Electric or Gas?

[Rick@62]

Hi all. Im hoping to be off to the west country for a couple of nights this week, stopping at a site with payable electric hook up. This is the first time I will have stayed in the MH and be expecting to use the heating. The MH is a Swift Escape C205 with gas bottles and electric hook up and the Truma heating / hot water system.

I was thinking about the most economical options for heating, lighting, hot water etc. If I use the power options the same as I do at home, IE, use the gas for heating and hot water and cooking, and use the electric for lighting and to power fridge, would that sound about right?

What do other MH users do when it comes to deciding what to use the gas / electric for?

Cheers all,

Rick.

 

[PaulW2]

When on hook up use electric for everything you can use it for. The electric space heater may prove too weak to reach a comfortable temperature, in which case supplement with (or switch to) gas.

 

[starquake]

I think it depends a bit if you are on a caravan club site (most are all inclusive EHU) in which case use electric.

Or if wild wamping on someones drive (like we are this xmas) use gas every time. However worth noting if you do use gas, if you use refillable sometimes it's best to decline the generous electricity for a discount (ie, go metered, or go full off grid on a site (sometimes £8 a night less at some places). Refillable gas won't cost you £8 a night even in winter.

Should add I'm joining the refillable gas gang this winter, once we've ran down our 2 remaining swappable bottles.

 

[Rick@62]

I should have added I have a refillable gaslow system, two bottles. To use the electric hook up, apparently I need to set up an "account" with the company supplying the electricity to the site and deposit a random sum, say £20. Once that is used up the electric turns off,

 

[Jo662]

Start the heating on gas,and when up to a good temp switch over to electric.

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[Spriddler]

for a couple of nights this week,

You're only up for the difference in cost between gas and electric so for just a couple of nights I wouldn't even think about which is cheapest but use whichever is most convenient. I have refillable gas so wouldn't use EHU at all provided that I had confidence in my leisure battery to run the 12v lighting, water pump and the fridge and water heater control circuits.

 

[poppycamper]

If only a couple of nights... always gas, don't fancy signing up for an account for two nights, what happens if you don't use all you put in??

 

[Tombola]

I should have added I have a refillable gaslow system, two bottles. To use the electric hook up, apparently I need to set up an "account" with the company supplying the electricity to the site and deposit a random sum, say £20. Once that is used up the electric turns off,

F9rst time I've heard of this setting up an account independent of the site. Not a bad idea per se.

What site is it op, I wouldn't mind looking into it

 

[hja]

F9rst time I've heard of this setting up an account independent of the site. Not a bad idea per se.

What site is it op, I wouldn't mind looking into it

The CAMC sites with electric meters involve setting up an account before arrive! Although you can do it when there, internet dependent! They are trying to find an alternative system as it has proved a bit problematic and not popular.

 

[Pausim]

Metered electricity is likely to be at least 25p per kWh. Refillable gas at £1.20 per litre is 17p per kWh (7.07kWh/litre). Gas will be cheaper, even allowing for a slightly lower efficiency but convenience might be a deciding factor.

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[Dart]

F9rst time I've heard of this setting up an account independent of the site. Not a bad idea per se.

What site is it op, I wouldn't mind looking into it

This system has been in operation for a few years now at Cofton Holidays in Devon and it works well once you have set up your account with a company calleds Metermacs. The idea is you preload your account with a suggested amount of £10 or so. You can monitor your usage throughout your stay and top up if needs be, either online or through the site reception. As I recall, at the end of our 3 night stay last December we'd only used a little over £2 worth of electic so we simply called into reception as we were leaving and asked for a refund onto the bank card we paid with and it was done immediately for us.

 

[Pausim]

The CAMC system worked very well too. Download app, set up account with some credit before visiting, then log your EHU bollard into the app after pitching up and it goes live. Easy to monitor use on the app and balance left after visit refunded.

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

This system has been in operation for a few years now at Cofton Holidays in Devon and it works well once you have set up your account with a company calleds Metermacs. The idea is you preload your account with a suggested amount of £10 or so. You can monitor your usage throughout your stay and top up if needs be, either online or through the site reception. As I recall, at the end of our 3 night stay last December we'd only used a little over £2 worth of electic so we simply called into reception as we were leaving and asked for a refund onto the bank card we paid with and it was done immediately for us.

Yes, ditto on the couple of times we've stayed there.
Mike.

 

[ChrisL]

If you're on non metered hookup, use electric as it's included in your pitch fee, if you're only going for a few nights and you're on a metered pitch or off hookup use gas but be aware that between heating, hot water and the fridge you will go through gas really quickly, to give you an example I live full time in my motorhome and I have two 11kg gaslow cylinders, if i'm only using it for cooking it will last around three months, if i'm using it off hookup for heating, hot water the fridge and cooking maybe just two weeks if i'm lucky, so you have to weigh up convenience as well as cost, will there be convenient places to refill your gas on your travels etc.

 

[Pausim]

When I had an AES fridge I was surprised by how much gas it used so don’t be tempted to use the gas option when on a metered ehu.

