Running electricity from a mobile home park!

salad17

I run a small business from a lorry very near a mobile home park. We would like to get electricity but don't want the constant noise of a generator, and batteries won't provide enough power.

I am thinking of asking the mobile home park if it would be possible to run a power line from there. Surely he's already set up for that sort of thing, with different meters for the different owners etc.

Would this be possible, and what would it involve in terms of installation? It also crosses a cul de sac road. As in we are the other side of the road from the mobile home park. Could I have an engineer install a cable above the road?

Malcomex

If you mean connect to their installation

They'll refuse

salad17

Yes that's what I mean. How come?

I assume as a mobile unit/no bricks and mortar, that it would be the only way for us to connect up to mains.

Snotty

What's in it for the park owner?

I would think getting the ESB to install a line for yourself would be cheaper in the long run and no reliance on someone who could cut your power off at the drop of a hat.

Padre_Pio

salad17 wrote: »

Yes that's what I mean. How come?

I assume as a mobile unit/no bricks and mortar, that it would be the only way for us to connect up to mains.

No harm in asking.

Some issues.
1. What's the expected load?
Camp sites usually limit power to a few amps to every caravan and trailer. Hardly enough for a hairdryer and an electric heater.

2. What's the distance? Anything over 50 metres and you're going to face some bother.

3. I don't think you can run power over a public road. Probably need planning or ESB to come out.

4. Who's paying for the installation and upkeep?

5. Do you need access to his fuseboard if the switch trips?

6. Does he cut off power in the off season?

7. What's in it for him, other than some cash up front, then chasing you to pay the ESB bill.

elperello

Crossing a road is a non-starter.

Modern generators especially the Honda range are fairly quiet.

salad17

Padre_Pio wrote: »

No harm in asking.

Some issues.
1. What's the expected load?
Camp sites usually limit power to a few amps to every caravan and trailer. Hardly enough for a hairdryer and an electric heater.

About 3-4k watts at max. It's for a coffee machine set up.

2. What's the distance? Anything over 50 metres and you're going to face some bother.

Probably about 30 metres

3. I don't think you can run power over a public road. Probably need planning or ESB to come out.


4. Who's paying for the installation and upkeep?

We would

5. Do you need access to his fuseboard if the switch trips?

Yes I guess so

6. Does he cut off power in the off season?

Interesting, I hadn't considered this.

7. What's in it for him, other than some cash up front, then chasing you to pay the ESB bill.

Other than a payment, they are very supportive of our business as we serve his customers in the mobile home park a lot.

salad17

Snotty wrote: »

What's in it for the park owner?

I would think getting the ESB to install a line for yourself would be cheaper in the long run and no reliance on someone who could cut your power off at the drop of a hat.

Is this a possibility? To install a line for a mobile vehicle? I mean we don't plan to move it at all, but still.

Padre_Pio

salad17 wrote: »

Is this a possibility? To install a line for a mobile vehicle? I mean we don't plan to move it at all, but still.

ESB charge about 2k for a connection I think, but they won't do it for a mobile vehicle.

Tap into the nearest streetlight

Malcomex

Malcomex wrote: »

If you mean connect to their installation

They'll refuse

Nothing in for them

They'll be contracted to you for little gain

You'll be taking some of their supply capacity

Possible insurance implications?

salad17

Malcomex wrote: »

Nothing in for them

They'll be contracted to you for little gain

You'll be taking some of their supply capacity

Possible insurance implications?

Well I wouldn't mind paying them on top of the electricity and installation.

Snotty

salad17 wrote: »

Is this a possibility? To install a line for a mobile vehicle? I mean we don't plan to move it at all, but still.

oh missed the "lorry" part of your OP.
Moving the lorry to be closer to a power source would be ideal, if you have a good relationship with the site owner, would that be a possibility?

Failing that, invest in a good generator, its really the most practical solution and completely mobile which you may be thankful of in the future.

salad17

Padre_Pio wrote: »

ESB charge about 2k for a connection I think, but they won't do it for a mobile vehicle.

Tap into the nearest streetlight

Damn, I thought so, that would have been too ideal.

salad17

Snotty wrote: »

oh missed the "lorry" part of your OP.
Moving the lorry to be closer to a power source would be ideal, if you have a good relationship with the site owner, would that be a possibility?

Failing that, invest in a good generator, its really the most practical solution and completely mobile which you may be thankful of in the future.

We're on a very set location as we're right by the beach and we run activities from there so couldn't really move.

I guess I need to find someone who has a good generator and see how quiet they actually are.

Any recommendations for generators? This is a beach location so really don't want to disturb it with the constant hum of a generator!

Padre_Pio

salad17 wrote: »

We're on a very set location as we're right by the beach and we run activities from there so couldn't really move.

I guess I need to find someone who has a good generator and see how quiet they actually are.

Any recommendations for generators? This is a beach location so really don't want to disturb it with the constant hum of a generator!

You can get quiet ones from Honda and they're usually marketed with a dB rating. You could also make a vented box with insulation to deaden the sound. Just have holes for air in and exhaust.
It would be important to spec the output that meets all your needs. So for your 4kW, you'd probably buy a 6kW just to have some overhead.
Might cost 10-15euro a day in diesel.

