Pay Per Use Electric on site.

[Ric1962]

Hi all, got to head down to Devon tomorrow on some family business and for the first time I will stopping on a camping site overnight in my camper van. Im a campervan virgin when it comes to using camp sites and was surprised to see that if I wanted to use the electrical hook up supplied to the pitch then it would be an extra, metered, charge! I naively though that the cost of the hook up would be included in the cost of the hardstanding pitch which for tomorrow night is £27.

Is that common practice to charge for electrical hook up on top of the pitch rental fee? Is it usually a metered supply too? I was told if I wanted to use the electrical hook up then I would have to set up an account with a company called Meter Macs at a charge of 30p per KwH.

Thanks for any feed back or advice.

Rick.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Your normally around £10 extra per night for electric

 

[EAN]

I’ve seen some campsites with metered supplies, but I wouldn’t say it’s common.
I dislike campsites that have a basic price and then want to charge for more on top. Bring an awning +£, bring a dog +£, have a shower +£. I suppose it’s good if you don’t want or need them though.

If you are only staying overnight do you actually need external power?

 

[TallPaul_S]

Is the 30p per kWh instead of a flat, say £5 extra for hookup?

As that's not a bad deal - 1kwh is running a 1000w appliance for an hour straight. I doubt you'd use more than a couple of quid even if you rinsed the EHU.

I would be raising an eye at the £27 per night base cost, mind you. I'd expect electric included for that

 

[Bav]

Not common practice in my experience, but becoming increasingly so since the spike the price of power. If you don't like it (as I don't) vote with your feet and go elsewhere.

 

[TallPaul_S]

UK prices for some campsites are taking the Mickey at times too, when you can get a gorgeous campsite in the french Alps in an awesome little french village, with electric, for under £20 a night.

 

[Ayjay]

Maybe it's a sign of things to come. IIRC three of the four sites that we used in Germany last year metered the electricity to charge on departure but we were only one night at each so didn't use it. Of course,that's hardly a scientific study and could just have been coincidence.... I agree with what @TallPaul_S said above - I've thought that charges at UK campsites were starting to get too high for a few years now.

 

[TallPaul_S]

Although, don't even start to look at Airbnb prices in any popular locations like the west coast of Scotland or similar.

£100-£120 a night for a converted shed? Why thank you!

That, and the lack of places with secure bike storage (no, I'm not leaving £10k's worth of bikes on a towbar rack overnight), and the hassle of finding places if I want to go away at short notice, was what convinced me to buy a T6!

 

[T6ChrisO]

Stayed on a site last weekend. £19 for pitch with water/waste, £23 for EHU. Quite standard to charge more but i've never come across it being metered on any site I have looked at/considered

 

[Vanderlust]

On our travels have found metered EHU mostly in Germany/ Austria. Some of the sites are set up for year round use and in the winter are full of mega motor homes using loads of power for the heating, ski boot driers etc so you can see why. In the UK some campsites see metering as a way of reducing the power used and TBH don’t mind paying only for what I’ve used boiling the kettle for a cuppa than a flat fee which has to cover the mega motorhome,caravan awning with patio heaters, fridges, karaoke machine , portable hot tub etc.( ok stretching it a bit with the hot tub but you get my drift).

 

[Ayjay]

I've just been looking at a campsite near Padstow (Dennis Farm) - arriving 8 April for 3 nights on grass with electricity but no awning is £120 (without electricity £102). I reckon that's twice as much as the ACSI rates that we generally pay at 90% european sites which invariably have better on-site facilities. I guess as long as we keep paying, they will keep charging.

 

[Salty Spuds]

We’ve stayed on one site in the UK that’s had metered electricity. You got £5 worth/day included in your pitch fee & after that it was metered at the market rate (about 20p/unit at the time). We never used the £5 worth in the time we were there. Unless you’re running electric heating/cooking, there’s little chance of you chewing through 25kwh/day in a campervan. We’ve also stayed on Austrian sites in winter when we’ve been skiing, they are charging close to €1/kwh, needless to say we are very frugal, only using leccy for battery charging/lighting etc.

