We have been contacted by a customer who has been told by his Insurers, that they will not cover his vehicle if he is carrying more than 5Liters of methanol fuel for his E.F.O.Y power cell.

The customer was understandably concerned about the fact that he would not be insured and asked if we could confirm the regulations.

The E.F.O.Y fuel cell has been developed by S.F.C (Smart Fuel Cell) to provide a portable power solution which can provide up to 1600 watts of power.

The E.F.O.Y power cell is marketed as being quiet, automatic and environmentally friendly and is offered in a 1600, 1200, 900 and 600 watt per hour capacity.

The fuel for the E.F.O.Y is sold in either a 5 or 10 litre cell as standard.

The E.F.O.Y unit on its own has no regulations governing its use but the fuel (methanol) is what seems to be causing some concern.

Following a conversation with the UK suppliers of the E.F.O.Y we established the following facts.

The following is an email received from the Department of Transport to the suppliers which clarifies the legal standing of methanol.

Names and Email adresses have been removed and relaced with XXXXXXXX

From: XXXXXXXX [XXXXXXX@dft.gsi.gov.uk] Sent: 25 March 2009 10:44 To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Subject: Methanol Fuel

Mr XXXXXXXXXX,

I have been forwarded your email regarding the carriage of methanol in motorhomes.

The carriage of methanol for personal use is covered by 1.1.3.1(a) of ADR (European Agreement concerning the carriage of Dangerous Goods). Providing there is no more than 60 litres per receptacle and 240 L in total per transport unit then ADR is not applicable.

I’m afraid I cannot comment on insurance companies questioning or refusing policies, as this a matter between the insurer and client.

Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXX Dangerous Goods Division 2/24 Great Minster House 76 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DR

T: 020 7xxxxxxxxx

F: 020 7xxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxx@dft.gsi.gov.uk

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/freight/dgt1/

So the law is quite clear as regards the carriage of the mathanol fuel cells. As long as you do not have move than 24 x 10 litre containers with you, its not a problem.

We understand that insurance companies have to look at each case and asses the risk.

Therefore we decided to contact one of the leading insurance companies in the UK – Direct Line Insurance.

We contacted the van insurance section and spoke to a polite young man who was very helpful. He listened to the problem and said he would ask the underwriters.

2 minuets later he returned and advised the following.

As far as Direct Line Insurance are concerned, the use of the E.F.O.Y power cell and the carriage of the sealed methanol fuel cells was no problem. The young man did advise that if you had a lot of fuel cells with you that this would not be a good idea but it you are did carry your E.F.O.Y and a couple of the 10 litre fuel cells this would cause no problem to them.

Direct Line Insurance did point out that you must advise them that you have an E.F.O.Y power cell and intended to carry the fuel but assured me that it would not be a problem.

They did advise me however, that insurance quotations are dealt with on an individual basis. (Well they had to say that.)

The E.F.O.F power cell is perfectly safe and legal to use in any motorhome and is quite acceptable to any reasonable insurance company.

We hope this helps.

You can find out all about the E.F.O.Y Power Cell on our website. Just click the image.

Designed and built just after the Second World War, Wimborne Model Town is just that – a 1/10th scale model of Wimborne Town. Amazing visitors from all over the world, Wimborne Model Town is a fascinating day out for all the family.

The original idea for the town was developed in the 1940′s and it first opened its doors to the public in 1951, becoming an instant hit with all who visited. Each of the many buildings was built as an exact replica of the same building at the time. All of the contents are the same. Get down to the right level and take a peep into the butchers, followed by a little look into the ironmongers and bakers. One of the most fascinating areas is definitely the model of the Minster Church. Both inside and out, it is a perfect replica and just shows what can be done with both time and patience!

Unfortunately, the site suffered a decline in the 1980′s when the site was bought by a Property Developer and abandoned. It became a home to vandals and a lot of the buildings were ruined. Due to the local public, a petition was drafted and eventually, after a long process, Wimborne Model Town was handed over the people of Wimborne, with the agreement that it would be moved to another site. Donated kindly by Sir Michael Hanham, the current site of the model town was opened in 1991, to much delight of both local residents and visitors.

Somewhere to have a break is always welcomed in a popular attraction, and Wimborne Model Town provides just that. Located adjacent to Wendy Street -a safe play area for the younger members of the family – is a beautiful tea room. With local cakes and delicacies on offer, ‘a five minute break’ may turn out to be a little bit longer!

Throughout the year at the model town there are several events on show. From the special ‘Candlelight Evenings’ where the model village is turned into a magical arena by candlelight to the famous ‘Thomas The Tank Engine Storytelling’ event, each event is carried out superbly for all the family to enjoy.

A relaxing evening is often wanted after a day out at Wimborne Model Town – it may be fun for all the family, but with so much to see, it can be somewhat tiring! So rather than hunt around for the perfect accommodation, simply make a reservation at Rockley Park and you won’t be disappointed. With so much to do on site and near by (there’s an idyllic beach only moments away and attractions are plentiful and within a short distance), you may find you spend more and more time on the Park as the holiday goes on!

