Full-time electricity costs

faraway

faraway

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Oct 10, 2016
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Kent
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Chausson Flash 10
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Getting better
If one is using a motorhome full-time (not travelling) and it is hooked up to mains electric, could anyone give me an idea of the rough costs of the electricity? Chausson Flash 10, based in Kent. Usage is:

Thetford fridge/freezer on all the time
Small 1700W fan sometimes
Lights when required.
TV with Humax recorder, both usually on standby for recording purposes
800W Microwave/convection combi about 4-5 days a week, roughly 10-30 minutes a time.
Small electric kettle 2-3 times a day
Charging phone and laptop

Boiler runs only off gas so that does not influence costs.

Any ideas or where I could find info? Thanks
 
You could always get a electric usage monitor, just Google it.
 
You could purchase a smart socket that gives you a read out of energy usage and plug your EHU into it.
 
Add up all watts x hours.

Eg, Fridge is 100 watts x 168 hours a week = 16800 watts / 1000 = 16.8 kwh
Microwave = 800 x 5 days x 30 mins = 2000 watt hours = 2 kwh

So 18.8 kwh @ 20p (say) = £3.76 a week.

Add all the rest of your items. Then add a bit for luck. I think you will be surprised how much power you use when you add up all the chargers, laptop, phones etc.

I think my maths is good!!

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No idea of cost but more than if you were on your own supply that's for sure.
You can't be charged more per Kw than it costs the provider of your hookup for the actual electric... But they can charge what they want for the use of their infrastructure.... Hookup post, underground wiring etc.
 
Many thanks, have ordered a socket monitor and will plug the EHU into that and see where I go from there.
 
faraway said:
Many thanks, have ordered a socket monitor and will plug the EHU into that and see where I go from there.
Click to expand...
you may be surprised just how much you do use..

when full time.. I fitted an Owl meter.. this monitored the incoming supply and also alarmed when we were close to the max load on the EHU thereby preventing the site CB tripping.

we were being charged 14p per unit on a pre paid card meter .. it was costing us £3.5 - £5 per DAY ..

we had a 2kw kettle, 120w fridge, 12v charging, microwave, TV, charging laptops, phones.. etc..

do you think this sounds wrong ?

as an example, am going to assume 14p per kWH, (it will probably be more now.. nearer 20p)

let's say you had a 1kw oil filled heater on 24hrs @14p per kWh , for 24hrs = £3.36 .. or if 20p kWh = £4.80

do the maths.. it all adds up and a lot more than many think

Owl Monitor http://109.73.126.210/index.php/energy-monitors/standalone-monitors/owl-micro/
 
Last edited:
Many thanks, definitely food for thought
 
Could I just add an item that's missing.
As soon as you you use any 12v item in the 'van, the Battery charger will kick in (won't it?)

As I understand it, that's another 120 watts, and, if it's anything like ours, it takes forever to switch itself off. So much so that I'm tempted to unplug the charger when on a site that charges per Kw.

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My daily average is only 1,54€ in the house :)over the last 14 months.
 
If you have refillable gas it may be cheaper to use gas where possible. Someone on here has done the maths but not sure where.
Edit seem propane will give about 12KwH per litre which at 60p a litre is 5p a Kwh.
 
I spent the winter at a site in Norfolk 2016 on a meter it cost between 3.50 and 4.00 a night . Only got gas truma boiler so with a 2 kw oil rad going when really cold i didn't think that was to bad .
That was cooking with a halogen oven instead of the gas one, what i spent on lecci saved on gas to some extent.
I have an old Hymer which has great insulation that helped to a great extent , other full timers , im only a long term user(y) used to stay in our van in the evening to get warm before bed time.

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It depends a lot on the weather if you are heating with electric, at the Shrewsbury Tinsel meet last year it was down to -12c, the average usage for the weekend was over £5 per van and they were only charging £5.

Martin
 
I full time..
And avg just over £3 per 24hrs.. if hooked up.. in winter.

Truma 6e on 24/7 with varying temps tween 12 for night and 19 for day use..

Hot water by default..

All cooking, kettle etc. via gas...

Fridge on 240 v

Charging Phone/Pad..

Use of 12v PC and Avtex as monitor ...

LED lights...

I use this monitor when at relatives...

This reading is for circ 3 weeks leading up to Christmas

410E9443-9FAD-4021-A2F2-8B3B94656AC1.jpeg


410 Kwh @ 15.5p = £63.55... div by 19 days.. £3.34
 
At this time we are sat on the driveway, as the Bungalow refurbish following the "Flood" in August is incomplete, and the "holiday" rent we where in, was booked for Xmas and New Year!, no one else will take a dog.

The Power Meter is showing 1.61Kw/hr currently but that is monitoring both Bungalow, where the heating etc is still on low, and `Van where there is a small Oil Heater in the bathroom and a 1Kw of a 2Kw fan heater running. That will increase when SWMBO wants her early morning tea!.

My Tariff is 11.182p/Kw/hr. (Scottish Power) or about 18p/hr / £4.32/day. But of course that will not be the daily average!. So, on a commercial site, I would expect that well over £5 per day would not be exceptional at this time of year!.
 
Thanks very much everybody, much appreciated.
 

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