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Water service in the U.K. always used to be unmetered, but in recent years the local utilities have started installing meters for all new services. The meter itself is generally located below grade level with the main shut-off valve. If it isn't too deep, it's read by just lifting the access cover and peering down the hole, but in other cases they use a remote readout.

The utilities will also convert existing services to meters if requested, and at least in my area (Anglian Water) they will swap you back to unmetered service after a year if you find it works out more expensive.

I'm still on unmetered service, and pay a flat rate of £120 (about U.S. $200) per year. Sewerage charges are actually more expensive, at £160 per year!

You'll see that in many old British terraced houses as well, although in some cases the meter board is located just above floor level.


This is also what most perople what probably consider to be the "standard" location for 1930s houses in the U.K. as well, although without Diazed of course. The meters and fuseboxes were often buried behind a pile of junk that finds its way into those under-stair cupboards.

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Paul:

Irish 1930s installations usually put the gas meter right in along side the electricity meter. Usually on the floor below the electrical gear.

Coin gas meters were VERY common in those days and are often still sitting under people's stairs even though they have been disconnected for many many years. They had 2 large slots for accepting old pennies etc.

My grandmother also tells stories about "the glimmer man" during WW II. As coal couldn't be transported across the Irish sea in large quantities and we have no coal mines town gas was in very short supply during WWII so they rationed it area by area with specific times when various areas could use it.

They shut the supply off to each area after the time was up but obviously gas remained in the pipes and some customers would try to use it. So they had a guy who went around at random and who would go in and feel the gas hob. If it was hot your gas supply was cut off and you faced criminal prosecution under the emergency measures that were in place at the time. The same legislation that controlled black-out requirements etc..

During WWII because of the intense shortage of fuel and the relative abundance of electricity, from hydro power and turf (peat) burning stations people started to switch to electric cooking, heating and lighting in much greater numbers than in the UK.

This is the period when we got a mix of BS546 & schuko type sockets in use as schuko was obviously unavailable unless it was manufactured here in Ireland. If you see an installation with BS546 here you can almost guarentee it's from the WWII period.

[This message has been edited by djk (edited 12-10-2003).]

Fascinating about the "Glimmer Man." I don't recall ever hearing about such restrictions in England, although naturally there were places that were left without gas entirely during the Blitz when a bomb hit.

Gas meters were often located next to the electricity meter in town houses here as well. These days on new homes they tend to put them in their own outdoor cabinet, next to but separate from the electricity cabinet.

We have the same problem of extortion (is that the word?) in the US. When I was little, I lived in HUD (government, low income housing) housing, up until I was 17. When I was 5, the apartments were remodeled. Fortunately for my case, all the corner cutting dealt with cosmetics and stuff... like no shower heads or doorbells. All the wiring was legal for the most part, tho. They only pocketed $250 per building (there are 61 buildings with 10 apartments each).