My wife and I are thinking about traveling full time. I have noticed how parks give you a hefty discount for staying a month as opposed to a few days. I have also noticed that some parks say that electric is extra. Is there an average electric cost per month at these parks? If any of you have stayed for extended periods, how much was your electric bill?
Really depends on your unit, as well as, local electric rates, weather and your lifestyle. We have a motorhome with 50 Amp electric including 2 AC units, 3 tvs, a microwave, etc. In addition we run a couple of computers nearly full time and DW uses a printer, etc for her work. If we are parked where daytime temps are mid ninety and we have little or no shade (our preference), we can use $150-$175 per month in electric. With temperatures in mid seventy to low eightys we will use $40-$60 per month. Last month our neighber in a small travel trailer with one a/c who works away from his site full time told us he used $35 worth of electric. We used $110.
Where we winter, Palm Springs, CA. our electric is direct from the power company (not sub-metered by the park). We run between $150 and $20o per month. We have 3 ac units on our rig and some outdoor lighting, so we probably run towards the high end.
Just wanted eveyone to know that if you are being charged electric monthly, the day you move in, check your individual electric meter and READ it and write down the number! My neighbor in the site next to me, luckily wrote his down and when he got his bill he noticed that he was being charged from a totally different number! When he showed the office his number that he wrote down the day he moved in, they APOLOGIZED and get him another bill.....which was much LOWER! I now write mine down everytime I know I am being charged for electicity.
Joez is right on your type of unit affecting the rate. Also the number of people full-time living in the rig, vs going to work or outside the rig all day. Our rig (50 amp class A) also has 2 ac units. We're just 2 adults retired, going on 4 years full-time living, traveling, camping. Traditionally, we only use the front TV, the laptop and printer on a daily basis. We do not have laundry facilities or radiant floor heat. We ALSO have no solar power generating capabilities...just a generator for boon docking. When parked monthly, (vs on the road traveling, or overnighting) we use electricity (vs propane) for the water heater and refrigerator. We also cook more when parked for a couple months, so the convection oven plays a strong role in electricity use. Of course the coffee pot goes on every morning. If we're parked in hot weather for the season, those ac units can really suck down electricity. We can run $80 to $150 a month in hot weather. Offset a bit by limited convection oven cooking. Too hot to cook inside, so the BBQ (non electric type) gets a workout when it's hot. When we're parked in cooler weather for a season, we use a very efficient space heater in the mornings to take the chill off. Perhaps the electric blanket if we're having a cold winter in the desert SW. Generally run $40 to $60 a month in these climates. I unplug stuff (and switch the water heater off) when not in use. (The coffee pot, electric blanket, space heaters, computer), probably only saving myself a couple bucks from parasidic electricity consumption, but it makes me feel better. I also donated my holiday rope lights to the kids, converted to a MUCH lower consumption LEDs and solar lights. Was totally amazed how much power those old rope lights consumed (additional 50 bucks) over the holidays! Ree makes a VERY good observation. DO read your meter when you decide to book for a monthly rate. Mistakes happen, and can be overcome if YOU have taken the time to read your own meter. We too had a horrendous electric bill the first month at a snowbird park. $380. I knew we couldn't have used that much if I had wrapped ourselves in rope-lights. Because I had electricity records from their sister park, we reached a consensus ($80). I'll never forget to read my meter again. B)
Here is a spreadsheet that can help you figure out whether to use electricity or another energy source when you have metered electricity: Dept of Energy Fuel Cost Comparison
Ask the campground how much they charge for electric. We have paid anywhere from 11 cents a KWH to 18 cents a KWH. Last summer in Loveland CO with temps in the day in the high 90's and turning the AC on about 9:30 am and off around 7pm our electric bill was about $90 a month. In the winter in Rockport TX we pay 18 cents a KWH and our electric bill using a 1500 watt space heater runs about the same last year but it was a cold winter for that area. . There is probably no set answer as to how much your electric will cost as we each use that utility differently.
Oh, I forgot a very obvious factor. Nedmntman reminded me. THE PART OF THE COUNTRY YOU ARE IN. Power costs much less in SW Iowa than SW California... :lol:
Wow, that's a lot of power! I've only stayed monthly where power was not included a couple of times, and it was $22 one time, and $25 the other. One of the park managers commented when giving me the bill that it was quite a bit lower than average. I guess I'm just used to having to conserve after camping in national forests without external power in the past. I prefer to cook with propane so rarely use the microwave, generally turn out the previous light when going to another room, and don't like a/c going unless it's extreme. I'm usually gone during the day, so if it's a hot day, turn on the a/c when I return for a few minutes, which cools it down quickly. I use propane for heat, rather than space heaters. I don't use an electric hair dryer, so the toaster is the big power user (at least for a minute or two).
QUOTE(jim crowl @ Sep 21 2010, 10:52 PM) [snapback]24204[/snapback] ... I use propane... What is the price of propane in your neck of the woods? Propane in south west California got as high as $5.75 per unit (gal) last couple winters. Dropped to $4.75 when we topped off before leaving this spring. That did not include various tack-on prices because one is not filling a 200-600 gal stick-house sized tank. Once again location matters: south west Iowa, propane was running $1.50 per unit. B)
