Coin-operated gas meters

DanHolohan

Any Wallies old enough to remember those? Love to hear your story.

Jamie Hall

And not fondly. In Britain, just after the war -- WWII, that is. A shilling a pop.

DanHolohan

Thanks, Jamie. How much time did you get for that shilling?

Jamie Hall

I was a kid -- don't recall exactly. An evening's worth, seems to me. Little open gas fire thing. No central heating, of course! But definitely an improvement over an anaemic coal fire!

hot_rod

A modern day version.

These are common in flats in Europe. You get billed for heat via the BTU meter, also cold and hot water supplied by the building or district system.

I've heard some have credit card scanners. Probably Apply Pay also

RayWohlfarth

Wow I never would have imagined that to be true. Reminds me of Blazing Saddles, Someones gotta go back and get sh**load of dimes.

DanHolohan

I'm reading where it also operated the lights, but that's older than even you, Jamie. ;-)

Tim McElwain

I actually used to have one on display in my office at the gas company. One of the interesting things about those meters they typically worked with nickels. So for those clever folks who wanted to steal gas they made them selves little trays the shape of nickels filled them with water and froze them. They then used the frozen nickel shaped fake coins to get the meters to work. The old timers would know the customers were stealing gas because instead of finding coins in the meter they found "WATER".

DanHolohan

Good one, Tim. Makes me wonder if the fridge ran on gas. ;-)

STEVEusaPA

Tim McElwain said:

I actually used to have one on display in my office at the gas company. One of the interesting things about those meters they typically worked with nickels. So for those clever folks who wanted to steal gas they made them selves little trays the shape of nickels filled them with water and froze them. They then used the frozen nickel shaped fake coins to get the meters to work. The old timers would know the customers were stealing gas because instead of finding coins in the meter they found "WATER".

I wonder if that would've worked with quarters and arcade games back in the 80's. Oh the money I would've saved...lol

PerryHolzman

@ hot_rod

I've often though that if I ever got into owning rental property that I would have staged boilers for high efficiency and reliability and BTU meters like these for heat and hot water.

When the Utility companies charge $15-$20 per month for each meter and the cost of installing individual boilers, water heaters, and utility services... That makes the most sense to me.

Have a great day... Love, Laugh, and life life to its fullest,

Perry

mattmia2

I saw one in the lower east side tenement museum. If I recall it was piped in to the lighting. It was also piped in to a hotplate connected I think with a hose.

i guess sterno was invented for day to day cooking where you didn't have other fuels available.

Tim McElwain

Those meters typically supplied gas lights or small cook stoves. In fact meter sizing was five light meters for "five lights" and ten light meters for 10 lights. This was still the case when I joined the gas industry in 1966 we still had the old tin meters rated five light or ten light. However they were not any longer coin operated.

DanHolohan

@Tim McElwain do you recall how they were heating those buildings? Was the gas coming from that same meter?

bburd

I stayed for a week in a furnished London flat in 1995. It had a wall mounted combi gas boiler for DHW and central heat.

One morning we had no heat or hot water and could not light the boiler. My traveling companion was steaming and wanted to call the rental agent. I said “Wait a sec, let me check something”.

The gas meter, behind an access panel in the kitchen, had a mag stripe card slot. The LCD display read “£0.0”.

There was a new card sitting on top of the meter. I stuck it in, heard a click and the display read “£50.0”. Presto! Back in business.

Saved by the habit of reading old English novels. That’s where I found out about coin operated gas meters. Since the temperature there almost never drops below freezing, they don’t have to worry about frozen pipes.

nicholas bonham-carter

In Rome, staying with friends, (1967), I rode an elevator up 4 floors, by putting a small coin in the button panel.-NBC

Jamie Hall

Indeed, @bburd -- frozen pipes are rare in the UK. In fact, the flat my daughter lived in in Edinburgh for a few years recently (which didn't have pre-pay gas -- it was laid on) all the plumbing and power etc. feeds were outside on the walls. The fact that the building had been built in about 1600 of solid stone may have had something to do with that... central heating is found only in the newest (post war) buildings.

JUGHNE

Our local power company had a few coin (quarters) operated electric meters. They would be installed for delinquent customers.
The rate thru the meter was higher than normal so they would slowly catch up on their arrears.
50 years ago there were no social welfare programs that would pay someone's utilities. This was a pay as you use system that prevented a shutoff of your power.

We have one in our museum basement, bring quarters and I will show you how it works.......I don't have the key to the coin box though.....no refunds.....could be old silver coins in it (pre 1964).

nibs

Me Uncle Bill used to come over once a week and put in sixpence so he could take a hot bath. Kept the Aga instant water heater on just long enough. Me Mum probably subsidized his bath a bit didn't she.

Tim McElwain

Dan Holohan most of the buildings with coin operated meters they were only for small use such as cooking or gas lights. Heating systems were often central heating for the entire complex. Individual homes here in Rhode Island were often heated by oil.

DanHolohan

Thanks, Tim.

Jamie Hall

True enough, @Tim McElwain -- on this side of the pond. But on the other side, there was no central heating in most places, and certainly not in most homes or flats (although one of the fanciest central heating systems I've ever seen is in Bamburgh Castle, up in Northumberland -- but that was put in by Baron Armstrong around 1900 or so). What you had -- in an inn or pub or block of flats-- was a gas fire. With a meter... (a private home you had a coal fire -- even in cities).

nibs

We had a coal fireplace, me dad bought two kerosene heaters, one for the living room & the other for the dining room/kitchen.
Kept the oil for them in the washing machine that came with the house, we may have had a newer portable. I remember the day sugar came off rationing, me mum gave me a thrupenny bit to buy a chocolate bar to celebrate. Best thing I ever did was bring my parents over here when I was 14.

R. Hayes

To see meter in action, watch The Kid from 1921, about 13 minutes into the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZewKhwmy26o