[time-nuts] Can a quartz crystal go off by 2% ?

[Bill Hawkins]

I wonder how the power company changes the meter rate, based on the local
timer. Are there two different meters, with a separate circuit for cheap
loads?

Perhaps not, because you continue to run your computers without
interruption. OTOH, you said in the first posting, "Sometimes we hear the
contactor go over, as this is supposed to then power the storage heaters,
which we no long use."

If you don't power anything with the storage heater circuit, are you really
getting any "cheap" electric? Do your power bills show a difference as the
faulty clock loses time? Does the bill just show total power, or is there a
separate line item for cheap power?

Could the power company be ignoring clock maintenance because they know
that you no longer have storage heaters? Can the person reading the meter
see the time on the clock, or is reading automated?

Just another way of looking at the problem . . .

Bill Hawkins


-----Original Message-----
From: Dr. David Kirkby
Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 7:19 PM

No, I'm quite happy to get cheap electric during the day some times! It's
more 
useful than having it in the middle of the night. So I'm not concerned over 
this, but just interested what might be the problem with it.