It's a pain, but it's the only thing I've seen most people use. Be worth looking at food trucks to see how they operate and what generators they use.

The road is what kills getting mains. I'm sure there are laws to stop people stringing power lines across roads.

Henry Ford III

Would a high capacity battery that you recharge nightly be of any use?

salad17

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Would a high capacity battery that you recharge nightly be of any use?

The original plan was to run off a bank of leisure batteries, but the more I looked into it the more it seemed impractical for those levels of power needs.

It is suggested as a method for small coffee karts, but even with a smaller machine in practice I couldn't find anyone who did it successfully.

JamesM

A modern generator in a sound insulated box will be a lot cheaper. It can also run from a gas bottle, no messing with smelly petrol. I have a Honda EU2000i which cost just over €1000.00, running on gas.

Padre_Pio

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Would a high capacity battery that you recharge nightly be of any use?

Say you're running 3kW throughout the day (which might be accurate if you're constantly boiling water, steaming milk, lights, refrigerator, maybe a heater etc. )

8 hours is 24kW, which is a Nissan Leaf battery.

Actually not a bad idea if you were planning on buying an EV in the future! Some of them have mains plugs!

JamesM wrote: »

A modern generator in a sound insulated box will be a lot cheaper. It can also run from a gas bottle, no messing with smelly petrol. I have a Honda EU2000i which cost just over €1000.00, running on gas.

That's another option. You can parallel those generators, so you can save fuel.

salad17

JamesM wrote: »

A modern generator in a sound insulated box will be a lot cheaper. It can also run from a gas bottle, no messing with smelly petrol. I have a Honda EU2000i which cost just over €1000.00, running on gas.

Ok thanks, I had a look at them and they don't seem to mention running off gas?

How quiet is it? Hah, not really an easy question to answer, I can see the decibel rating but what does that actually sound like?

salad17

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Say you're running 3kW throughout the day (which might be accurate if you're constantly boiling water, steaming milk, lights, refrigerator, maybe a heater etc. )

8 hours is 24kW, which is a Nissan Leaf battery.

Actually not a bad idea if you were planning on buying an EV in the future! Some of them have mains plugs!



That's another option. You can parallel those generators, so you can save fuel.

Oh I thought he meant leisure batteries, which is what I've looked into. I have no idea about electric car batteries?

As in have 2 generators in parallel? Or do you mean combine with a battery?

It seems that two generators might be needed anyway, since the smaller ones seem to be the super quiet ones whereas the bigger ones don't seem to do that. Though is 2 generators twice the decibels?!

2011

I would power efficient LED lights from the lorry and would use a gas stove to make coffee. Simple, quick, reliable and cost effective.

This avoids the requirement for a generator, a supply from across the road or a new supply from the ESB.

Malcomex

2011 wrote: »

I would power efficient LED lights from the lorry and would use a gas stove to make coffee. Simple, quick, reliable and cost effective.

This avoids the requirement for a generator, a supply from across the road or a new supply from the ESB.

Good point and likely best solution here

Surely all this catering equipment is available in gas versions, presumably propane?

Lewis_Benson

All I can hear in my head reading this thread is yer man Fr Purcell from the father Ted episode where they raffled the car.

"We run the electricity off the gas, and the gas off the electricity, and we saved 200 pounds"

2011

Malcomex wrote: »

Good point and likely best solution here

Surely all this catering equipment is available in gas versions, presumably propane?

There are lots of ways to make really good coffee without electricity.
Personally I use a “moka pot”.

salad17

2011 wrote: »

There are lots of ways to make really good coffee without electricity.
Personally I use a “moka pot”.

This is for a coffee shop though, we may be doing 60-100 coffee per hour at peak!

Malcomex

salad17 wrote: »

This is for a coffee shop though, we may be doing 60-100 coffee per hour at peak!

Have you thought about gas then?

I don't believe 2011 was suggesting a moka pot for your operation

2011

salad17 wrote: »

This is for a coffee shop though, we may be doing 60-100 coffee per hour at peak!

Not a problem here is a commercial machine that works off LPG and a 12V battery:

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/mobcater.com/product-category/beverage-machines/coffee-machines/amp/

Padre_Pio

2011 wrote: »

Not a problem here is a commercial machine that works off LPG and a 12V battery:

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/mobcater.com/product-category/beverage-machines/coffee-machines/amp/

Cool.

that might cover the bulk of your energy usage. Run the rest of a small jenny and you're sorted.

2011

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Cool.

that might cover the bulk of your energy usage. Run the rest of a small jenny and you're sorted.

Personally I would avoid a generator if possible. I would expect that the 12V supply would be a very small load for electronic and ignition purposes only. If the machine was struggling to meet demand I would purchase a second machine. Keep it simple.

Padre_Pio

2011 wrote: »

Personally I would avoid a generator if possible. I would expect that the 12V supply would be a very small load for electronic and ignition purposes only. If the machine was struggling to meet demand I would purchase a second machine. Keep it simple.

I mean jenny for lights, fridge, other appliances etc etc.

Cheaper than a 12V battery alternative.