulted in very unhappy campers which is not what you want!
We have personally had no experience with metered electricity but we are currently considering trying a seasonal pitch for a year and almost all of them have metered electricity. The difference in price between sites is massive as it is connected to what the site has to pay their supplier. I would guess that if you are on a decent tariff of under £0.30 per kWh then it will take you a long time to recoup your investment however, from my research, it seems like some sites took out a long fixed rate deal last year when prices were rising dramatically and people were panicking about where it was going to stop and they are now tied into 2 or more years at around £0.90 per kWh. If you are in this boat, getting your customers to pay for the electricity they use on a metered system might work out better for you. Another alternative that we have seen that is kind of in the middle is that some sites give a fixed amount of electricity for free in the pitch price but if you exceed that, you pay for the excess. That might be something for you to consider as it means that excessive users who are trying to heat their awning 24/7 etc will pay extra meaning you are not out of pocket for their excessive use, but your normal camper is happy with either no extra cost or maybe only a small surcharge.
Personally, I try to avoid sites which itemise payments for facilities, whether that be power, or showers, or whatever. While I do understand there may be campers who believe this is the most economic method ( I’m being polite here) I too like to know what to expect, and am prepared to pay a little extra, even as a solo camper, so long as it’s a fair price, for an all-in-one charge.
I prefer to use campsites rather than car parks or lay-bys, and believe in supporting the farming community wherever possible. It’s a tough old job, and appreciate setting aside a bit of space for us campers. My advice is to keep it simple. If it’s £20 a night for a pitch, that’s the price. Time spent haggling over this and that is wasted time! Thanks for providing the amenity, and maybe hope to see you in the future.
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Topic: Advice please - EHU meters installation
via mobile 21/9/2024 at 7:14pm
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