Marina electricity usage/cost

[Momac]

Cheers.
Just wondering, as the last one I had stated it needed to be above 16°C (if I remember correctly) to work, but this was around the turn of the century.
It sounds as though the new versions are much better.

If the temperature is 16 degrees or more you don't need a dehumidifier (in the UK).
I only find a need for the dehumidifier from early November to mid March or thereabouts.

 

[Daydream believer]

Obviously no good for liveaboards; but having the boat ashore & removing absolutely everything from inside, except liferaft, fenders & tools needed for maintenance, has its pluses. I need no heating, or de humidifiers, The boat is always dry. I do not miss the 2-3 times one might go winter sailing. It gets a good clean inside every year. Sails get serviced & cleaned if needed then stored at home. They do not suffer from needless exposure to winter weather.
The inevitable stuff that is handy, even if one does not need it, can be left behind when re packing & all the cushions, cutlery, clothing etc. can be cleaned prior to re fitting. Food & drinks checked for date.
Takes a day to empty & a day to put it all back (sails excluded) because I live nearby.
Cannot see the point of heaters, if one is able takes that option.
But my boat is only 31 ft. It might be a different story for someone with a 40+ ft boat.

 

[Robih]

The Meaco DDL Junior which I leave on constantly cycles on/off as per the graph below (boat is afloat in the Clyde).

Here is the power consumption over the same 24hr period:

It‘s not a great idea to timeswitch a desiccant dehumidifier as there is a small heater in the unit, it needs to shutdown properly and cool the heater before the fan goes off. Obvious fire risk otherwise.

 

[lumphammer]

Just checked our marina electric account. Obviously I am being naive about the increased costs, but a bit of a shock to see our marina (Premiere) charges 32p kw/hr, meaning our small 750 watt cabin heater is costing nearly £6 a day!! I got them to switch it off temporarily while I think of a cheaper way. Probably will replace the heater with a 220 watt dehumidifier on a timer for four hours a day, equating to approx £4.00 a week. How does 32p kw/hr compare with other marinas, much the same I guess.

Just checked prices at Chichester Marina, electricity here is 42p per unit

 

[RupertW]

The Meaco DDL Junior which I leave on constantly cycles on/off as per the graph below (boat is afloat in the Clyde).

Here is the power consumption over the same 24hr period:

It‘s not a great idea to timeswitch a desiccant dehumidifier as there is a small heater in the unit, it needs to shutdown properly and cool the heater before the fan goes off. Obvious fire risk otherwise.

That’s exactly the behaviour I would expect in the first day of usage as it brings the humidity down to its set level then should rarely go back up again - day two should be even less power. If power keeps being used at more than jsut enough to check the humidity every half hour that implies the boat needs better sealing of hatches and vents.

 

[colind3782]

I wouldn’t say our electricity and water is free but it is included in the marina fee.

 

[ylop]

Thanks, very helpful. I thought 2 hours in the morning and two hours in the evening might be the way to go. Trial and error I suppose

I believe some (most?) dehummers work better at higher temperature - so is it actually more efficient to run for 4 hrs in the middle of the day? I don't know.

If Rupert is right and a boat is essentially a sealed box then it might be irrelevant as after a few days you are down at low Hum and it will stay there. i think he might be being optimistic both in how long to get down to the target (any fabrics that have already become damp will be slow to dry, gaps behind cupboards are slow to diffuse out, condensation (or leaks!) into the bilges may mean there is some actual liquid water, etc) and also wonder if it is realistic to expect it to be airtight - certainly my companionway hatch and washboard are not.

 

[RupertW]

I believe some (most?) dehummers work better at higher temperature - so is it actually more efficient to run for 4 hrs in the middle of the day? I don't know.

If Rupert is right and a boat is essentially a sealed box then it might be irrelevant as after a few days you are down at low Hum and it will stay there. i think he might be being optimistic both in how long to get down to the target (any fabrics that have already become damp will be slow to dry, gaps behind cupboards are slow to diffuse out, condensation (or leaks!) into the bilges may mean there is some actual liquid water, etc) and also wonder if it is realistic to expect it to be airtight - certainly my companionway hatch and washboard are not.

You might be right about the how long it takes to get down to the lowest usage although we found once we stopped cooking and drying clothes it was about 12 hours on high setting to get down to below 60 percent and start switching off. Sealing the boat before leaving would take about an hour as we bagged and taped all vents and did the same to the companionway. Just binbags and duct tape. Our bilges don’t leak and I tend to reseal hatches as I go during the season if needed.

I’m sure the sealing wasn’t perfect but it minimised new air or moisture getting in. Slightly to my surprise the first time we left it that way for months the whole boat smelt much fresher and cleaner than usual when we opened the hatch. And all clothes in wardrobes nice to wear even after 3 months of very wet weather.

 

[MikeB.]

I asked at our Marina today about cost per unit - and this was her reply!

We are now invoicing monthly for electricity rather than quarterly and these prices are derived from the amount charged to us by the electricity supplier each month and may therefore vary.

I'm told that Yattendon group who negotiate MDL's electricity contract have not been able to find a new supplier yet after their existing contract ended in September.
Who know's what they will charge for "electricity at cost' if their Marina Manager doesn't know!

