Electricity rip-off?!?!

Koeketiene

Koeketiene

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Joined
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Messages
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Location
Le Roussillon (South of France)
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The latest marina rip-off (at least, it is to me): If you want electricity, it's an extra three quid a day!!!!
Whatever next?

I compare visitor berths to hotel rooms - picture the following

You check into a hotel

Receptionist: how long will you be staying, sir?
You: two nights
Receptionist: that will be X pounds.
Will you be wanting light in your room, sir?
You: why, yes!
Receptionist: that'll be three pounds extra per night.
If you're planning to have a bath (water) - that'll be extra too.

Market forces? My foot!
 
If they didn't charge people an extra £3 for using the shore power, do you think they'd give all us peeps who don't use shore power a £3 discount?? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Try Lymington ... Berthon !!

£3 is peanuts !!

Even the guy apologised to me when I fell over on hearing the charges !!!

Most places I visit are £1 ... which was average for caravans also when I did them ...

/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
The latest marina rip-off (at least, it is to me): If you want electricity, it's an extra three quid a day!!!!
Whatever next?

[/ QUOTE ]Name names - which marina? £90/month or £1080/year over and above berthing charges is not on.

Even £3/night for visitors is excessive.
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo
 
[ QUOTE ]
Name names - which marina? £90/month or £1080/year over and above berthing charges is not on.

Even £3/night for visitors is excessive.
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[/ QUOTE ]

Haslar Marina Gosport today, and Cowes Yacht Haven yesterday.

Mind you, I'm not talking about visitor rates.

It's even quoted in the Yachting Monthly Solent pilot book - "beware of the rip off electricity charge". Unusual candor for YM.
 
Visitors rates - that explains it - yes definite rip-off. most I've been hit with in Scotland was £2.00/night for electricity - stayed 2 nights and didn't pay for the second night ("[--word removed--] that's expensive for battery charging" says I - O.K. second night free says he.)
Croabh Marina. Tarbert used to be £1.50 prepay cards in the meter giving 10KWh of power. Mind you £20.00 to raft up maybe 6 deep is rough - I have taken to dropping the hook nearby and motoring in in the tender for a beer. Unfortunately I then have to run the old iron donkey for power the next morning but stil cheaper than £20.00 to raft up.
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo
 
Get yourself some decent solar panels. Even running my eberspacher for a couple of hours or more/day I still dont need to run the engine to generate power (just as well as it only provides 10 amps)
 
£3 for a visitor is what we've found too - quite a bit for an overnight stay when all you have is a battery charger and imersion heater ... but once we added the fan heater (no eber) and electric kettle we were starting to get 1/2 our moneys worth....
we're (hopefully) off for a couple of weeks on the boat - just the 2 of us and not likely to use the shorepower for more than a night or too ....
 
Solar panels not much use at night.
My "at anchor" amps consumption (12v) is 15~20 say 250w so £3.00 for 2.5KWh is steep.
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo
 
Just to make you feel better, here in NZ one can in many marinas pay just twice that or less per night as a visitor for a 12m berth - that is for the berth including electricity and water (and I am told, but stand to be corrected, that the cost of electricity here is now around the same as in the UK).

Apart from cheaper labour rates here, one difference seems to be that we do not have lot's of marina staff running around babying everyone and having to be paid for. Some quite reasonably sized marinas get by with only one employee (our own is unusual in that it is small - 160 odd berths only - and has two employees, but they do hard stand work for boats coming from other local marinas with limited hard standing room, secure parking for cars for boat owners away cruising, operate a reasonably large secure trailer boat storage area, launching ramp fees, RC model yacht racing area, etc).

John
 
assume you mean 250watt/hrs/day, my single solar panel is rated at 770 watt/hrs per day, just need to ensure that your battery bank is large enough.
 
Tarbert still has the cards... but on paying my fee last weekend the H'master suggested I scout around for an outlet with some credit left from the last user. Right enough I plugged in and got enough juice to charge the batteries overnight and have a reading light on.
I did get annoyed when I enquired about shore power in the marina. I was told I could buy a meter for £130. As they had none in stock I could just plug in meantime. A month later I got a bill for £42... more then the monthly leccy bill at home just to run a dehumidifier and a timed tube heater.
I unplugged pretty smartish.
 
No, no 250watts for average 10 hours/day = 2.5KWh.
I am looking at building a DC genny using a 135amp "12v" alternator and a small 4 stroke 4 hp engine for battery recharging / 12v power to run invertor as I am not happy with the idea of 240v gennies on smallish boats.
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hammer.thumb.gif
“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo
 
What I meant Jerryat, and did not make it very clear, is that one can in many marinas get a 12m berth for the night for NZD15 which is a bit less than 6 of your pounds. So, such a berth can be got here for a little less than twice the 3 pounds some are saying in UK pay just for electricity for one night.

That NZD15 includes the berth, electricity, water, etc.

Regards

John
 
[ QUOTE ]
I did get annoyed when I enquired about shore power in the marina. I was told I could buy a meter for £130. As they had none in stock I could just plug in meantime. A month later I got a bill for £42... more then the monthly leccy bill at home just to run a dehumidifier and a timed tube heater.
I unplugged pretty smartish.

[/ QUOTE ]Power for the berth holders is FREE for occasional use but not if you are "permenantly" plugged in. I too got stung for largish bills - wife plugged in the shore power and left it in while I was away - came back to a pile of bills for zilch - battery charger only running. I also had in issue when I went out for a few days, came back to find a "visitor" had plugged into the same outlet that I normally used and no record of the meter readings. I stopped leaving her plugged in after that - I am not paying for someone elses electricity.

Now I plug in only if I am there such as after a wee sail, come back, plug in for a few hours and chillout with a bottle or two while the batteries get topped up. I have no oblection to paying for what I use so long as everyone else in the marina is doing the same. Seems to me there are many boats plugged in 24/7 for months on end to run dehumidifiers and heaters but that is their choice.

I believe the standing charge is around £30/month plus electricity used. No objection to paying the electricity used but £30/month is a bit steep. I don't know what Clyde Marina (Ardrossan) charge not that I fancy having to play tag with the "Caledonian Isles" 4 or 5 times a day - it is bad enough in Troon with the P&O and the Life Boat (hi Paul!).
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hammer.thumb.gif
“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo

The bottom line is we (marina berth holders) are all in the "hands of the philistines" when it comes to what they want to charge, be it for electricity or lift outs or berthing, so one either pays up, avoids using the extras, or looks for somewhere else to keep our boats.
 
HYCo ... have 2 systems

Shed at top of pontoon run ... where a meter is connected to a bank of sockets ... you run your cable alongside pontoon and plug in ... it's on an honesty system ... plug in - put a £1 coin in ... works well ... doesn't cost more than metered electric.
Other sytsem is the dedicated socket per boat on a stand at intervals down the pontoon. You have key to small padlock that secures the socket from others. But you pay over £100 for the privilege to be allocated a socket - then its meter rate.

Me I just want charger and occasional - maybe 10 hrs a year heater !! So have my £1 coins ready !!

Many already know that Marina in UK is not allowed to charge higher per unit than local electric supplier, but they can up the service charge ... !!
 
This happened to me at Haslar.

I was told that this was because large stinkies use loads of electric with their fridges, air con, search lights, 1MW sound systems etc.

I pointed out that I didn'r use these devices so it wasn't fair.

Cut no ice I'm afraid.

It's all their fault......again!

Magic
 
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