Marina, cost of electricity?

[ylop]

Are you really that "Picky"? Life must be difficult.

It doesn’t seem unreasonable that someone using electricity to pay for heating the boat, heating water, cooking nearly everyday pays more than someone who leaves the boat with just a battery charger and remote monitoring system Running and they should pay more than someone who has no shore power at all.

As a visitor it’s a bit of a pita if you arrive after the office staff leave, or having paid for lucky discover that the box that is within reach isn’t actually working, or that the minimum purchases is £x on an obscure format of card in a marina you will likely never return to.

 

[Bristolfashion]

Rubbish
What we really want is electric included in with the berthing fee & no sodding about.

I agree with other posters - no way.

The included charge would be based on the average usage - this means that a small user like myself would pay WAY over the odds (I've no fridge, air con, hot water immersion) whilst the big/modern boys would be underpaying.

No thanks.

Whilst over night visitor berthing used to often include electricity, it's now becoming more often to see a separate charge. If I can buy cards /credit in small units, fine, but a flat £5 charge (eg Yarmouth) is way more than we'd use or the cost of using gas. Presumably, if this continues with smaller boats not paying, the average will increase - then less boats will use it etc.

At the other end, we're just starting to see more 32A plugs for those big, power hungry boats. I saw one that was using two 16A supplies the other day.

 

[colind3782]

Are you really that "Picky"? Life must be difficult. Now there is no fuel allowance, rates are going up & phone bill is due
You have not thought about the fact that you are an "every" weekender yourself, somewhere else. Or are you a tightwad anchor freak?

OK, fair one. I don't really care as we get a great deal on the berth with unlimited water and electricity at 32 amp. So I can't really complain. I was just being obnoxious and trying to fit into the forum!

 

[PaulRainbow]

Are you really that "Picky"? Life must be difficult. Now there is no fuel allowance, rates are going up & phone bill is due
You have not thought about the fact that you are an "every" weekender yourself, somewhere else. Or are you a tightwad anchor freak?

Currently fitting new solar array, inverter, batteries etc to keep my electricity costs down, so why would i want to subsidise those who live aboard with no solar and heat the boat with electric heating during the Winter ?

 

[Daydream believer]

As a visitor it’s a bit of a pita if you arrive after the office staff leave, or having paid for lucky discover that the box that is within reach isn’t actually working, or that the minimum purchases is £x on an obscure format of card in a marina you will likely never return to.

So you are arguing FOR if you dislike card operated systems. As for maintenance of the equipment- well that is another subject entirely which, however, is more likely to be a PITA with card operated systems, than free plug in systems

 

[Daydream believer]

It doesn’t seem unreasonable that someone using electricity to pay for heating the boat, heating water, cooking nearly everyday pays more than someone who leaves the boat with just a battery charger and remote monitoring system Running and they should pay more than someone who has no shore power at all.

As a visitor it’s a bit of a pita if you arrive after the office staff leave, or having paid for lucky discover that the box that is within reach isn’t actually working, or that the minimum purchases is £x on an obscure format of card in a marina you will likely never return to.

In our marina those that use excessive amounts of electric are locked & charged separately. The rest is included. The marina staff will unplug anyone not playing the game by hogging a socket when away from the boat for long periods.
That seems sensible to me. If I need to leave the cable plugged in for a couple of days when I am not there (battery charge, fridge regeneration prior to departure etc) I just let them know.

 

[PaulRainbow]

So you are arguing FOR if you dislike card operated systems. As for maintenance of the equipment- well that is another subject entirely which, however, is more likely to be a PITA with card operated systems, than free plug in systems

No such thing as free.

 

[PaulRainbow]

In our marina those that use excessive amounts of electric are locked & charged separately. The rest is included. The marina staff will unplug anyone not playing the game by hogging a socket when away from the boat for long periods.
That seems sensible to me. If I need to leave the cable plugged in for a couple of days when I am not there (battery charge, fridge regeneration prior to departure etc) I just let them know.

That's a stupid system. What if i want to keep my batteries charged when i'm not there, which i would.

 

[Daydream believer]

That's a stupid system. What if i want to keep my batteries charged when i'm not there, which i would.

Why? do your batteries go flat when you leave the boat- & there were you were telling us how good you are at electrics

 

[johnalison]

Why? do your batteries go flat when you leave the boat- & there were you were telling us how good you are at electrics

They don’t go flat but I leave mine on a float. I’m not hogging anyone’s socket because each berth has its own. My last basic heavy duty batteries lasted nine and ten years, so I must be doing something right.

 

[ylop]

In our marina those that use excessive amounts of electric are locked & charged separately. The rest is included. The marina staff will unplug anyone not playing the game by hogging a socket when away from the boat for long periods.
That seems sensible to me. If I need to leave the cable plugged in for a couple of days when I am not there (battery charge, fridge regeneration prior to departure etc) I just let them know.

Is the problem hogging a socket or excessive use (kWh) they are different problems. When we keep a boat in marinas a Minute Maid (?) was the simple solution to billing for use without needing temperamental card readers etc. I don’t mind paying for what I use. I do grudge paying £5+ as a minimum fee on a card that I will probably never use again.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Why? do your batteries go flat when you leave the boat

Not with the new solar panels

- & there were you were telling us how good you are at electrics

Where did you read that ?

 

[B27]

You take the deal as a whole.
I think last time I had shore power I bought a card for a fiver, ran a few power tools for a few hours and charged some batteries overnight, then used a hoover.
Did similar small jobs for the next week, then somehow all my credit was gone.
Pretty sure a couple of people had 'shared' it!
Expensive per kWh, but invaluable in getting the work done and the mooring was not expensive.