Cost of running Alde heating comparison Gas or Electric

[Carpmart]

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Meter Maid 16A 230V Portable Electricity Meter

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Cheap…

 

[zac]

I paid £20 for the device I use, won't be for everyone but it's pretty good value. Remote monitoring and can actually turn the power off if required and wired correctly.

I had truma heating in the previous 2 motorhomes and Alde heating knocks the socks off them. So much better, it does take a while for it to get going but there is no comparison really (my opinion of course)

 

[Scout]

Hi


this is what we bought

just search amazon for

hope this helps

 

[funflair]

That looks a great piece of kit Martin but can you clarify whether the daily use data is actual usage or ‘average daily’ usage? Their website/data sheet seems to suggest that it’s the average daily use which would be somewhat less useful than actual daily usage.

Ian

Hi Ian, I don't know if this answers the question, well for starters all I ever use it for is to see what the inverter is doing and keep it below 3kw so I have been out to the van which luckily is on the drive, I put a load on the inverter, and

The default screen is showing actual power refreshed every 10 seconds and then as I set £0.3 per kwh it is showing a cost projection for the day of £8.27 at the current energy consumption.

The first page of history the main display is the days total but not really sure about the average, I can't go back days as it's been in the shed and only keeps a week I think.

I can go back weeks though and this is week 49 part of which we were away we were away,

And week 48 we were away more of this week, remember that this is just any power used via the inverter not EHU connection, the main display is cumulative but not sure what the average is? but most likely average load thinking about it.

 

[bigtwin]

Hi Ian, I don't know if this answers the question, well for starters all I ever use it for is to see what the inverter is doing and keep it below 3kw so I have been out to the van which luckily is on the drive, I put a load on the inverter, and

View attachment 695991

The default screen is showing actual power refreshed every 10 seconds and then as I set £0.3 per kwh it is showing a cost projection for the day of £8.27 at the current energy consumption.

View attachment 696041

The first page of history the main display is the days total but not really sure about the average, I can't go back days as it's been in the shed and only keeps a week I think.

View attachment 696044

I can go back weeks though and this is week 49 part of which we were away we were away,

View attachment 696045

And week 48 we were away more of this week, remember that this is just any power used via the inverter not EHU connection, the main display is cumulative but not sure what the average is? but most likely average load thinking about it.

Thanks Martin, it looks from what you’ve presented that the history shows both the ’actual’ and ‘average’ daily/weekly consumption/spend. It’s not entirely clear though what that average is. If you have the actuals then the average can only be derived from a number of the preceding days/weeks.

Ian

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[funflair]

Thanks Martin, it looks from what you’ve presented that the history shows both the ’actual’ and ‘average’ daily/weekly consumption/spend. It’s not entirely clear though what that average is. If you have the actuals then the average can only be derived from a number of the preceding days/weeks.

Ian

I think the average is the average load so top photo it’s the same as actual but if I had then halved the load the average would drop, a bit superfluous really as the kWh consumption is the important bit.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Steve, I can't comment on electricity use on the MH, but during the pandemic when I had Covid and was self isolating in the MH, I went through a 6Kg cylinder of propane in 2.5 days. The Alde 3000 heating was on 24/7.

Our MH is completely drained down, water filter removed, lines blown through, and taps left open. The only problem I ever had many years ago due to frost, (minus 15 degrees at the time), was a damaged solenoid under the Thetford swivel bowl, which I had to replace, as it was siphoning the fresh water tank contents. It was the only area I forgot to clear the water from.

At home, our combined energy charges for a 3 x bedroom semi, during the first seven days of December have been £60.00, including standing charges. This time last year, we were only paying £69.00 a month by direct debit, and still staying showing a credit.

Cheers,

Jock.

We had to replace ours soon after buying the van as it would not seal unfortunately it was the angled one @ £90 due to it having a ceramic bowl, virtually impossible to drain down unless you remove it and disconnect the pipes

 

[JockandRita]

We had to replace ours soon after buying the van as it would not seal unfortunately it was the angled one @ £90 due to it having a ceramic bowl, virtually impossible to drain down unless you remove it and disconnect the pipes

It's a right pain in the ar@e to change over Steve, isn't it?

Once It's all drained down, I close the sink taps, remove the shower head, turn the pump back on, and blow down the shower hose whilst operating the electric flush button. Sometimes I get a spurt of water in the bowl, but I always, always get another load of water out the drain taps by blowing throw the pipes. I then turn the pump off and open all taps again

@Techo Andy set himself up a compressor inlet, to blow air through the water pipes for draining down.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Steve and Denise]

It's a right pain in the ar@e to change over Steve, isn't it?

