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Campervans & motorhomes

Electric Hook-Up Explained: Amps, Cables and What You Can Actually Run

The most common campsite question, and the one most often answered wrongly. A hook-up is not a domestic socket: it has a hard current limit, and understanding that limit is the difference between a hot shower and a dark field. 115 of the sites we list offer one.

Published 18 August 2026

Campsite electric hook-up (EHU) delivers mains voltage through a blue commando socket, with the supply limited by a breaker at the bollard. UK pitches are commonly rated at 10 or 16 amps, and some older or smaller sites offer 6. That rating is the entire story, because everything you plug in draws against it and the breaker does not negotiate.

What each rating gives you

Watts are what appliances are rated in; amps are what the bollard limits. At 230 volts the rough conversion is amps × 230 = watts.

SupplyApprox. total wattsRealistically
6 A~1,380 WLights, charging, a small fridge. One heat appliance at a time, carefully
10 A~2,300 WFridge plus a low-wattage kettle, or a small heater, not both
16 A~3,680 WComfortable; still not two high-draw appliances at once
These are ceilings, not targets. Sustained draw near the limit is how breakers trip.

Typical draws

  • Domestic kettle: 2,500–3,000 W. Avoid on anything under 16 A.
  • Low-wattage camping kettle: 750–1,000 W. Slower, and the right tool.
  • Fan heater: 1,000–2,000 W. The most common cause of a tripped pitch.
  • Compressor fridge: 40–100 W while running.
  • Laptop and phone charging: under 100 W combined. Irrelevant to the budget.
  • Hair dryer: 1,200–2,000 W. Same problem as the heater.

The practical rule: one heat-producing appliance at a time. Heat is what costs amps: anything that makes something hot, whether that is water, air or toast.

The cable

You need a proper hook-up lead: 25 metres of 2.5 mm² arctic-grade cable with a blue 16 A commando plug at each end. Not an extension reel, not a domestic cable with an adaptor.

  • Unroll it completely. Cable left coiled on the drum heats up under load. This is a genuine fire risk, not a technicality.
  • Keep connections off the ground and out of standing water.
  • 25 metres is the standard because bollards can be a surprising distance from your pitch.
  • Mains tester plugs are cheap and tell you whether the pitch supply is wired correctly. Worth carrying.

Do you actually need it?

For a summer weekend in a van with healthy leisure batteries and a bit of solar, often not. Where hook-up earns its money:

  • Winter and shoulder season: heating, and the shorter days that kill solar yield.
  • Long stays: batteries that never fully recharge degrade, and a week off-grid is where that shows.
  • Fridges: a compressor fridge running continuously is the single biggest steady draw in most vans.
  • Medical equipment: CPAP machines and similar; do not gamble on batteries for these.

Sites with hook-up

Of the 133 sites we list that take campervans and motorhomes, 115 have an electric hookup recorded. That gap is worth planning around: a site taking vans does not imply mains power.

Sites with an electric hookup

Sites where we hold a record of electric hookup, best-rated first.

See all 115 sites (109 more not shown here).

Common questions

What can you run on a 10 amp electric hook-up?
Roughly 2,300 watts in total. That covers a fridge, lighting, charging and one low-wattage appliance, but not a domestic kettle, and not a fan heater at the same time as anything else.
Can you use a normal kettle on electric hook-up?
Only on a 16 A pitch, and even then not alongside another heat appliance. A domestic kettle draws around 3,000 W, which exceeds a 10 A supply on its own.
What cable do I need for campsite electric hook-up?
A 25-metre, 2.5 mm² arctic-grade hook-up lead with blue 16 A commando connectors at both ends. Always unroll it fully. Coiled cable overheats under load.
Do all campsites have electric hook-up?
No. Of the 133 sites we list that take vehicles, 115 have an electric hookup recorded, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.

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