September 2000 NATIONAL Watthour Meters

David Dahle, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
NIA Award for Go-Withs
Milholland Education Award presented by the NIA

The watthour meter has played a key role in the development of today's electric transmission and distribution system. Before meters caught on, some early utilities charged a flat rate which was excessive if the customer used only a little electricity or was unfair to the utility if the customer used a lot. Installing meters on the customer's premises allowed the electric companies to bill for the exact amount of electricity used. Because of advances in meter design over the years, electricity is now the most accurately measured commodity. Difficult to collect? Over 200 different models of meters were made in the U.S. since the 1870's.

David says: I have been seriously collecting meters for about two years, but I had been casually interested for some time before this. It was not until a friend found a copy of the Meterman's Handbook that I became really interested in the history.

Joe Maurath, Jr. was very helpful when I was just starting out, providing me with information from his files as well as a few meters to help my collection along.

Sangamo HFP prepayment meter used in apartments or rooming houses
up to the late 1930's. The quarter is inserted in the coin slot
on top and the knob is turned to complete the circuit through the
meter. The upper 3 dials show how much money has been deposited,
the next dial down shows how much electricity is paid for but unused,
and the bottom set of dials is the meter register.

The most interesting meter in the display is the Sangamo HFP prepayment meter. It came from the same person who sold me the first few insulators in my collection and who introduced me to an early collector who was just getting out of the hobby. This meter had been in his apartment in Des Moines, Iowa and while he lived there, the electric company replaced all of their prepayment meters with regular meters and he was given the meter. He brought this meter along when he moved to Sioux Falls in 1942 and kept it until I acquired it from his estate. It is my favorite, since few have survived over the years and they are highly prized by collectors with only 5 or 6 HFP meters known in collections at the present.

I am looking to add a G.E. Thomson Recording Wattmeter for my collection, since it was the first mass-produced watthour meter.

These four insulators represent each of the companies that offered both insulators and meters. They are Westinghouse (represented by the large porcelain piece to the rear) and Fort Wayne Electric Company, Thomson-Houston Electric Co., and General Electric Company (represented by the three CD 134 signals in glass in front).