Once It's all drained down, I close the sink taps, remove the shower head, turn the pump back on, and blow down the shower hose whilst operating the electric flush button. Sometimes I get a spurt of water in the bowl, but I always, always get another load of water out the drain taps by blowing throw the pipes. I then turn the pump off and open all taps again

@Techo Andy set himself up a compressor inlet, to blow air through the water pipes for draining down.

Cheers,

Jock.

A compressor can be a bit severe pressure wise so be careful ideally hi volume low pressure to blow water out of the pipes (old cylinder hoover) if you can remember them

 

[Al n Val]

Cheap…

Bloody Hell

I knew i’d seen one somewhere before but never knew the price

I can imagine that would get nicked as well

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[Al n Val]

Buy one of these Al

Meter Maid 16A 230V Portable Electricity Meter

Meter Maid accurately measures individual electricity consumption with pinpoint accuracy. Low prices, fast delivery. Shop now.

www.piratescave.co.uk

Not at nearly 200 quid i’m not lol and it’d get nicked surely

 

[JockandRita]

A compressor can be a bit severe pressure wise

I'm sure it was a 12v tyre inflator compressor, rather than one of these.

Jock.

 

[Stavelot]

I've set our Alde to 5°C & plugged the motorhome in although everything is drained down. We realised over the last year of ownership (bought brand new) that the Alde control panel temperature was out by about 4°C.

I put another digital thermometer inside yesterday and this morning the digital one said 4°C and the Alde said 8°C! We're expecting the outside temperature to drop to -10°C tonight so I'm glad I checked. I've now adjusted the offset on the Alde by 4°C so that it and the digital one agree.

So, we're probably being a being overprotective as new owners by leaving it on 5°C but we do use it mostly in the colder months so I don't want anything to break. Last use was just over a week ago so although everything is drained down there's probably water lurking somewhere.

The overprotectiveness might change once the next electric bill comes in.

 

[liamharry]

We have the Alde 3020 I believe and have drained down the system, but have left the heating on in this -5 ish degree overnight weather. Set to the lowest of 5C.

Using gas only we use about 5% of an 11kg bottle every 24hrs. We have two 11kg Gaslow bottles.

I believe that’s about 21 litres a bottle. So even at a £1 a litre that’s just over a £1 a day to heat on tick over on gas.

EHU at home was courting a lot more.

 

[Delboyarapaho]

Not sure if this has been done before (now we have smart meters)
a comparison I have had the heating Alde ticking over @10 degrees on electric and it seems to have increased our useage of around £5 per day, now I have switched to Lpg @ 80 a ltr so will keep an eye on gas useage for a week or so.

Would help to know how many kWh your £5 relates to as we are all paying different charges per kWh

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[Steve and Denise]

Would help to know how many kWh your £5 relates to as we are all paying different charges per kWh

Ain’t got a clue ? I was doing well to get any sort of cost

 

[zac]

Mine is based on 0.36p a kwh, today the heating has not gone off at all with the temp set at 6 degrees meaning the alde heating is going to use over 24kwh just for the last 24 hours. When we get back from our Xmas break I will be using gas to heat and not electric as from what I can make out its going to be a lot cheaper to heat via gas than on electric based on the current 0.36 per kwh. Of course it doesn't help with the extremely cold temperatures at the moment.
Pic is from today's usage

 

[wp1234]

Not if it's drained properly, shower heads & taps only get damaged if not left open in the central position.

That’s what I do , drain down , drains left open every tap on the van left full open

 

[zac]

That’s what I do , drain down , drains left open every tap on the van left full open

I do the same but you can never guarantee all the water has gone as without blowing it through there is bound to be some in there somewhere. We're about to start loading ours up for our 3 week trip so temp will be going up now. I'll switch over to gas now as we have 5 days before we go so will just go and fill up before we leave depending on how much gas is going to use. I have a system I can monitor that with as long as the van is level which it is at the moment as it's on the E&P. Our drive is on a large slope so normally I don't level it as I need blocks as well. The last 24 hours are in see pic, just under 24kwh which translates to just over £8

 

[jongood]

Bloody Hell

I knew i’d seen one somewhere before but never knew the price

I can imagine that would get nicked as well

If your requirement is just to know if your over the 4KW ACSI limit can you not just take a picture of the meter at the start and keep an eye on it? I've done this a few times after being caught by the charges.

