The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-21

las-,,ucn-as-y ou-can Hat rate, they are
generally losth to consider any meth
iod of selling their product EXCEPT
through some measuring device,
/ There is, however, one class OF
business which the majority OF cesi'
trial stations do not get. This is the
small residence lighting customer. the
working man, living in small homo
and having s. limited income he
constitutes the major population Oh
most cities. and may be made very
valuable asse. to the lighting com
pany if his business can be securei
upon satisfactory and prontaoie
basis.
The controlled fiat rate affords .
means of handling this class of busi-
ness in very satisfactory manner,
and keeping in mind our experience In
Dubuque, Iowa, where We have one:-
ed this form of service for the past
sixteen months. / will explain the
operation and results that may be oo-
tanned by its use.
Is Circuit Breaker.
The fat rate liniter is nothing
more than a circuit breaker adjustable
TO a predetermined demand load AM
so arranged that should the customer
endeavor to use current in excess OF
this limit, the circuit is broken until
the excess load is removed. when the
circuit is again closed. The mechan-
ism is so very simple that practical
" no trouble is experienced and only
occa sional inspection is necessary 10
assure proper operation. This elm
mates the expense of meter reading
and no expensive repair parts are
necessary as with the meter. Neither
is there the constant loss OF current
as through the metered service which
amounts in some cases to almost as
much as the current consumed Dy
the customer
The instrument IS installed in the
building in the same manner as
meter-in fact, meter may be put
in Its place at any time at no addition
al expense other than the time re-
quired to change the instruments.
In order that the controlled fiat
rate shall produce proper results, II
is desirable that some restrictions DO
incorporated in the customers con-
tract governing the service The rate
does not permit the use of appliances.
but it is well to have this incorporat-
ed in the customers contract and have
it understood so that there. may De
10 disappointment.
We also found it advisable to specI-
fly the lamp to be used in connection
with the fiat rate, and established
rule requiring each and every socket
to be equipped with twenty-five
watt Mazda lamp: the fact that the
customer must purchase renewals,
tends to make him more careful as to
the length of time the lights are burn
ed. besides giving an equal distribu-
ton OF light throughout the house.
This rule eliminates the complaint
that one customer is getting more
light than another.
One Year Contracts.
AS the rate to be charged must be
arrived at by the law OF averages,
contracts should be drawn for a period
of at least one year. This feature
dicourages the use OF this service to
transients. besides making it possible
to take advantage of the light AMI
dark months OF the year. For the fiat
rate service charge of one cent per
watt OF maximum demand is general
IL made, with minimum monthly
charge of s1.00. 1t will be found that
the majority of contracts will be for
the minimum as that permits the turn
ing on OF as many as four, twenty
five watt lamps at time, which is
ordinarily sufficient for the class OF
customer for whom this service is
designed. The average burning for
this class Of residence service is three
hours PER night, or ninety hours per
month, so that should the entire four
lights be burned every night through
out the month the return would
amount to about eleven cents per
kflowatt hour; a very fair rate. Elk
perience shows, however, that this Is
not the rule. The customer is natur-
ally saving in every way and rarely
takes advantage of the opportunity to
use a greater number OF lights than
be actually needs.
From results obtained by placing
meters on the line with the controller
we have found that In a number OF
cases we were earning at the rate OF
twenty cents per klowatt hour, and
our worst case showed nine cents per
kilowatt hour. Designating these
figures we find that in all cases our
customers are perfectly satisfied. The
monthly bill Is always the same, no
huctuation to disturb the customers
financial arrangements. He arranges
his finances to care for this as he
does his grocery bill and other ex-
pense items, and as the bills are pay
able in advance there are practically
no unpaid, or delinquent accounts.
The sayfng in clerical expense Is also
quite an item.
Possibilities In Ads.
To those OF you who are interested
in advertising, the possibilities to Be
found in the controlled flat rate will at
cnce appeal. Think of the effect yod
get WHEN Won guarantee. the aInOnn.