How to Hook Up a Motorhome at a Campsite: A Beginner's Guide

Arriving at a campsite for the first time in a motorhome can feel daunting. There are cables to connect, tanks to fill, waste to think about, and terminology that sounds like it belongs in an engineering manual. The truth is that learning how to hook up a motorhome at a campsite takes about fifteen minutes, and once you have done it once, you will wonder what you were worried about. This guide walks through every step - electrical hookup, water, and waste - in plain language.

If you are hiring from Heath's, we cover all of this during your handover at our Pontefract depot. You will have already practised connecting the EHU cable and locating the water and waste points before you drive away. But a written campsite hook up guide for when you arrive at your first site is useful, so here it is.

How to Hook Up Motorhome Electric at a Campsite

EHU stands for Electrical Hook-Up - the motorhome electric hook up is how your vehicle gets mains electricity at a campsite. Without it, you are running on your leisure battery, which powers the lights, water pump, and USB sockets but not the mains sockets, microwave, or battery charger. Most campsites offer EHU as standard on touring pitches, and it is almost always included in the pitch price or costs a small supplement.

Here is the process:

1. Find your pitch's hookup post. It is usually a small blue or grey pillar near your allocated pitch, with a hinged flap or door. Inside is a blue three-pin industrial socket (not a domestic plug - it is a larger, round CEE connector).
2. Get your EHU cable. This is the orange or blue cable supplied with your motorhome. It has a three-pin industrial plug on one end and a matching socket on the other. The cable is typically 25 metres long, which is more than enough to reach from most posts to your motorhome.
3. Connect to the motorhome first. Plug the socket end (the female end) into the inlet on the outside of your motorhome. This is usually a small blue hatch on the nearside, often near the bottom. Open the hatch, plug in, and close the hatch over the cable.
4. Connect to the post second. Take the plug end (the male end with the pins) to the hookup post, insert it into the socket, and give it a clockwise twist to lock it in place. Switch on the supply using the switch or trip on the post.
5. Check it is working. Go inside your motorhome and check that the mains sockets are live. Try switching on a light or plugging in your phone charger.

The reason you connect to the motorhome first is safety - you do not want a live cable lying on the ground. When disconnecting, reverse the order: switch off and disconnect from the post first, then from the motorhome.

Most UK campsites provide 16 amp hookups, though some older or smaller sites offer 10 amp. The difference is how much you can run at once - on a 10 amp supply, running the kettle and the heater simultaneously may trip the breaker. If your cable does not reach the post, do not use a domestic extension lead - ask the campsite for a different pitch or bring a second approved EHU cable (available from motorhome accessory shops).

One common issue: the campsite's RCD (trip switch) on the hookup post may trip if it detects a fault. This sometimes happens when you first connect, particularly in damp weather. Simply reset the trip and try again. If it keeps tripping, there may be a fault with the post - ask the campsite staff to check or try a different post.

How to Hook Up Motorhome Water Supply

Your motorhome has a freshwater tank that you fill before you set off. At Heath's, we fill it for you at collection. Depending on how many people are using the motorhome - a family of four will use more than a couple - and how often you shower, a full tank lasts roughly two to three days. When it runs low, you need to refill.

Most campsites have water points - standpipes dotted around the site with a tap. You fill your tank using the freshwater hose supplied with your motorhome:

1. Drive or walk to the water point (some sites have one per pitch, others have shared points).
2. Connect your hose to the tap.
3. Open the freshwater filler cap on the outside of your motorhome (we show you exactly where this is during the handover).
4. Insert the hose and turn on the tap.
5. Watch the tank level gauge inside the motorhome. When it reads full, turn off the tap and disconnect.

It takes about ten to fifteen minutes to fill a tank from empty. Some first-timers are surprised by how long it takes - the filler cap is deliberately narrow to prevent overfilling, so the flow rate is gentle.

Emptying Waste Water

There are two types of waste water in a motorhome, and they are handled differently.

