In most cases the cost of power is included in the tariff. There are a couple of parks that have a meter and charge for usage but they are very rare. Not sure of the price they charge as it has been years since I stayed at a metered site
With most caravan parks the power charge is built in they either charge for a powered or unpowered site. Some caravan parks where you are staying long term have metered power, the metered charge is what they see fit so they'll make a good profit on it.
Getting back to the "Powered Site" fixed charge, I think most parks have worked out the average daily power use and just add that to the "Unpowered Tariff". There are some caravan parks however, that when they see you have an Airconditioner on your vehicle they'll charge extra for power per night. I came across one in Tweed Heads a few years ago that charged $15 a night extra if you had airconditioner REGARDLESS if you were going to use it.
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Steve, Di & Ziggy We named our Motorhome "Roadworx" because on the road works "On The Road Again" Ford Transit with 302 Windsor V8 conversion, C4 Auto, 9 Inch Ford Diff All Lighting L.E.D., 260 Amp/h AGM, 530 Watt Solar + Kipor Backup Gen.
Hi, The Parks that have metered sites normally have a power inclusive rate up to one week, so that if staying say two weeks then the entire time would be on the discounted weekly rate plus the electricity used. As said earlier some parks charge extra for vans with aircon though I think this practice is being phased out as more vans have AC & It's easier to charge for it across the board.
Gets down to shopping around for the park that best suits Your needs. Except in places like Darwin & the highly popular coastal areas.
As far as I am aware it is against the supply authorities rules and as such is illegal to on sell power I think if you read their supply terms it is in there but there is nothing saying they cannot include a charge in their tarrif fee which many parks would include as a business cost and hence the difference between powered and unpowered my estimation at 30cents /KWH would be a big rig with A/c running all night as I have seen would be aroung 3-$5 and a small van like me maybe $1.50 to $2.00 at max
Note that when the carbon tax came in park fees up and down the coast jumped but when it got the axe the fees remained up and in some case even went higher. Years back when only a few van had aircons they would ask if you had one and charge you more, Now they just hit everyone regardless if it's a tent of a motorhome if it's a powered site you pay the same for electricity supply to boil a jug or run a full blown power sucker
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I have only ever stayed in one caravan park that metered and charged for power and that was in Darwin. From memory we were there for about a week and power cost about $29. The air con did get a very good work out during that stay.
After using a Proper Power Board Meter connected to our van in Nth Qld - Cairns and Hobart - Tassie I can advise you that the Max Power use in our van from NQ to Tassie is Identical.
In Cairns the Hottest/Humid time of year with all Electric Usage including use of A/C 5 to 15 hrs/day in van a Max of 10Kw/24hrs in 2009 at $0.92c/Kw rounded up $10/24hrs, in Hobart, Tassie in 2012 through the Winter with all Electric usage including use of a Small Air Heater for 5 to 15hrs/day was 10Kw/24 hrs at $0.93c/Kw rounded to $10/24hrs.
We ourselves Do Not Fraternize Caravan Parks unless Absolutely Necessary, the last one being The Advent Park Grounds at Maidavale near Perth WA. At $36.50/N/Power/Water which is the cheapest around there and a great cool area with plenty of shade for the hot weather while we were there. It doesn't get packed and there is heaps of room. It doesn't feel like a van park.
The problem I have found with a Lot of Travellers when in Van Parks is that when they are using their A/C's they have windows and doors open while their A/C's are running which would lead to Excessive Power usage. I bet they Don't use their A/C's in their Own Homes like that, they would be wanting Efficient Power usage to save Costs.
I don't Blame van park owners sometimes when they see People ABUSING the Power usage as far as what fees they pay for Power when included in the Accomodation Fees. No wonder some Turn to separate Fees for Power with Abuse such as this.
There is also the cost of providing the infrastructure for each powered van site. 10 or 15 amp peak / site.
Multiply by number of powered sites and the capital cost would start to get significant , which needs to be recovered somehow
CP owners probably also include a charge for reading the meter.
However, the cost of individual electricity meters has dropped considerably in recent years.
And they could also be read remotely from the CP office.
It seems the "normal" variation in CP's for powered site to non powered site is around $5 night. The only park we have visited with a separate meter was Blacks Beach CP in MACKAY. We opted to pay separately for power and the cost for two nights was considerably less than the included power cost. It was May so no aircon. Cheers,
