Electricity while camping

albalad

poe.tuesday wrote: »

I have a huge tent, a gazibo, blow up beds, a fridge, electrical hook up, a cooking table and two other tables, chairs, rugs on the ground to keep my toes warm , even had a fan when it got too hot once

how do you get on with the gazebo ? does the site charge you for having this ?

I've been thinking of adding one of these to my camping gear (and a bigger car to carry it all :rotfl: )but not sure if it's just going to be an extra expense or something that'll prove invaluable



On Wednesdays I go shopping , And have buttered scones for tea
He cuts down trees... He's a lumberjack...

boo81

Ive seen they are banned at a few places because of the fire risk

dianadors

Camping for a lot of people is being able to afford holidays that you wouldnt be able to otherwise. The difference is price between a pitch and a static caravan/cottage is huge!! Also camping is not for everyone - so whatever your need when camping - its ok. We are fairly basic needs campers, but we sometimes do weekends with folk who literally take the kitchen sink. It all looks like too much effort to me, but they couldnt survive without it! Gazebo's look like more trouble than they are worth on most sites. They dont provide much shelter and they are very prone to being blown away. I must admit when we started camping we bought loads of stuff that we no longer take - we are becoming more minimalist as time goes by. I love camping - I'm never happier than when I'm pitching my tent and starting on the wine box!

bizywizy

Just bought a 9 berth tent for 4 of us but means stressy kids get own space which thought was going to be more enjoyable for us all.

Still in a quandry over electricity and the need of a portaloo thing.

I want a cheap holiday (as spent the money saved on a new bathroom - whoops) but I want enough to do for the children.

I dont want tv ect and like the whistly kettle ect. Slightly worried about the hair but will accept hideous photos for the sake of it all.

We have done 2 nights as a group, have 2 nights booked again as a group and want to book 5 nights in the summer somewhere.

Do we really need electricity whilst camping. If there is a laundrette presumably they have a tumble drier but do worry about being damp and not being able to warm up.

Maybe just worrying to much!

photome

themaccas wrote: »

Hi we use electricity in our tent. We bought an outdoor electrical lead like this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/15-Mtr-Trailer-Tent-Camping-Electrical-Hook-Up-Cable_W0QQitemZ150122972954QQihZ005QQcategoryZ90870QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

We use ours for our kettle, a lamp, radio and a portable dvd player, we also charge our ipods and mobile phones. This year we are taking a mini fridge. I think it's an essential piece of kit!

Is this legal? I thought you had to have an rcd on your lead in a tent

ailuro2

poe.tuesday wrote: »

totally agree, no vacuums, but have you seen those fly swats that look like tennis rackets that zap the flies - now there's a camping must have ;-)

got one from poundland last week:j

themaccas

Photome - You could be right maybe that's why it was so cheap. You can get the RCD ones from camping places and last year Argos was selling them for around £90. We go one from ebay last year - with an RCD - for only £29.99 - Bargain!!

OH loves camping rural in a field, up a mountain but he is in the forces and loves the outdoors. My concession to camping is that we do it as comfortably as possible, we used cool boxes last year and got the blocks frozen every day in the communal freezers, but nothing ever stayed cold long enough hence the decision to buy a mini fridge - you can get them for around £20 from argos. It all helps to keep the wine chilled and therefore me too!!

albalad

photome wrote: »

Is this legal? I thought you had to have an rcd on your lead in a tent

i was a bit worried by this too , photome - not sure if this is entirely helpful either, this is taken from the ebay listing

THERE IS NO NEED FOR A RCD UNIT OR A THERMAL CUTOUT UNIT AS BY LAW ALL CAMPSITES MUST PROVIDE A CONNECTION WHICH INCLUDES BOTH UNITS.

so the campsite "should " provide an rcd , but if they don't and you don't have an inbuilt one :eek:

while i was looking for one , every site mentioned to stay away from ebay leads - maybe this is why !

livinginhope

When we first started camping we borrowed a lead,it was blue and looked like the ebay one,we plugged it in and started enjoying ourselves,when the manager of the site came over to see if everything was ok,while he was talking he told us we couldn't use the lead as 1.it had no RCD and 2.it was blue,people can't see it as clearly as the orange and it could cause a nasty accident if someone tripped over it,we then went off and bought a proper lead at a cost of £95 eek! but for the added safety,well worth it

susan1

bit of a late post but yes it is usually an extra few pounds for electric.
have just booked a site in dorset and that was the extra charge - still £13 is not bad for a site nowadays!