Visiting Wimborne Model Town is always highly recommended by the local residents – which is a sure sign for any attraction that it must be a good one. Walking through the model town takes each visitor back to the 1950′s and provides an insight into the way of life back then. Including activities for all the family, Wimborne Model Town is a great day out for all the family and shouldn’t be missed.

About the Author: Horatio Belmondo is a UK based travel writer who specializes in providing information about the best places to enjoy a short caravan holiday at resorts such as Rockley Park.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/holidays-in-poole-wimborne-model-town-653697.html Related Blogs

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Throughout the UK the holiday industry relies on Caravans as many of the Holiday parks feature a large selection of new caravans on offer for holiday makers visiting the area. This has been the case since the 1950′s and 60′s where caravan holidays in the UK became extremely popular. This allowed an entirely new market to appear that meant the sales of caravans across the United Kingdom; this market grew fairly quickly from both private and public sales to private owners and large holiday parks across the country. The popularity of caravans was not expected when the caravan first appeared, but the late 50′s and 60′s were a time of big music concerts and beach holidays being very popular with people all over the UK.

Bands like the Beatles and big beach resorts such as Blackpool meant lots of people travelled to these events and areas and these people needed somewhere to stay. At the big concerts many people used tents to stay in across the field that the concert was being held at. But the other major accommodation that people would have to stay in were caravans and VW campers, the fans that came to see the bands would either have to stay at nearby caravan parks and make the trip to the concert or take their own private caravan to the site. This meant all the while caravan companies were taking in big profits due to the large increase in sales.

In today’s market the new caravan business is still big but has declined since the early years of mass concerts and beach holidays. This can be down to the weather in the UK in the summer since the turn of the century has changed for the worse. Also the increase in low cost air travel and the internet mean that many of the UK’s tourists will travel to mainland Europe to go on holiday with countries such as France and Spain being tourist hot spots in recent years.

This is down to the better weather and a different culture. Another example for the change is that society has changed in the UK since the 60′s and 70′s. The traditional English beach holiday has been in decline due to more people travelling abroad and beach holiday resorts decreasing in quality. Also with new technology being released many people consider the caravan holiday as ‘boring’ and choose not to go in the great outdoors, this new technology is gadgets such as the Xbox 360 which makes teenagers and young people to want to stay indoors and play rather than go on an outdoors holiday and go hiking and biking for example.

The new caravan market has been helped considerably by the caravan transport business as well as these two go hand in hand. Without either of these businesses operating then both markets would not be able to survive. This is because the new caravans would not be able to be transported to the caravan sites throughout the country without the caravan transport business.

Overall the new caravan business has changed since its early days and has turned a corner with the business being valued differently on the market in the UK. With more new technologies being made the new caravan business is being forced to enter new sectors of the market other than the holiday business to gain the profit they need. Overall while the last twenty years have not been completely fair to the caravans industry, as economic malaise becomes a reality, the cheaper holidays offered by caravanning companies will undoubtedly become more popular.

About the Author:

Industry expert Thomas Pretty looks into how new caravans sales have varied in the last century.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/the-caravan-industry-over-the-last-fifty-years-547722.html

With the increment in fuel prices, the instability of the travel market and the financial state of affairs globally, 2009 appears to be like a year were nearly all families will be passing their useful vacation time in their home country. As a kid, our family very rarely travelled overseas for our yearly vacations, instead we’d have a lot of weekends and weeks holiday time throughout the year at caravan sites up and down Scotland in the United Kingdom and sometimes we would even venture south into England!

My first remembrance of these vacations was in a big static caravan someplace on the east coast of Scotland but as time marched on we finally bought our own touring caravan. After buying our own caravan It was at this time our weekend breaks really got off the ground and all most every Friday evenings after school we could be found travelling with our caravan behind us. Often the camp sites we’d visit were no more than one hours drive from our house but on some occasion they could be up to 2 or 3 hours drive off.

Irrespective if vacationing in a static caravan or a touring caravan we always had fun, new adventures and a new place to explore. As a kid this was fantastic and it must have been this travelling and exploring experiences that resulted in me converting to a caravan enthusiast in my adulthood. Across the years I’ve taken my family around the United Kingdom and on a lot of occasions crossed the English Channel to France, Germany Switzerland as a matter of fact a good many of the mainland European countries.

As brought up previous there are 2 types of caravan, the static and the touring. What I haven’t brought up as yet is the motor home. These are your 3 alternatives when deliberating a caravan vacation and although they all may seem the same they’re in point of fact a great deal different from one another.

The touring caravan will be towed by your car to your site of selection. Straight off the option of which touring caravan you have will depend upon the size of car you own. Touring caravans are available from modest two-berth, easily towed by an average family car up to six-berth, which will require something more substantial like a four x four. With a static caravan you will not be utilising a car to get the caravan to any site but then again once at your site of choice it could be there for a while, you’ed better like the area! The motor home removes any need for a separate unit to pull the caravan as this is the car and caravan in one package. The disadvantage of the motor home nonetheless is, once set up in your camping area you have lost your transportation. You’ll often see motor homes with bicycles attached to the rear or even small bikes or scooters, and some cases you may even see a large motor home towing a very little car!

