REWIRING

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 41, 17 August 1923, Page 3

REWIRING

FOR THE NEW VOLTAGE

ALLOCATING THE COST

THE HOUSEHOLDER'S SHARE.

Several inquiries have been addressed "The Post" as to what the change-over from 105 to 230 volts in the city's lighting services will mean in £.s.d. to the man who owns a house, whether he will foot the bill, whether the City Council will gray up cheerfully for the necessary alterations, reconditioning, or comlete rewiring, or whether it will be a case of 50-50. Those inquiries complete rewiring, or whether it will manner, for "every case on its own merits" will essentially be the guiding principle, governed in a general manner by the classification of each installation into one or another of the three main divisions suggested by Mr. Parry and referred to- in detail later in this article.

The preliminary step proposed is that the city shall be divided up into so many blocks, since the change-over must be I made step by step, probably over a period of several years, and that before anything further is done the installation in each house shall be thoroughly examined by experts and valuators working under the direction of the Corporation and Firs Underwriters with a view to classification into one oif the three general grounds: (a) Wheiie the wiring is up to the standard set try the Corporation in 1909, in which ca^e the council bears the whole cost of 'the necessary alterations, including tha 'replacing of lamps, the substitution of' new heating elements in irons and '; radiators, electric kettles, grills, toastars, motor drives for vacuum cleaners, : sewing machines, and the other similar aids de luxe to the really up-to-date ' housewife, with the exception that the council will accept no responsibility in respect of unauthorised wiring and extensions. UNAUTHORISED EXTENSIONS. Probably three out of five houses contain very fair samples of thess—a lighting wire conveniently tacked up here ■with fine disrespect for regulations of 1909 or any other year, either those laid down by the ■ Corporation or the* Fire Underwriters' Association, an odd light or two in the basement, another in the washhouse, or the kitchen ceiling flex which father by a little fiddling and a few odds and ends and a double socket made to do double duty, iron and liglit, that mothers might enjoy ironing-day at anyrate nearly as well a3 the manufacturer's advertisements state is possible, even if the Corporation laid it down that the past few years have been no fit time for the general; extension' of x the hot-point and so on. No private dwelling, however,' no matter how enterprising and ho\f fond of "fiddling about with things" father or the eldest son of the house may be, can hope to provide quite so bright an illustration of how a wiring system should not be extended without permission as one building in one 'of the main city streets; the story, at anyrate, is that that building was wired and passed as for fourteen lights, but that recently when an examination was made the wiring was found to have been extended in one way or another to light up one hundred and fourteen globes. Possibly the second number is placed at exactly a hundred above the authorised figure for the ■Sake of the story, but there it is, the terrible example. THE FORTUNATE AND THE LESS ' FORTUNATE. J In cases coming within class Aof the 1 schedule, then, and where no- unauthorised extensions or alterations complicate matters, the Corporation, it is proposed, will bear the whole of the cost. Folk in these houses will suffer a minimum of inconvenience, an inspection of wiring and switchboard, the putting-inl of a new meter, or the alteration of the old —since a. meter wound to measure up current at 105 volts at 80 cycles or af ternations per second' will not measure off tone units at 230 volts. 50 cycles— the shifting of the bathroom wall switch to the ceiling in the interests of safety, and other such comparatively, minor changes. At the end of the day class A householders will wish the wiremen a good afternoon and try out the new light with a view to ascertaining whether it will burn any brighter than the old style, which it will not. He is the fortunate householder, who accepts the change willingly because it costs him nothing, at any rate, as far as the new installation itself is concerned.

That he will suffer Eome inconvenience is inevitable, but his case is more fortunate t than that of the householder whose installation falls within class B. This division is set out in the schedule as including those installations found to be defective under the 1909 regulations, and for the reconditioning of these and the remedying of all defects the hotVholder will, it is proposed, have to foot the bill, except for these items, which must be renewed or altered as a direct effect of the change from one voltage to another, including light globes, heating elements, etc., as referred to above. For .those costs which are brought about by the actual change-over and for which the consumer is in no way liable by reason of the fact that his house wiring is ■below standard the council will be liable if the suggested procedure is carried out, the reuewal or reconditioning of switchboard meters being a council work iv all cases, but for the wiring proper the clasß B householder will be asked pay. The class C installation is that whicli has been good in its time, but to-day is worn ou^ by long usage, and which would in the ordinary course of events irrespective ! of change of voltage, have to be renewed within a short period, and for the reconditioning ' for the new voltage, the schedule proposes, the Class C man shall pay, except in ■ cases where the existing wiring has a value, when the corporation will make an allowance to a corresponding extent.

The council's view, as previously stated, is that it is the consumer's business to see to it ttiafc his house wiring is maintained in thorough order, and that if he fails to do ,so he cannot expect the corporation to bring his installation up to standard. WOOD CASING TO GO. In no case, a "'Post" representative was informed by an officer of the Underwriters' Association to-day, will the use of wood casing, which was permissible under the City Council's regulations of 1909, be allowable the association's rules when the new voltage comes in, and so, apparently, unless some compromise is arrived at, nil houses now wired on tho wood ■_ casing system vail be required to Jjo practically, fully rewired, and from the remarks made by the officer it appeared that that ruling would be definitely adhered'- to. , Possibly a start may be made with 'the preliminary work of the iihange-dver .by the New Year, or, at any rate, duri.og the early part of the year, but much h is to be done in the meantime to place th c suggested procedure upon ;i. strictly leg-al basis, possibly special legislation will be. found necessary, and a thorough * organisation has to be worked up for tli/o 'carrying out o{ a very involved work: that the. change, once put under vj-.y, may continue step by step- till all ciiiy blocko have been covered^ iVery

large stocks of new equipment will b« •required, both for street reticulation and for the reconditioning of internal wiring —the setting up of a corporation workshop for replacing' heating'elements in electric irons alone, the finding of th« best market for the necessary material, and the administration of that one comparatively very small branch of tl.a change-over work, are not to be put into operation at a bare month's noticts. Ways and means for the making of Ilia change in as gradual, efficient, and economical a manner as possible must be fully considered before the actual work is commenced.

A special meeting of the council will be held on Monday afternoon for the purpose of considering Mr. Parry's report. . .