Sustainability Matters

A non electric saver trial is underway at 3 sites over the winter months allowing members at Clumber Park, Burrs Country Park and Chatsworth to book any pitch and receive a discount for not hooking up. If this is successful it may be rolled out more widely in 2024.

www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/useful-information/smart-metering-trial/

The Club is moving towards use of electric equipment on site, be it electric buggies, mowers and leaf blowers, this will be a slow process and the move will be made as equipment fails.

The Club is also using air source heat pumps to provide space heating and heat recovery on toilet block ventilation systems. We are also busy investigating and assessing options for pre-heating hot water. 

This is a very good point and something the Club is looking into. We have solar panel providers but we need to find a cost effective solution for the battery needed to store the energy generated. 

You can stay up to date with solar and other renewables on our sustainability hub and sustainability FAQs. 

Thank you for your points. You are very true and this is why roll out of solar is slow as we understand how best to optimise each site. Due to visitors using the energy in the morning and evening when light is limited we need to understand the usage better to ensure we install the correct size and can use all the energy generated. 

Wind turbines were trialled at one of our sites however, we found the energy generated was not cost effective vs the cost of the infrastructure. 

If you have any other questions please remember to check our FAQs and sustainability hub.

The Caravan and Motorhome Club is run with our members in mind and any surplus is invested back into the Club. Over the past 5 years the annual investment in the site network has been £12.8 million and we ensure this investment has our members at the forefront of any decision making. 

If you have any other questions please remember to check our FAQs and sustainability hub.

Any excess that cannot be stored in batteries can be exported to the grid and a payment received.

Hi Rowena

Thanks for getting back to us on this subject with some pretty comprehensive answers. I was particularly struct by what you said about the consumption of electricity going down when a site has a metering set up. I assume the Club have been doing some exit surveys on members who have stayed at these sites to see how habits have changed? We know from the AGM questions that the energy bill for sites was a massive figure so if energy savings via metering result in lower use then hopefully this will in future be more accurately reflected in site fees? 

David

Indeed, the more individuals and companies, including the C&MC do this the less our country becomes fossil fuel and foreign energy supplier dependant. Must be a win win for members, our country and the environment. Certainly would enhance the profile of the club’s green credential.

A non electric saver trial is underway at 3 sites over the winter months allowing members at Clumber Park, Burrs Country Park and Chatsworth to book any pitch and receive a discount for not hooking up. If this is successful it may be rolled out more widely in 2024.

How come the Club has only now decided they can do this and what is the discount?

peedee

I think the Club are trialling a few ideas PD, all those three sites are luckily not far from us, so depending on the discount, it could be a goer for us.

Have you had the first night free email yet? This does sound good, only for a couple of months, but brings the nightly average down well for a short stay for us. I have started a thread about this.

Hi David, 

We have been completing exit surveys and also been analysing the amount of electricity used when compared to those who are not on a metered connection. Those taking part in the trial are saving money due to the decreased pitch fees and the amount of electricity used. We are excited to see whether this continues in the colder months. 

We will update on the trial once we have analysed all of the findings in 2024. 

Thanks again David.