Grey water is the water from your sinks and shower. It collects in a tank underneath the motorhome and is emptied at a designated grey water drain on the campsite. The drain is usually a grated grid set into the ground, sometimes near the water point. To empty the grey water, drive your motorhome over the drain (or park nearby) and open the grey water valve - a lever or tap underneath the motorhome. The water drains out by gravity. Close the valve when the tank is empty.

The cassette toilet is the other waste system. The toilet in your motorhome has a removable cassette - a sealed tank that slides out from an access hatch on the outside of the vehicle. When it needs emptying (the indicator light on the toilet panel will tell you), you:

1. Open the external hatch on the side of the motorhome.
2. Release the cassette by pulling the locking handle.
3. Slide the cassette out - it has wheels and a handle, like a small suitcase.
4. Wheel it to the campsite's chemical disposal point (usually called a CDP or elsan point, and clearly signposted).
5. Open the pouring spout on the cassette and empty the contents into the disposal point.
6. Rinse the cassette with clean water using the rinse tap provided.
7. Add a dose of toilet chemical (we supply this with your motorhome).
8. Slide the cassette back into the motorhome and lock it in place.

This is the part that most people find least appealing before they try it, but in practice it is straightforward, clean, and takes about five minutes. The cassette is sealed, so there is no spillage or odour during transport. Most experienced motorhomers empty the cassette every two to three days.

Arriving at a Campsite: A Step-by-Step Routine

Once you know how to hook up a motorhome, the whole arrival routine takes about twenty minutes. Here is how to hook up your motorhome step by step:

1. Check in at reception and find your pitch.
2. Park your motorhome on the pitch - level it using the levelling blocks if needed (we provide these).
3. Connect the EHU cable (motorhome first, then post).
4. Check your water level - if it is low, fill up at the nearest water point.
5. Lower your step, put out your chairs, and put the kettle on.

Before you leave a campsite, reverse the routine: disconnect EHU (post first, then motorhome), empty grey water if the drain is nearby, check the cassette level, and stow your outdoor furniture.

Jargon Buster

Campsite and motorhome terminology can be confusing. Here are the terms you will encounter:

• EHU - Electrical Hook-Up. Mains electricity at your pitch.
• Grey water - Waste water from sinks and shower. Not sewage.
• Black water - Toilet waste. In motorhomes with cassette toilets (like ours), this is contained in the removable cassette rather than a fixed tank.
• Cassette toilet - A toilet with a removable waste tank, emptied at a chemical disposal point.
• CDP / Elsan point - The campsite's chemical disposal point for emptying toilet cassettes.
• Hardstanding - A pitch with a solid surface (gravel, tarmac, or concrete) rather than grass.
• Pitch - Your allocated space on the campsite.
• Leisure battery - The separate battery that powers your motorhome's living area (lights, pump, USB) when not on EHU.
• Habitation area - The living space of the motorhome (everything behind the cab).
• MAM - Maximum Authorised Mass. The total weight your motorhome is legally allowed to be, including passengers, fuel, water, and luggage.
• Motorhome service point - An area on a campsite where you can fill fresh water, empty grey water, and dispose of cassette waste all in one place.

Tips from Experience

A few things that make life easier, learned from years of customer feedback:

• Arrive at your first campsite in daylight. Connecting everything is much easier when you can see what you are doing.
• Ask campsite staff if you are unsure about anything - whether you are at a Yorkshire Dales site or a coastal park, the reception team will have seen every level of experience.
• Keep your EHU cable loosely coiled when not in use - do not wind it tightly around your arm, as a coiled cable carrying current can overheat.
• Run the hot water heater on gas or electric after connecting EHU - a hot shower after a day of driving is one of life's small pleasures.
• Check your water level before bed. Running out of water at 6am when you want a cup of tea is a poor start to the day.
• Use your grey water tank as a guide - if it is filling up, you are using water faster than you think. Empty it before it overflows.

We hand over every motorhome in our fleet with a thorough walkthrough of all these systems. If something is unclear when you arrive at your campsite, call us - our team has been through this hundreds of times and can talk you through anything over the phone. For more tips on your first trip, see our guide to hiring a motorhome for the first time. For more, see our what to pack.