Quote: Originally posted by 664DaveS on 21/10/2020
We have the Alde heating, its very good, we just turn the thermostat down at night. You can set it on timed just like at home.
We have a ceramic fan heater which we used to use in previous vans but is occasionally used in the awning now. It has a cold setting so useful in summer!
Doesn't Alde heating use up your gas? If I'm going to pay rip-off prices for electricity, I'm going to use it wherever possible. Most sites seem to charge between £3 and £5 a night extra for an electric pitch, and I don't use that at home for both gas and electricity, even with the central heating on. I always knew it was a rip-off but it really came home to me last year when I was on a site with metered electricity. It was July so it was only my battery charger and fridge, and occasionally a kettle, but we used less than £3 of electricity for a whole two week holiday!
Camp sites cannot legally profit from the electricity they supply you. They can only charge you what they pay for it.
They can, however, charge you a standing charge for the equipment they have kindly installed, to get said electricity to your pitch, hence the apparent "Rip-Off pricing" of set nightly fees.
Those that charge the electricity supply by meter do "appear" to be doing you a favour, but of course, they could hide the additional costing within their own standard pitch fees.
In much the same way that some folk consider an extra charge for showers to be a rip off, (or per dog... per child... per person... per gazebo/awning... etc) when in fact they could be paying less (in total, per night) than another site with "free" facilities, but more expensive overall pitch fees.
Ultimately, the overall cost is the only fair way to decide whether you feel ripped off or not.
I do agree though, that when it comes to the fixed price nightly fees for EHU, human nature dictates that you make the most of it, and use mains appliances whilst ignoring your own gas and/or battery operated equipment.
I suspect that's why many of my fellow tenters now take fan heaters/kettles/fridges/sandwich toasters/electric hobs/ovens/mains lighting etc... etc... etc...
We also have alde heating. It is a bit more expensive to run than the heating in our last older caravan (gas fire and blown air). But the caravan is toasty all through and no cold spots like we had in previous caravan. Our last site (seasonal pitch) had metered electricity. We never used much electricity during the summer - bills averaging £5 per month. Maybe £25ish in the colder weather. But, because it was metered we were careful during the colder months.
Our current site we pay electric per night, but cheaper site fees. I had to get my head round that especially paying during the warmer months when I know we won't use much electricity. But, the advantage now is we won't need to be "careful' in the winter and can enjoy our alde heating to the full. But, like someone said in earlier post we are looking at the total cost and the 2 sites are comparable for overall cost for the season. Regardless, I would never swap my alde heating, it really is that good.
Quote: Originally posted by Mucker1884 on 21/10/2020
Camp sites cannot legally profit from the electricity they supply you. They can only charge you what they pay for it.
They can, however, charge you a standing charge for the equipment they have kindly installed, to get said electricity to your pitch, hence the apparent "Rip-Off pricing" of set nightly fees.
Those that charge the electricity supply by meter do "appear" to be doing you a favour, but of course, they could hide the additional costing within their own standard pitch fees.
In much the same way that some folk consider an extra charge for showers to be a rip off, (or per dog... per child... per person... per gazebo/awning... etc) when in fact they could be paying less (in total, per night) than another site with "free" facilities, but more expensive overall pitch fees.
Ultimately, the overall cost is the only fair way to decide whether you feel ripped off or not.
I do agree though, that when it comes to the fixed price nightly fees for EHU, human nature dictates that you make the most of it, and use mains appliances whilst ignoring your own gas and/or battery operated equipment.
I suspect that's why many of my fellow tenters now take fan heaters/kettles/fridges/sandwich toasters/electric hobs/ovens/mains lighting etc... etc... etc...
... etc!
I wish there were far more sites like the one we stayed on last July. Not only was their electricity metered, but their site fees were very reasonable too. The nearest C&CC site was considerably dearer, despite the fact that we are members and entitled to seniors discount. I was so impressed with the site that I left a review on here heartily recommending them. We had a fully serviced pitch with metered electricity for much less than we would have paid for an ordinary pitch on the C&CC site with EHU, and probably less than we would have paid for a pitch without EHU on the C&CC site. (I didn't check that). The site we went on certainly weren't charging more to cover the cost of electricity, although I can see that others might. It was the only site we have come across recently with metered electric.
The site we stayed on also only had high and low seasons, whereas the C&CC sites tend to have high, mid, and low seasons. The 2 weeks we had were classed as low season, which ended in the middle of July. High season for them only seemed to be school holidays.
Quote: Originally posted by Mucker1884 on 21/10/2020
I do agree though, that when it comes to the fixed price nightly fees for EHU, human nature dictates that you make the most of it, and use mains appliances whilst ignoring your own gas and/or battery operated equipment.
I suspect that's why many of my fellow tenters now take fan heaters/kettles/fridges/sandwich toasters/electric hobs/ovens/mains lighting etc... etc... etc...
... etc!
We were on a site last week with inclusive hookup in the fee. No choice. We were the only van not connected. We carry a cable but couldn't see the point in even a small increase in set up & pack up time to use it. Van had plenty of juice on its own from leisure battery.
Noticed a couple of connected motorhomes even left their external lights on overnight. Wasteful & unnecessary.
Been campers, trailer tenters and for the last 7 years tin toppers. Never ever been cold enough to go home. We now have the luxury of Aldi heating, not a cold spot in the caravan. All I can say is you are not set up correctly. P.S. we are in our 70s what ever that means.
Caravan Is getting picked up on Monday by a service and repair company, there are other little niggles present, nothing drastic but want the whole thing checked independently of the sellers service provider.
Quote: Originally posted by Audi-man on 24/10/2020
Caravan Is getting picked up on Monday by a service and repair company, there are other little niggles present, nothing drastic but want the whole thing checked independently of the sellers service provider.
There will ALWAYS be 'niggles'. Thats a guarantee. On returning from our last outing, the kitchen tap was wobbling all over the place. It was fine at the site, but it just vibrated loose. It happens. I've arrived to find fridge doors on the floor, door-screen off the runner, waterpump suddenly not working, and a cupboard base half an inch lower than it should be. All the joys of caravanning!
When you think of all the shock and shaking a caravan goes through every yard of a journey, is it a surprise?
Hi Bridgelayer, I had to smile at your comment about the awning, we are both 70+ but like you can have the van up in minutes, we do have both hot water and heating, I think whoever had the van from new paid the extra money, as we also have extra cabinets and a radio fitted, our full awning we can get up and pegged out in about an hour including the ground sheet inside, we did however purchase a porch awning which we use probably more, it is about 5 feet by 6 feet, just handy for the boots etc on shorter breaks, if we do more than 7 days we use the full awning
Our rule is that I put the awning up, SWMBO helps by holding the poles.
Pop-up tent for the loo and carpet and Jig-saw mats for the floor. (3 packs of 6 from ALDI cover it nicely. SWMBO is a good machine sewer so she's been tasked with making a sun canopy for the off-side. It's no effort to boil the kettle, so we're never stuck.
Looking forward to our next trip.
------------- Some days you are the dog,
some days you are the tree.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: So cold in the caravan
via mobile 21/10/2020 at 8:31pm
