charging for hook ups (1 Viewer)

[DanielFord]

There is a small site just outside Dover we once used.. It had coin slot meters fitted.
At the time I thought it was a good option as it allowed for those who did not want or need hook up to avoid paying extra

I like the coin meters, someone else has also said it, but it seems almost standard in Germany. Loads of places have them. Just need to make sure you have plenty of 50 cent coins, load the meter and off you go.
It seems a lot fairer, certainly in my mind I am only paying for what I use, so if I choose to run my aircon, I pay more! Simples!

 

[olley]

Stayed on a site in Nacton which had a double system, leccy included in the pitch price and you were on 5amp mcb's or pay separately and you were on 16amp.

Ian

 

[Lenny HB]

Sadly the resale of lecky act prevents the system being installed here.

Why?
It's an EU directive applies to all EU countries, other EU countries don't seem to have a problem charging for it on sites. As it's been said it is to stop greedy landlords overcharging tenants not exactly revavent to touring site owners. Just the way the UK has decided to interprerate the directive or rip off Britian again, all look we can charge some people even when they don't use it.

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[Neilfg]

If the OP's site was intending to have people staying for longer period metering or limits would be a good idea, as I would not want my fee to subsidise those who leave their awning fan heaters on all night. The site owners need to identify their target market and setup appropriately. But I would want it to be easy, we generally only stay for 2 nights, so would not want to be bothered with a meter, having said that I would not be specifically put off staying at a site that had metering or limits even if staying just for one night.

If I did find it annoying or a hassle then I would move somewhere else, that is the one of joys of having a Motorhome after all!

 

[John & Joan]

We use a CL with metered hook-ups. He was charging £8 per night. He put meters in because people were running heater 24/7 in awnings. His electric bill was going through the roof. Then he started getting people refusing to come, when he told them the pitch fee was not inclusive of electric, as he was now charging for the electricity used. He used pre pay cards. I was on site when a van came in at tea time and paid for £5 worth. He ran out during the night. I was on the next pitch and had used 50p off my card in the same period.

The next season he started charging a fixed fee of £10 and he put pre-charged cards in the meters, so that no one had to do anything. He read the meters and wrote on the card the last reading when he showed people to the pitch. This gave him an indication of the usage.

This spring I went back and he had changed the system again, During the winter he charged £10 per night plus the electric used. At Easter he changed to a fixed inclusive fee of £12.50 per night for the summer.

I read his meter every day I stay and my consumption averaged 45p per day. The last person on the pitch has used £15+ but I don't know how long that was over. He was charging the same rate as he was paying for the electric per unit.

 

[7735]

Most of the sites in Europe charge extra for lecky, on a meter.Often you are limited to 4- 6amps and you can pay extra for higher amperage, they just put in a bigger trip. We got really caught in Hiedleburg I didnt realise it was metered and had our heating on all day. It cost us 12 euros for 1 day much to the delight of the smiling German," You have had your heating on ya"

spongy

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[funflair]

I have heard mention on here of Kw/hr daily limits set by the site per pitch, seems to apply to continental sites, no idea how that would work in reality, but it sounds like a useful alternative

I think the reference I saw was a site in Spain

Hi @DavidG58

When we were in Spain two sites had Kwh limits, one was 6 the other 5 1/2 per day, once you exceeded it was 35 0r 40 cents per Kwh. I was running as much off the solar and inverter as possible and only used about 3.

 

[ronidog1]

Thanks for the really useful debate. I am sure that the new site owners have find it very helpful.

Ronidog

 

[Vouty]

Stayed on a great site in Arisaig (sunnyside croft) and they had topup cards and a meter system. You coukd buy in £2 increments so fine if you just wanted a little - think its a great system as it prevents waste. Not a fan of all you can eat buffets either for the same reason.

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[Welsh girl]

Riverside park in Stratford have meters for the rally field. we only stayed one night as it was the last day of the rally, they advised us to put just £1 token for overnight. we used 70 pence overnight. They sold tokens. (The rally marshals ) we realised just how much we've been overcharged by paying the nightly electric standard charge. But realise that many more overuse it by using heaters Etc when not needed.

 

[gus-lopez]

I have heard mention on here of Kw/hr daily limits set by the site per pitch, seems to apply to continental sites, no idea how that would work in reality, but it sounds like a useful alternative

I think the reference I saw was a site in Spain

In Spain all electricity is supplied in multiples of KW's. The more you have the greater the standing charge .
In the UK a new house now usually has a 100A supply , about 24KW.
In Spain the average is 5,75kw. Mine is the lowest you can get 3KW which has a 12 A trip to stop over usage. The standing charges on this amount to 27€/2 months.about 30% of the bill.
You can get increased KW supplies but once over 10 KW it then becomes 3 phase even in to a domestic dwelling & split & balanced across all 3 phases.

Without actually going & looking it up the guesstimate for the standing charges on a typical 24KW UK supply in Spain would be around 200€ per 2 months ;
so 100€/month . Could be dearer as a commercial supply & has to be paid even if you haven't any customers.

 

[mitzimad]

I think the people operating the site, which if it is for a CL type will be limited to 5 pitches, need to decide how much hassle they want. Coin operated meters will need to be emptied and they may need to be on hand to offer change if the place is out in the sticks. Meters will need to be read when they arrive and leave so they will need to be around all day - for five pitches if they are full, which for most of the year they won't be.

If it was me I would have an extra charge for those who want electricity, which might be higher in the winter, and set the rate so that overall they don't lose money over a year.

I've only ever been on a couple of places where they metered the electricity and it was a pain and the cost was about the same as I would normally pay when there is a fixed charge.

Might also be worth considering that in the UK metering is not common. They need to speak with other CL owners in other parts of the country and see what there experience is.

meter only needs reading once as the last customers reading will be the one you start on

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