A good tip if you have solar is to turn the battery charger off. I only turn mine on when I want to charge the batteries that way.

If on metered I stick the Fridge and heating on gas initially and then will turn them back on electricity towards the end if I have a surplus.

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[zac]

If your requirement is just to know if your over the 4KW ACSI limit can you not just take a picture of the meter at the start and keep an eye on it? I've done this a few times after being caught by the charges.

A good tip if you have solar is to turn the battery charger off. I only turn mine on when I want to charge the batteries that way.

If on metered I stick the Fridge and heating on gas initially and then will turn them back on electricity towards the end if I have a surplus.

4KW is not going to last long thats for sure if they are using it for heating, they will need to be running that on gas although a lot will depend on what they have it set to and what the temp is like outside etc. I'm no expert but that seems very low when you are paying for it and i dont think they are paying the cost the same as we are if its in France/Spain/Portugal etc for electric.

 

[jongood]

4KW is not going to last long thats for sure if they are using it for heating, they will need to be running that on gas although a lot will depend on what they have it set to and what the temp is like outside etc. I'm no expert but that seems very low when you are paying for it and i dont think they are paying the cost the same as we are if its in France/Spain/Portugal etc for electric.

Its not what they re paying its what they are charging it out at.

 

[zac]

Its not what they re paying its what they are charging it out at.

Very true

 

[Al n Val]

If your requirement is just to know if your over the 4KW ACSI limit can you not just take a picture of the meter at the start and keep an eye on it? I've done this a few times after being caught by the charges.

A good tip if you have solar is to turn the battery charger off. I only turn mine on when I want to charge the batteries that way.

If on metered I stick the Fridge and heating on gas initially and then will turn them back on electricity towards the end if I have a surplus.

I do exactly the same as you John but Villasol have now removed the meter as it’s all done in the office now so you have no idea what you have used each day.
You might have used 3 kw one day and 5kw the next but they will charge you for the one extra you have used that day.

Al

 

[Carpmart]

So on a metered site, are you best using gas for the fridge? How KWh will a three way fridge freezer use in Spain in ‘winter’ conditions do we think?

WRT draining down and blowing through pipes, surely any residual water freezing in pipes, as long as not full, shouldn’t really cause an issue will it? I had assumed the freezing water would just expand into the space which isn’t filled with water?

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[Sheddy]

I do exactly the same as you John but Villasol have now removed the meter as it’s all done in the office now so you have no idea what you have used each day.
You might have used 3 kw one day and 5kw the next but they will charge you for the one extra you have used that day.

Al

I may fit one of these just to keep an eye on our consumption. We were still on one of the old pitches so did the photo thing this year.

Amazon product ASIN B09MLW4JLF
Or even this

Amazon product ASIN B083QGBGKK

 

[zac]

I may fit one of these just to keep an eye on our consumption. We were still on one of the old pitches so did the photo thing this year.

Amazon product ASIN B09MLW4JLF
Or even this

Amazon product ASIN B083QGBGKK

These look very similar to the shelly din rail devices but these are a lot cheaper i would say use whatever is best as long as its rated ok.

I think its a bit of an eye opener for me knowing how much the motorhome is costing to heat over the winter months just to 6 degrees. Last pic on usage below as they are all around the same usage ie between 19-24kwh every 24 hours @ 0.36p per kwh £6.84 for yesterday. Blinking good job we are going Friday it will give my electric a rest till next year

 

[BobJayne]

Anyone tried running a dehumidifier over the colder periods? I know technically it's not a heater but obviously it does heat up the air anyway to extract the moisture in the air.
I've got a Meaco 12L which I believe uses around 7p/hr when running.
It may well work out cheaper to warm it sufficiently to stop freezing and also keep it damp free.

 

[Pausim]

Anyone tried running a dehumidifier over the colder periods? I know technically it's not a heater but obviously it does heat up the air anyway to extract the moisture in the air.
I've got a Meaco 12L which I believe uses around 7p/hr when running.
It may well work out cheaper to warm it sufficiently to stop freezing and also keep it damp free.

I thought they chilled the air drawn through them to cause the water to condense. If I am right they will reduce the temperature rather than raise it.

 

[funflair]

I thought they chilled the air drawn through them to cause the water to condense. If I am right they will reduce the temperature rather than raise it.

That's what I thought, but then I thought to chill there has to be heat somewhere else and then with inefficiency of the chilling process there must be a net heating effect, but marginal.

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