 

[LiftyK]

That's one of the cheaper ones - try Lymington.
[/QUOTE]

That’s odd. In the summer I needed an assured overnight berth and the book-ahead rate at Lymington Town Quay was much lower than at Yarmouth. Next season I will be sure to avoid assumptions and check again.

 

[savageseadog]

Marina users, both leisure and liveaboard are "consumers". We are charged the commercial rate that the Marina pays and there is no price cap or "Energy Bills Support Scheme" as far as I know. Are liveaboards a household? There must be a similar issue in caravan parks

 

[st599]

That's one of the cheaper ones - try Lymington.

That’s odd. In the summer I needed an assured overnight berth and the book-ahead rate at Lymington Town Quay was much lower than at Yarmouth. Next season I will be sure to avoid assumptions and check again.
[/QUOTE]

Berthon and the Yacht Haven are nearly 60 quid for a 40 footer.

Crew won't use the town quay as the facilities when we went there during lock down were filthy and the local youth were lobbing stuff at boats.

 

[doug748]

That’s odd. In the summer I needed an assured overnight berth and the book-ahead rate at Lymington Town Quay was much lower than at Yarmouth. Next season I will be sure to avoid assumptions and check again.

Berthon and the Yacht Haven are nearly 60 quid for a 40 footer.

Crew won't use the town quay as the facilities when we went there during lock down were filthy and the local youth were lobbing stuff at boats.
[/QUOTE]


You are not kidding.

I paid nearly £200 for four nights in Lymington. £470 for a month in Jersey.

.

 

[Daydream believer]

Crew won't use the town quay as the facilities when we went there during lock down were filthy and the local youth were lobbing stuff at boats.

I was in a harbour on my round UK trip. Possibly on the N Ireland coast. A Norwegian SH sailor was having trouble with local youths, who seemed to have homed in on him. His boat was slightly away from the main group. He told me that he would sort them when he got back to his boat. Sure enough, shortly before he was due to leave,4 yobs started throwning objects at him & insulting him. Suddenly he produced a catapult. He was a good shot & hit 3 of them on the legs causing some howls of pain. One fell to the floor as it hit his knee cap. They soon left. He also left shortly after, so no one could come after him.

 

[Elessar]

Good question. Our de-humidifier can be run permanently, which I would do for some 4 hours a day, but it has an auto button, with a humidity setting of our choice, and I too wonder what is the best option. Also, what is the best humidity setting, about 45%?

I have a tapo socket. I use it to turn the dehumidifier on for 10 hours a day, but the dehumidifier is set on an 8 hour timer. So the dehumidifier shuts itself down rather than having a power cut.
I can also turn in on manually, remotely or change the timer if say I want a boost before coming to the boat. Use a second one for an oil filled rad to pre warm the boat.
Tapo do one with energy monitoring which will answer your “which is best” question.

But if drift but…….
When I moved to Universal marina electricity was free and I knew that wouldn’t last.
The system they have put in is excellent. It allows me to monitor usage by app, emails me if the boat is unplugged and allows me to turn the power on and off to the whole boat remotely. It also provides 180Mb/s wifi with a receiver in every box. Rock solid and fast. Streaming or work video meetings are effortless. Puts other marina chains to shame.

 

[Daydream believer]

I can also turn in on manually, remotely or change the timer if say I want a boost before coming to the boat. Use a second one for an oil filled rad to pre warm the boat.

I can understand turning the heater on before arriving at the boat. But it seems a little odd that one would want to turn the dehumidifier on when one is shortly going to open the hatch etc and let the air in complete with moisture therein?

 

[Elessar]

I can understand turning the heater on before arriving at the boat. But it seems a little odd that one would want to turn the dehumidifier on when one is shortly going to open the hatch etc and let the air in complete with moisture therein?

Point taken. I run the dehumidifier every day in winter. Being desiccant it provides background heat. So I haven’t found the need yetto give it a boost but I could. I keep beds made etc and they don’t get damp.
In previous years I let it run 24/7 but that was becoming north or £100/month thus the timer.

I think the damp comes from me breathing and perspiring, and cooking etc, rather than opening the hatch though.

Another off topic but I wouldn’t run a compressor dehumidifier or any electric heater other than an oil filled radiator remotely because of fire risk.

 

[Gerry]

After reading this it piqued my interest so I rang Premier head office and asked the price at my marina. They refused to answer! Saying I had to call my own marina...odd. So I did and the answer is 42p per unit.... So are there different prices at different Premier marinas? I asked that question of head office and again they refused to answer.

 

[Concerto]

Recently I had an invoice for electricity from MDL Chatham and covered the period to 30 Sept. The unit cost was 17.2p per unit. Since then I have not used any mains electricity as I have not connected to shore power, so it will be quite a while before I see what is charged on a future bill.

For years I have allowed my boat to be unheated and ventilated. Strangely this year I have had to treat some black mould in several lockers after my round Britain trip. Treatment was using Cilit Bang mould remover, and the results were almost instant. The only comment I will make is do not get any on your clothes as it removes colour as fast as neat bleach.

 

[SailingDog]

Each Marina could be getting their electricity from a different supplier hence a different base cost plus the marina admin charge which should be the same hence a difference between marinas.
Which Premier are you in ?