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[Guigsy]

When I had an AES fridge I was surprised by how much gas it used so don’t be tempted to use the gas option when on a metered ehu.

Then you'll be shocked at how quickly a 3-way fridge can munch through electricity! I've stayed on a couple of Aires that have an electricity meter in the hookup totem that needed a €1 coin per kWh. It was 5-10 times more expensive than refillable gas.

 

[Rick@62]

This system has been in operation for a few years now at Cofton Holidays in Devon and it works well once you have set up your account with a company calleds Metermacs. The idea is you preload your account with a suggested amount of £10 or so. You can monitor your usage throughout your stay and top up if needs be, either online or through the site reception. As I recall, at the end of our 3 night stay last December we'd only used a little over £2 worth of electic so we simply called into reception as we were leaving and asked for a refund onto the bank card we paid with and it was done immediately for us.

Beat me to it!! Yep, thats where im headed, Cofton Holiday Park, between Starcross and Dawlish. Ive just put £20 on the account as I plan to go back at some point in the future. As an aside, I hadn't realised that they have gone totally cashless now, bars, restaurants etc, even the small arcade.

 

[herald_400rl]

Our fridge is 4.2p per hour on gas (£3/kg calor), 4.3p per hour on electric at 35p/kwh.

 

[poppycamper]

Our fridge is 4.2p per hour on gas (£3/kg calor), 4.3p per hour on electric at
.

 

[gilbaro]

Beat me to it!! Yep, thats where im headed, Cofton Holiday Park, between Starcross and Dawlish. Ive just put £20 on the account as I plan to go back at some point in the future. As an aside, I hadn't realised that they have gone totally cashless now, bars, restaurants etc, even the small arcade.

We went to Cofton as we had a free stay. We paid £10 up front and used less than £3 in three days using electricity for everything so my advice would be to deposit as little as possible.

By the way the local pub is well worth a visit.

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[Burge]

So ........you have a metered site for leccie what sort of money are you talking for your Pitch Fee ???? Meaning is it considerably cheaper to use a Metered Pitch than an All in Pitch or are we still paying a considerable sum per Pitch, Thanks

 

[Pausim]

Our fridge is 4.2p per hour on gas (£3/kg calor), 4.3p per hour on electric at 35p/kwh.

Adjusting your calculations using Morrisons lpg at £2.55/kg and CAMC electricity at 32p/kWh gives a gas cost of 3.6p per hour and metered electricity at 3.9p per hour. Still sufficiently close that I would choose by convenience rather than cost. If you need to use small exchange gas bottles the cost per kg is significantly higher.

 

[herald_400rl]

Adjusting your calculations using Morrisons lpg at £2.55/kg and CAMC electricity at 32p/kWh gives a gas cost of 3.6p per hour and metered electricity at 3.9p per hour. Still sufficiently close that I would choose by convenience rather than cost. If you need to use small exchange gas bottles the cost per kg is significantly higher.

Ours is such a pain at times to light we do feel stuck to hookup. Booking in for a service of the fridge but likely due a replacement. It is 24 years old, after all.

 

[Dart]

So ........you have a metered site for leccie what sort of money are you talking for your Pitch Fee ???? Meaning is it considerably cheaper to use a Metered Pitch than an All in Pitch or are we still paying a considerable sum per Pitch, Thanks

I've just looked back at the confirmation emails for our last couple of stays at Cofton. In December 2022 we paid £25 a night for a large hardstanding with electric included (£75 for 3 nights). A similar pitch in December 2023 cost us £19 a night without electric (£57 for 3 nights plus a little over £2 in total on the electric meter). So a saving of £15+

 

[Orion]

By the way the local pub is well worth a visit.

The Anchor Inn at nearby Cockwood Harbour gets our vote, especially if you enjoy seafood. The nearby Ship Inn not so much, although it’s showing as ‘Temporarily Closed’ anyway at the moment.

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[gilbaro]

Couldn't remember the name of the village until I saw it but the pub was indeed The Anchor

 

[Rick@62]

So ........you have a metered site for leccie what sort of money are you talking for your Pitch Fee ???? Meaning is it considerably cheaper to use a Metered Pitch than an All in Pitch or are we still paying a considerable sum per Pitch, Thanks

Im on a 6m hard standing,£20 per night mid week for now.

 

[Burge]

Im on a 6m hard standing,£20 per night mid week for now.

Is that on Meter or all in EHU ?

 

[68c]

If you are on metered EHU and you pop out for the day in your van, is there any way of stopping your chatty neighbour swopping leads until they see you coming back?

 

[gus-lopez]

t Cofton Holidays in Devon

a place where they charge for everything including visitor parking then expect you to park in a wet field of grass with a 30º slope,which you can't even get away from the entrance gate, then wonder why you get funny & dump the MH outside the reception whilst visiting.

Then you'll be shocked at how quickly a 3-way fridge can munch through electricity! I've stayed on a couple of Aires that have an electricity meter in the hookup totem that needed a €1 coin per kWh. It was 5-10 times more expensive than refillable gas.

When I use my 3 way on electric at home it doesn't even really register?