[time-nuts] Can a quartz crystal go off by 2% ?

[David C. Partridge]

They just switch the meter over to count "night" units.  Strictly of course
both day and night units are counted as kWh, and the supply company apply
different charge rates to the "night units".  Effectively there are two
meters in the same case that are switched over by the time clock output
signal.

There may also be a contactor connected to the line from the time clock to
the meter. That will switch on some circuits that are intended to be "night
only".

The guy who reads the meter just reads off "day units" and "night units",
and unless they suspect there's a problem with it they won't look at the
time clock.

D. 

-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of Bill Hawkins
Sent: 29 December 2009 17:17
To: 'Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement'
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Can a quartz crystal go off by 2% ?

I wonder how the power company changes the meter rate, based on the local
timer. Are there two different meters, with a separate circuit for cheap
loads?

Perhaps not, because you continue to run your computers without
interruption. OTOH, you said in the first posting, "Sometimes we hear the
contactor go over, as this is supposed to then power the storage heaters,
which we no long use."

If you don't power anything with the storage heater circuit, are you really
getting any "cheap" electric? Do your power bills show a difference as the
faulty clock loses time? Does the bill just show total power, or is there a
separate line item for cheap power?

Could the power company be ignoring clock maintenance because they know that
you no longer have storage heaters? Can the person reading the meter see the
time on the clock, or is reading automated?

Just another way of looking at the problem . . .

Bill Hawkins