The inside space of any caravan is limited but in a static caravan the usable space may be applied better, with separate living areas and sleeping rooms. The touring caravan and motor homesnevertheless will have a seating area that doubles as your sleeping room come evening time. Storage of clothes, food and everything else that makes for a fine vacation may also be an issue with touring caravans and motor homes. With limited space you are forced into choosing which items you want to bring on holiday and those that you would like but can’t fit in. Obviously with a static caravan you visit often you will be leaving a lot of your clothes and kitchen utensils there reducing the need to transport as much.

A third and final consideration in the decision of touring caravan, static caravan or motor home is luxuriousness. While a basic caravan model may include a electric refrigerator, a toilet and a heater the deluxe models can come with stereo systems, showers, satellite television, microwave ovens and double glazing. As a matter of fact today most items found in your home can be found in caravans.

If you’re caravanning with children a basic touring caravan will be a dandy addition to your family unit, while adding flexibility to your vacation destinations. For a bit more lavishness for your money look into what motor homes have for you but think about that lack of transport matter. Lastly, if you a exceptional place in your heart that you can visit time and time again without ever getting bored, then you could get a static caravan to visit any time of the year.

About the Author:

Karl enjoys holidays and weekend breaks in his caravan with his family. He blogs about his knowledge on the caravan motor mover and why everyone should have one fitted to their caravan. He owns a Truma caravan mover but writes about other caravan movers like the Reich caravan motor mover just one of the many mentioned at his blog.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/rvs-articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-touring-and-static-caravans-and-motor-homes-751034.html

In the previous twelve months sales of caravans and camping accessories have reached levels that have never been reached before. A current market report estimates that thanks to an increase in the popularity of caravan and camping holidays approximately two billion pounds have been inserted into the UK economy. Commentators are now realising that camping and caravan holidays are now the most popular form of holiday in Britain. While the reasons for this are wholly unclear, some have attributed this rise in caravan sales and camping equipment to a greater recognition of the beauty of the British mainland and the benefits of outdoor holidaying.

Whilst on holiday campers and caravan owners are estimated to spend around thirty pounds daily in local amenities and tourist attractions. This figure may not sound much at face value, but taken across the breadth of the caravanning community it quickly becomes vast. Included in this daily spend are petrol sales as well as sales of food and drink. With a figure of around seventeen million camping and caravan holidays taking place annually it is easy to realise where the two billion pound injection comes from. Added to the thirty pounds a day spent locally, if this figure was to take into account caravan park and campsite fees it would be almost fifty pounds a day.

While the pub trade in Britain is currently suffering a loss in alcohol and food sales generally, it is caravan and camping holidaymakers that are keeping it afloat. The same report researched the spending habits of holidaymakers in Britain and found that almost fifty seven percent spent their money in pubs on food and drink. In addition to the money spent in pubs and local eateries, British tourist attractions are also benefitting from the increased popularity of camping and caravanning holidays in terms of ticket sales. Around seventy percent regularly visit UK tourist attractions while holidaying.

As well as the economic benefits in terms of sales of tickets, food and drink the environment is also experiencing the pros. The majority, almost eighty five percent of campers and caravan holidaymakers prefer to walk to their destination rather than drive. Not only does this show that this type of holiday is better for the environment, it is also better for your health as the outdoor pleasures of walking and cycling are realised; further boosting the UK economy with sales of hiking equipment and bicycles.

It is a symptom of the modern world that rural economies are suffering greatly. It is thanks to those Brits that are holidaying in the countryside that these rural places are keeping their heads above water. The sales of food and drink in local pubs and restaurants as well as the money poured into local shops helps keep the businesses in small towns and villages afloat. Without this key contribution the high streets of these rural idylls would most likely be desolate and abandoned.

The link between caravan and camping holidays and good health does in fact seem to be viable. In another survey it was found that a regular outdoor holiday helps to increase a feeling of wellbeing and health. Almost all campers and caravaners were adamant that their holidays positively impacted upon their lives. This is probably due to this type of holidaymakers being more inclined to undertake activities such as walking, cycling and swimming.

As fuel becomes an evermore precious resource it seems clear that sales of caravans will increase. While you may still have to fork out for fuel to get to your destination, it is still a cheaper option than going abroad. In the current climate of tight purse strings it can be ascertained that the popularity of camping and caravan holidays will increase; the affordability can be considered a major appeal as after the initial outlay is made, subsequent holidays can be take for next to nothing. Undoubtedly we will see the popularity of caravan and camping holidays go from strength to strength in coming years.

About the Author:

Market expert Thomas Pretty looks into how caravan sales are increasing and how camping and caravanning holidays are becoming more popular.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/reasons-behind-the-increased-popularity-of-camping-and-caravan-holidays-446333.html

The increasing trend to save on the expense of foreign holidays … PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Wien,Austria on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 07:00:37 -0800

Steve said: ‘The cost of holidays abroad and the comfort and freedom that you get from taking a holiday in a motor home or caravan means that more and more …