 

[TJH1985]

Spoke to a few sites last year that were considering it, a couple called out people taking the mick and charging EV's on pitches becoming more common place as well as running AC units flat out in luxury caravan's throughout summer.

I caravan, and it is a real shame that it's moving away from the traditional experience.

 

[Bigsidavies]

Your normally around £10 extra per night for electric

Wow. I’ve been upset paying €4 per night in Spain when all I do is charge my battery.
Some of the more expensive camp sites include 4kw per day.

 

[Bigsidavies]

UK prices for some campsites are taking the Mickey at times too, when you can get a gorgeous campsite in the french Alps in an awesome little french village, with electric, for under £20 a night.

I’m on a site in Ronda in Spain tonight. It’s a little crammed in (but the van next door have a Newfoundland so that’s a bonus for me) and it’s very nice. Clean showers (extra €1) clean toilets, drinking water, bbq and nice shaded seating and eating area, free jetwash for the van, washing machines, even a washing up liquid dispenser at the sinks, EHU included. €18.
UK is just a rip off.

 

[TallPaul_S]

I've just been looking at a campsite near Padstow (Dennis Farm) - arriving 8 April for 3 nights on grass with electricity but no awning is £120 (without electricity £102). I reckon that's twice as much as the ACSI rates that we generally pay at 90% european sites which invariably have better on-site facilities. I guess as long as we keep paying, they will keep charging.

This one?

Dennis Cove Campsite, Padstow, Cornwall, UK

Dennis Cove Campsite is the closest campsite to Padstow. Just a 10 minute, pushchair-friendly walk from Padstow Harbour access on to the Camel Trail.

denniscovecampsite.co.uk

Stay at peak times, with a dog, and with electric and it's over £50 a night!!

But if you really have to be in walking distance of Padstow that's your only choice.

 

[Bigsidavies]

This one?

Dennis Cove Campsite, Padstow, Cornwall, UK

Dennis Cove Campsite is the closest campsite to Padstow. Just a 10 minute, pushchair-friendly walk from Padstow Harbour access on to the Camel Trail.

denniscovecampsite.co.uk

Stay at peak times, with a dog, and with electric and it's over £50 a night!!

But if you really have to be in walking distance of Padstow that's your only choice.

I would have thought in a Venn diagram with ‘all the people in the world’ and ‘need to be walking distance to Padstow’ you’d only have Rick Stein in the bit in the middle.

 

[TallPaul_S]

I’m on a site in Ronda in Spain tonight. It’s a little crammed in (but the van next door have a Newfoundland so that’s a bonus for me) and it’s very nice. Clean showers (extra €1) clean toilets, drinking water, bbq and nice shaded seating and eating area, free jetwash for the van, washing machines, even a washing up liquid dispenser at the sinks, EHU included. €18.
UK is just a rip off.

Yeah I stayed at a site in Allemond near Alp Du Huez last year, on the outskirts of a proper French town (celebrated Bastille day while I was there), spotless facilities, at the bottom of the cable car, under £20 Inc hook up per night.

 

[Ayjay]

We’ve stayed on one site in the UK that’s had metered electricity. You got £5 worth/day included in your pitch fee & after that it was metered at the market rate (about 20p/unit at the time).

Don't think you can argue with that approach TBH (I know I wouldn't and my Mrs thinks I'm sometimes a tight aris). I do however object to the £34 a night for the little patch of grass even though I can afford to pay it.
@TallPaul_S. That's the one - actually, there's a couple of other choices within walking distance of the town if you don't mind 2-3Km there and back. As to high season, contrary to some opinions, I actually love Padstow but personally think you'd have to be off your trolley to even consider going there in high season.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Don't think you can argue with that approach TBH (I know I wouldn't and my Mrs thinks I'm sometimes a tight aris). I do however object to the £34 a night for the little patch of grass even though I can afford to pay it.
@TallPaul_S. That's the one - actually, there's a couple of other choices within walking distance of the town if you don't mind 2-3Km there and back. As to high season, contrary to some opinions, I actually love Padstow but personally think you'd have to be off your trolley to even consider going there in high season.

I thought it was very fair tbh, probably the future.