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An ode to the gas and electric meter
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02-05-2016, 09:11 AM
When I was a kid we rented a telly with a slot meter that took 2 bobs as well as gas & leccy shilling ones, spent ages when I was a kid traipsing round local shops in the Meadows area of Nottingham for meter coins, usually with a 10 bob note. Next door had quarterly meters & owned their telly, they were posh, lol..
02-05-2016, 10:24 AM
For a time, around 45 years ago, we lived in a Flat where the previous Tenant had got into arrears and the Electricity Meter had been set to clear it. That meant you got about five pennorth for you two Bob. Every now and again I used to call in the Bank, get a couple of Quids worth and bang them in. The problems arose when it was full because we were both at work so we were never there for it to be emptied. We had to ask them to come and one of us stayed in. We were then left with a huge pile of two Bobs. You got some very suspicious looks when you went to spend them. I expect they thought we'd broken in to it. We never did persuade them to change the Setting.
Alan
02-05-2016, 11:25 AM
When I was a kid, we had a quarterly account for electricity but a meter for gas, which took pennies and shillings.
When I got my first soldering iron - 1/6 in Woollies! - I used to heat it up on the small simmering ring on the cooker, whereupon Mum complained about the gas I was using. So I put a couple of pennies in the meter! This didn't suit Mum at all as she said that the dial never moved when you put pennies in! Actually, unless you put at least three in, she was right - the dial jumped a bit and returned, more or less, to where it had been before! Now it was very obvious, even to me, that this didn't make any difference - I'd seen the gas-man many times sitting on the stairs counting out the money, then working out the cost of the gas used and leaving the stack of unused coins on top of the bill! However, Mum would have none of this so, the next time the gas-man came, I made a point of grabbing the bill so that I could point out to Mum that the pennies had not only been counted but included in the refund calculations! You always knew when the gas-man was due as shillings became increasingly difficult to find but, once he'd been, you couldn't move for the darned things! As an aside to this, those of us who were around at the time will remember the outcry when it was announced in 1967 that the 6d coin or tanner was going to be withdrawn, along with the ten bob note, half crown and ha'penny, in preparation for decimalisation. The tanner was said to be the most collectable coin in Britain - its small size (similar to the modern 5p) meant it fitted the neck of just about every bottle you could find) - and a jar full of tanners was a popular adornment to mantle-pieces the length and breadth of the country. The government gave in and tanner collectors rejoiced - until the 15th February 1971, that is ... My first decimal pint cost 13½p, for which I paid and got the correct change. I was watching the bar staff and they seemed to be handling the changeover smoothly and helping out any of the customers who were confused - quite easy as virtually no-one had seen the new money before D-day except for the small amounts that had been released to retailers for training purposes. Thus, after their first decimal purchase, virtually everybody ended up with two different types of money in their pockets and purses! When I went to buy my second pint, I found I had a tanner in my pocket, along with a new penny from my change from the first pint and florin or 10p piece. The problem with the tanner is that its new value was now an odd amount - 2½p - so when I handed over my three coins - 10p + 2½p + 1p = 13½p - the barman turned away, got half way to the till and stopped dead in his tracks while his brain tried to compute what this odd collection of coins in his hand was! I don't think I saw another tanner again until, about 5 years later, it was announced that it would be withdrawn and there would be no U-turn this time! Suddenly, tanners started appearing everywhere as it was obvious that all the jars that had been languishing untouched for all that time were being emptied and spent before it was too late! But, you never saw one on its own! Just about everywhere you went, if there was 5p in your change, you were virtually guaranteed to get two 2½p coins, as they now were, in your change! Funnily enough, I was going through a box of odds'n'sods yesterday and, right at the bottom, I found two tanners! One is Queen Elizabeth II from 1962 and the other is King George VI from 1950. Where they came from is anybodies guess ...
02-05-2016, 03:01 PM
Gas meters played an important part in the development of the internal combustion engine.
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk/New%20Page%2026.htm Peter
02-05-2016, 10:17 PM
In the early 80s I rented a house on Anglesey with a couple of friends where the owners had slot meters for the gas and electricity installed. The meters took 50p coins and we discovered that it the gas board came to empty the meter as part of a regular collection and there wasn't enough in the meter there was no charge but if we called them out and there wasn't enough in the meter we would be charged. We had to call them out on one occasion as we couldn't get any more coins in the meter. Apparently the collector spent about half an hour counting all the coins. We'd put £165 in the meter and we got £55 of that back.
Keith
03-05-2016, 10:24 AM
Ages ago (early 2000's, still CRT days) I was yabbering at work (as you do) when someone said she rented a 21 inches TV & put £1 coins in a meter on it. A bloke said his son had left home & he was giving away a 21 inches TV & did she want it so saving her renting one, she said "no thanks, I like putting £1 coins in it as I get a rebate every month so it makes me save" We all stood there dumbfounded. I had it & put it in the spare bedroom, it still works perfect with a digi-box.. (BTW it's a Samsung)
18-05-2016, 09:26 AM
Electrikery smart meter man turned up this morning, half an hour and the job was done, data transmission via mobile phone link, there's a lot of places down here where there's no reception, they fit them anyway, then customer has to phone in with readings.
Water meter technician tomorrow to assess proposed water meter installation. Lawrence.
19-05-2016, 07:43 AM
The water meter man turned up this morning, said no problem fitting a meter, sometime in the next 6 weeks, so far so good.
Lawrence.
19-05-2016, 08:18 AM
Will it be the sort that goes with the Stop Cock?
Is there scope for digging a hole? Alan
19-05-2016, 08:27 AM
(19-05-2016, 08:18 AM)AlanBeckett Wrote: Will it be the sort that goes with the Stop Cock? Yes Alan, they will supply and fit a stop cock at the meter, the meter will be fitted almost next to the house where I did the previous excavation as per the water leak thread I posted a while back, the incomer at that point is only about 9" below GL, I've tested the ground, about 18" deep before it starts to get real solid so there should be enough depth to get the box and the meter in. Lawrence. |
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