Managing Electric Hook-Up and Power in Caravans

By Simple Ways to Improve Caravan Fuel Efficiency
Comments 35
2 Jul 2026

Managing Electric Hook-Up and Power in Caravans

What a Caravan Hook-Up Actually Gives You

Almost every serviced pitch in the UK provides 230V mains electricity through a blue 16-amp socket on a bollard, often shared between two pitches. The important number is not the socket size but the supply rating behind it. Older sites and smaller CLs often cap it at 6A or 10A, while modern sites usually offer the full 16A. Ask when you book, because that single figure shapes everything you can and cannot run at once.

Your caravan connects with a flexible orange cable fitted with a blue 16A plug at the bollard end and a matching socket at the caravan inlet. For a full 16A supply, that cable should be 2.5mm² conductor size. Thinner 1.5mm² leads are common and fine for a 6A or 10A supply, but if you regularly pitch on 16A sites, carry a 2.5mm² lead and treat the thinner one as a spare.

Amps, Watts and the Sum Worth Knowing

The whole business becomes simple once you remember one calculation: watts divided by 230 gives you amps. A 1kW appliance draws roughly 4.3A, a 2kW fan heater about 8.7A, and a 3kW kettle a thumping 13A. On a 10A pitch, that kettle alone will trip the bollard before it boils.

Useful reference points for a touring caravan:

6A supply — about 1,380W. Enough for the battery charger, lights, TV and a low-wattage appliance, but no serious heating.
10A supply — about 2,300W. A 1kW heater plus a fridge and charger is comfortable; a kettle and heater together is not.
16A supply — about 3,680W. Most of the comforts of home, provided you stagger the big loads.

The trick is not to eliminate high-draw appliances but to sequence them. Boil the kettle, then switch on the heater. Run the microwave before you plug in the hair dryer, not during.

Polarity: The Fault You Cannot See

Reverse polarity means the live and neutral conductors arrive the wrong way round at your caravan. Everything still works, which is exactly why it catches people out. The danger is that switches, fuses and single-pole circuit breakers may then sit on the neutral side, leaving parts of an appliance live even when it appears switched off.

It turns up on some UK pitches and more often on the Continent. Check it with a simple socket tester plugged into a 13A socket inside the caravan after you connect. If the tester shows reversed polarity, do not rewire your own lead. Use a purpose-made reverse polarity adaptor lead, and mention it to the site warden so they can look at the bollard. Never rely on a tester alone — test, then act.

Cable Care, Connectors and Water

Hooking up safely is mostly about routine habits rather than equipment. The blue connectors are designed to be water-resistant when fully mated, but only when they are pushed home and the sealing collar is intact. A half-twisted plug in the rain is an invitation to trouble.

Uncoil the whole cable. A coiled lead trapped under heat builds resistance and can melt its own insulation. Loop it loosely, don't leave it drummed.
Keep it out of the way. Use a cable ramp or run the lead along the edge of the pitch rather than across a walkway where someone can trip.
Inspect the ends each trip. Look for cracked seals, green corrosion on the pins, scorch marks or a loose collar. Replace damaged leads rather than taping them.
Skip domestic extension leads outdoors. A 13A indoor reel is not a substitute for a proper hook-up cable, however tempting the shortcut.
Press the RCD test button at the start of every season and after any trip, so you know the caravan's own protection is working.

Building a Sensible Power Budget

Before you plug in, run through what will be drawing power at the same time. A caravan battery charger might take 300W, a domestic fridge on mains perhaps 200W, a TV around 100W, and a water heater considerably more when it fires up. Add a 2kW heater and you are close to 3kW — fine on 16A, hopeless on 10A.

Two practical moves solve most of it. First, use gas for heating and boiling when you are on a low-amperage pitch, and keep electricity for lights, charging and the fridge. Second, learn your heater's settings: most have a 500W, 1kW and 2kW position, and dropping to 1kW often means you can keep everything else running happily.

Habits That Stop You Tripping the Supply

If the bollard trips the moment you switch something on, reduce your load before you reset it. Repeatedly flicking a breaker back up while the fault is still connected is how damage happens. If it trips with nothing obvious running, unplug appliances one at a time to isolate the culprit, then tell the warden — the fault may be at their end.

Carry a short 16A-to-13A adaptor for older bollards, a polarity tester, and a spare hook-up lead if you have room. Label your leads with your name so they find their way home. And treat the site's supply as a shared resource: a little restraint with the kettle and the heater keeps everyone's lights on, including yours.

Gear

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Use a checklist for clothes, food, tools and paperwork, then load heavy items low and secure everything before travelling.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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