Quarterly bill

Our supply isnt metered as such it is supplied via prepaid electric cards at £14 each, why £14 I dont know!

We use between 3 and 4 cards each year so between £42 and £56 per year.

We leave the battery charger and fridge on 24/7. During the winter we have a big tube heater in the engine bay, a smaller one in the shower room and a mid sized oil filled rad in the cabin.

We use the boat every weekend and sometimes during the week as well but we are out of the marina at every given chance. It is very rare we are in the marina on a Friday or Saturday night.
 
I've been at swanwick since end I'd September last year. Just had mine £50 . Id say there is something a miss with the meter or your boats electrics.
 
We spend a lot of time on the boat - run up a bill of around £30 per quarter in the summer and closer to £100 in the winter. That covers the immersion heater, fridge and freezer on for an average of around four days per week, battery chargers on permanently, two laptops in use two or three days per week and a fan heater in the spring and autumn. In the depths of winter, we will have the Eberspacher on its thermostat most of the time - but that is mostly diesel, not electricity.

Oh, and a dehumidifier running almost continually from late October till early March.
 
volvopaul said:
I've been at swanwick since end I'd September last year. Just had mine £50 . Id say there is something a miss with the meter or your boats electrics.
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Yeh, I've asked another berth holder and his is considerably less too. Thanks Paul. Out of interest, if it's not our meter lead, then what on the boat itself could be causing it? Any ideas?
L
:)
 
lisilou said:
Yeh, I've asked another berth holder and his is considerably less too. Thanks Paul. Out of interest, if it's not our meter lead, then what on the boat itself could be causing it? Any ideas?
L
:)
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Lisa, I can bring down my inductive current meter (the one's supplied by british gas etc) clamp it on your shorepower lead and then it'll be a case of turning things off and on in the boat to identify what draws the most current. It'll also tell you if there's any current draw with everything turned off which'll highlight that there's something dodgy onboard leaking current. Ping me a txt if you need it and I'll bring it down the weekend of the Sealine club dinner.

Edit: in fact, I have a proper professional Digital Volt Meter that'll be more accurate, it has a clamp too that can measure the current draw going through you shorepower lead

cheers G
 
clamp meter

oGaryo said:
Lisa, I can bring down my inductive current meter (the one's supplied by british gas etc) clamp it on your shorepower lead and then it'll be a case of turning things off and on in the boat to identify what draws the most current. It'll also tell you if there's any current draw with everything turned off which'll highlight that there's something dodgy onboard leaking current. Ping me a txt if you need it and I'll bring it down the weekend of the Sealine club dinner.

Edit: in fact, I have a proper professional Digital Volt Meter that'll be more accurate, it has a clamp too that can measure the current draw going through you shorepower lead

cheers G
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gary the meter wont work by putting it around the cable it needs to be just around the brown ps we have card what put any amount on you want and when you leave you can load the credit back on your card if you want
 
seastoke said:
gary the meter wont work by putting it around the cable it needs to be just around the brown ps we have card what put any amount on you want and when you leave you can load the credit back on your card if you want
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good point, should be able to access the live cable behind the shore power socket on the boat. certainly can on hours easily enough without the need to unscrew the socket from the transom
 
Gary....thanks for that. I've just called the marina to ask them to disconnect the shore power cable til I know exactly whats going on. Too potentially dangerous to take any chances (see other thread).
L
:)
 
Hi Lisa - As I am down a lot I always have 2 fridges on - Coolbox occasionally - Emersion heater on only to heat water when having a shower etc.
in the winter when really cold 2 tube heaters both in engine and lazzorete + 2 number 500w Delonghi oil filled radiators all on 24/7 with thermostats circa 7 degrees. Plus now have dehumidifier on 24/7 so boat always nice and dry and not musty smelling.
Last 2 winter 1/4s was circa £130 each so was happy with that size bill. I just relate the boat in comparison too how much a small apartment would cost to run :cool:

I have just dug out my last 5 bills as below inc vat

29 - 06 - 2012 £54.60
28 - 09 - 2012 £78.60
31 - 12 - 2012 £189.75
15 - 04 - 2013 £216.60
01 - 07 - 2013 £76.80


Be good to know how this compares with similar sized 45' flybridge boats which are used every weekend as well as during the week on average 3 - 4 nights a week and in summer propabaly 5 nights a week - Cheers Terry
 
Last edited:
Lisa we leave the battery charger and one fridge on during the summer and during the winter the battery charger, one fridge and a 3ft tube heater on a frost-stat plus a dehumidifier on a timer. The bills are usually £15 - £20 per quarter.

Mike
 
Not a direct answer to your question Lisa but I have had 4 electric issues which may be relevant........



1) Meter maid reading double when under load ( 2KW +) checked and tested by metermaid as reading double under load
MDL northney were very good and offered to supplied a new meter and gave me a hefty rebate

2) pontoon fixed meter reading excessively and regularly tripping, marina supplied a new one

3) My 240v plug getting hot, no damage when studied however even when unplugged from the boat (still plugged into the shore mains) it hissed, when dismantled there was a black line running between the brass pins, electric was arcing , I fitted a new plug but the one one wasnt that old.

4) a live aboard was plugging into my socket

Battery chargers can use a lot if you have a cell down, check none of your batteries are warm.
 
Lisa,
After our discussion on Monday I checked my bill, and, as I said its £15 /quarter. I leave 1 or 2 fridges and battery chargers running. Its not much more in winter , about £25 whihc includes dehumidifier and 3 low wattage heaters.
Our boats are roughly the same size so I reckon you monitor is knackered ( which might explain why it burst into flames on Monday!!)
 
lisilou said:
Yeh, I've asked another berth holder and his is considerably less too. Thanks Paul. Out of interest, if it's not our meter lead, then what on the boat itself could be causing it? Any ideas?
L
:)
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Well, I did go past Swanwick on Monday and noticed your canvas was rolled up so maybe you are heating the whole marina :D
 
jfm said:
I'm keeping a bit quiet here as my quarterly electricity bill number has a comma in it :)
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Hehehe, makes me feel better I am not the only one. Actually its not the leccy at the dock that costs so much cos I am rarely there when on the boat but the 100ltr+ a day on diesel to run the gens!
 
MYAG said:
Hehehe, makes me feel better I am not the only one. Actually its not the leccy at the dock that costs so much cos I am rarely there when on the boat but the 100ltr+ a day on diesel to run the gens!
Click to expand...
:D :D 8+ litres an hour adds up eh???!!! (Assuming you can manage the load to run mostly on one genset).
Will you get to Cannes this year MYAG? I was there yesterday and had a good look at some nice merchandise on the squeeker stand. AG is listed on their board. I'm back at the weekend
 
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