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 We are trying to decide between  the kyham ontario 8 (which I was just on the point of buying) and the Horizon 8 Gelert.  There are very minor differences and this is one of them. At the moment I am not keen on the idea of using Electricity (why pollute the power more?) But so many sites have these pitches, maybe I will regret not having one in the future.

Or can you hook up without one?

Er, what is EGA? I don't really understand your question, sorry!

Do you mean can you hook up to electricity without an EHU (electric hook up)? If so, then no, you can't. You can sometimes hire power packs from campsites. Is that what you mean?

Sorry I can't be more helpful, but if you post a few more details I'm sure you'll get a more comprehensive response...

I wonder if they meant ECA (might be 'electric cable access'?) I see the Gelert Horizon 8 has a zip EHU (electric hook up) access point, which basically means you can put your cable through, if you decide to use EHU, then zip up any gap to keep the tent as draft and bug-free as poss.

I'm not sure if the Khyam has this facility, if not you could always bring the EHU in through the doorway if you choose to use one.

EHU's, sometimes called mobile mains kits or leads, are widely available, and quite reasonably priced nowadays (see here, for just one), just make sure you get a proper one with RCD protection and not a home-made or ebay jobbie. They can be useful, for running things like a heater, lighting or fridge (or anything else with a plug on, obviously, but you have to watch the wattage and not try to plug in too many items at once, or you'll just trip it out) and lots of campers use them. As I mentioned earlier, some sites hire them out for so much a night.

You could always start camping without an EHU, then decide if you'd find one useful?

Best of luck, whatever you decide.

  Thank you ever so much for all your help.  I think having looked again that the Ontario does have this feature anyway. But we are quite happy to not go down the eletrical route anyway.

We are going to buy our tent tomorrow, hurray! And once we have practised in the garden, away we go

We don't have EHU, not everybody does. I chose to get away from it all and I quite like boiling the kettle on my stove!!

I'm probably in the minority!

Quote: Originally posted by overrun on 14/3/2008

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At the moment I am not keen on the idea of using Electricity (why pollute the power more?)

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Whatever method of cooking and lighting you decide on, you will be using roughly the same amount of energy and causing a similar amount of pollution.

Quote: Originally posted by johilder70 on 15/3/2008

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We don't have EHU, not everybody does. I chose to get away from it all and I quite like boiling the kettle on my stove!!

I'm probably in the minority!

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No, I'm with you on this! One of the things I like about camping is that it's (relatively) environmentally friendly. I'm very resistant to the idea oif getting a trailer because of the extra fuel consumption, we're so sad that if the site we're at doesn't recycle we actually bring our newspapers home rather than throw them away and we strive, as far as possible, to spend our money in local shops rather than chains when we're away so that it benefits local communities more directly.

Having electricity really feels like going against the grain. I'm very slightly tempted, as having heating would extend the season for us, but I just know it wouldn't stop there. We'd get a fridge, for convenience, a kettle, to make a "quick cuppa" a possibility and before we knew where we were we'd bringing a laptop and checking emails.

I like the idea that our holidays probably have a lower environmental impact than spending the same amount of time at home.