LIGHTING and POWER 'nor the GARAGE
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An Alternative Source of Motive Power for Generating Electric Current and for General Purposes for Those Who Opine that Local Charges for Current are Too High
ONE inevitable outcome of the , Road and Rail Traffic Act will be to encourage the larger class of haulage contractor and to make bigger establiShments the rule: That will bring, in its turn, problenis of, garaging and maintenance akin to those which are, common to the bigger garaging establishments— those, I mean, which are concerned with the care of touring cars and the needs of the motorist.
The question of Sources of power will arise, and the use of electricity for that and for lighting. More and more use of power-operated garage equipment and tools will become general, and the time will quickly conic, as it has already with garage proprietors, when • the quarterly bill of the local electricity company will cause more than a little consternation.
Oil Power Cheaper than the " Grid."
The much-vaunted grid scheme for the distribution of electric current is not proving so advantageous as was anticipated, at any rate so far as the average consumer is concerned. fie expected to find that he would be able to purchase his supplies for lighting and power at rates much lower than those ruling before the grid was com pleted. indeed, many development schemes, minor., as well as, major, have been delayed in the hope that the availability of a cheap supply of electricity would determine the lines of develop ment. •
In actual fact, examples of -measurable reductions in charges, the outcome of the grid schemes, are few and far between. Inquiries reveal that a deadlock has been reached. Suppliers of electricity (the organization that controls the grid does not supply direct to the consumer) are awaiting an increase in consumption before they will make a reductionin their charges. Consumers, present as well as prospective, are awaiting a reduction in the
.1340 charges before they commit themselves to enterprises which will involve the increased consumption of electricity.
The average business man cannot, however, afford a deadlock for long, and many of them are turning to other sources of supply ; most of them are putting in their own plant. What is more, those who have done so are finding the results, both as regards economy and convenience, far beyond anticipations.
Popularity of Private Installations.
In the course of a tour of the West Country, I called upon a score of garage owners, operators of ; coaches art&haulage contractors amongst them, who had taken this step. That it was a wise one was unanimously. agreed. Further unanimity I discovered in the proportionate saving. It amounted to about two-thirds of the expenditure on electricity prior to the installation of the plant: That economy was, notwithstanding a considerable increase in the use of current, an increase brought within the range of practical politics only because of the reduction in cost per unit.
In all cases the increase in consumption was largely due to the installation of power-driven garage equipment, such as hoists, greasing apparatus, electric drills and decarbonizing machinery, battery-charging plant and electrical equipment for the care of batteries, petrol pumps, and air-compressors for tyre inflation, spray painting, engine cleaning, and the like.
Maximum Cost fild. per Unit.
The cost of current derived from -their own plant varied somewhat according to circumstances, In no case, however, did it exceed l'gd. per unit, and in that case the more expensive method was employed of installing a large battery of accumulators, a procedure which, sd far as the majority of coach operators and hauliers are con cerned, is quite unnecessary. That id. per unit; and the lower costs' which generally prevailed, are to be set against a charge of from Qff. to Dd. per unit, the price which would have to be paid if the current were purchased from the local supply company.
The type of plant used in every case is a single-cylindered cold-starting oil engine. In some, vertical engines are used, with direct drive to the generator ; in others a horizontal engine, with belt drive. The make was one or other of those enumerated at the end of this article.
In only three cases did I find batteries used in conjunction with the • plant. The others had not deemed it • necessary to go to the expense involved, nor had they found cause to regret their choice. These engines run steadily enough for lighting, notwithstanding the variation in loading consequent on the use of current for the intermittently employed equipment described above. I raised the question as to the convenience of having battery supplies during the day-time for power, but was told that the cost of running the engine, on a light load, was so small as to make it uneconomical to buy batteries.
The fuel used is the same as that which so many operators use for their oil-engined vehicles, and costs from 44d. to 6d. per gallon, including tax. It is practicable to use discarded lubricating oil from lorry and bus-engine sumps, provided it is properly filtered before use.
Filtered Waste Oil as Fuel.
Success in that direction does, however,. turn on the efficiency with which that filtering is carried out. In those circumstances, using waste oil to supplement bought fuel supplies, the cost of operation is very low indeed, for, beyond expenditure on fuel and lubricating oil, the expense is practically nil. Maintenance can be effected in the stride of a staff accustomed to the far more intricate mechanisms of the compression-ignition engine as used on motor vehicles, or even that of the petrol engine. The first cost is low, and the rate of depreciation need not be taken at more than 5 per cent, per annum,
All the attendance necessary can be given by the odd man who is to be found in every garage, or like estab
lishment, with any pretensions to size.
The possibilities of economy can easily be assessed. -An annual consumption of 10,000 units, at an average price of 5d. per unit (this is quite a usual figure in some places ).is equiva
ent, roughly, to £200 per annum. At 11d. per unit, a figure easily attained by the operator who prefers to generate his own electricity by the methods indicated above, the cost is reduced to £50.
Where the all-in rate is available— that is to say, where the consumer can, if he prefers, pay a basic rate .according either to the rateable value of his property or according to the consumption value of each of the "points " his circuit, plus a low price per unit— it will be found that the basic assessment, without any charge for current at all, frequently approaches the total
cost of generation by his own plant.
The following are amongst the principal makers of oil engines of the kind mentioned in this article :—Ailsa Craig, Ltd., Strand-on-the-Green, London, W.4; Aster (1932), Ltd., 1, Suffield House, 79, Davies Street, Oxford Street, London, W.1; Blackstone and Co., Ltd., Stamford ; R. A. Lister and Co., Ltd., Dursley ; Petters, Ltd., Yeovil ; Ruston and Hornsby, Ltd., Lincoln; Kryn and Lahy (1928), Ltd., Letchworth (Campbell) ; Crossley Brothers, Ltd., Openshaw, Manchester; W. II. Dorman and Co., Ltd., Stafford. S.T.R.