Often, our citizens are faced with a dilemma, where to put the old electric meter after installing a new one? Not everyone knows that it is forbidden to throw away metering devices along with household waste, as they contain heavy metals that can damage the environment.
In this review, you will be able to familiarize yourself in detail with the options for the disposal of electricity meters and be able to choose the most suitable one for yourself.
In any residential area, a measuring device is installed that calculates the consumption of electricity. Like any high-precision equipment, electricity meters must be periodically calibrated. On it, with the help of standards, the error of the readings issued by the meter is revealed. If they go beyond the standard, then the device must be disposed of.
Reference! Induction electricity meters and devices with a class above 2.0 are not accepted for verification, but must be replaced, since their accuracy class is very low. For modern devices, it varies in the range from 0.5 to 2.0.
It is necessary to replace old metering devices (PU) with new ones in the following cases:
- the service life of the old-style meter has expired;
- the device is broken or has an incorrect setting;
- scheduled work on the power grid, involving the replacement of PU.
Apartment owners have a question, what to do when replacing an electric meter and where to put the old one? Installation work conducted by electricians of a power supply company, for example, Mosenergosbyt. This is due to the fact that the meters are sealed and only a specialized company has the right to remove or install a seal. An electrician takes readings from an old meter and then installs a new meter.
At the same time, the old PU remains with the owner of the apartment. Experts recommend storing it for about 2-3 months, in case there are discrepancies in the transmitted testimony with the accounting department of the energy sales company. After that, the electric meter must be disposed of.
Is it possible to do something with the old electric meter?
Most Russian citizens either store broken and dismantled electricity meters in garages, or throw them away with household waste into the nearest trash can. Both options are not correct.
It makes no sense to store failed measuring instruments. They will only gather dust and take up space. But you can't throw them in the trash either. The fact is that electric meters contain heavy metals: mercury, lead and chromium. On outdoors and under the influence of changes in the environment (humidity, temperature changes, etc.), the device is quickly deformed, and the metals contained in it actively enter into association with chlorine and hydrocarbon compounds contained in the plastic housing of the meter. The whole process leads to the formation of highly toxic substances that can cause irreparable damage to the environment and humans in particular.
Therefore, it is best to hand over the old electric meter or dispose of it, as indicated in the instrument's data sheet.
Some citizens do not agree to quickly part with dismantled launchers and find other uses for them. For example, some craftsmen use an old, but at the same time working electric meter as a measuring device. That is, a socket is installed on one side, and a plug on the other. Connect the device and count its power consumption. And also some craftsmen make from old counters: piggy banks, lanterns or disassemble the device into parts and remove the magnet (induction PU).
Where to take the old electric meter?
Each measuring equipment, which includes electricity meters, has a technical passport. In it, the manufacturer must indicate the disposal procedure. In addition, you can find out which companies in your city accept old appliances and under what conditions.
Dispose of electricity meters
Due to the fact that improper disposal of electricity meters can cause significant harm environment, then only specialized companies should be engaged in processing. Such organizations must have equipment for safe disposal and permission from government agencies.
The very process of processing electric meters is based on the separation of the constituent components of the device: capacitors, LEDs and transmitting contacts. Taking into account the fact that electric meters contain a highly toxic substance - metallic mercury, companies must carry out the demercurization procedure, that is, its removal by a physical and chemical method. Therefore, you should not be negligent about the process of recycling electricity meters.
Sell or throw away
As mentioned above, throwing meters into a landfill is prohibited. Therefore, the question logically arises, what to do with an unnecessary device? It turns out that with recycling you can get a small benefit. If you throw away the device, you get nothing from it. But in the case when you hand it over to a recycling program in specialized companies, you can get a little money for it. The fact is that electricity meters contain metals that are seized in laboratory conditions and using special equipment.
It remains to solve the question, where to hand over the old electric meter for money? To do this, you can contact your power supply company. They often have a special disposal permit and can accept old launchers. And also similar services are provided by metrological companies, that is, those who carry out the verification of electricity meters.
From the foregoing, we can conclude that a faulty and dismantled electric meter can bring little financial benefit if it is not just thrown away, but disposed of in accordance with all the rules.
Old induction household electricity meters are no longer needed - they no longer provide accurate accounting and are being replaced by electronic ones. Their fate is a garbage dump or a shelf in the garage, "just in case." We will try to give a second life to the hard worker.
I propose to make a portable lamp in a durable and lightweight meter case.
Necessary materials and tools
To work, we need the following tool: a screwdriver, pliers, a gimlet or a drill with a 4 - 4.5 mm drill. From materials: a piece of plywood or a board, a lid from a can, a car lamp from a headlight with a connector, a wire with a plug, a switch, bolts and nuts.
Detailed job description
To do this, we disassemble the counter - we take out the counting mechanism. Glass, terminals and top bracket can not be removed yet.
Inside we mount a socket from an old car headlight. I drilled a plastic socket with a gimlet in the recess between the contacts. A thin brass bar with two holes from the insides of the counter was taken as a bracket, but you can use a similar part from a child metal constructor. You will choose the specific place for drilling holes in the meter case yourself after fitting, the cases may differ.
A shiny tin lid from a can of condensed milk, “perforated” in the middle, perfectly suited as a reflector. Fasteners (bolts and nuts) are in abundance in the meter itself.
Outside, we screw a handle cut from a piece of plywood or a thin board to the body. We attach a power cord to it, and if necessary, we mount a power switch on it - a toggle switch, a button. If necessary, we attach a hook curved from a piece of wire to the upper bracket.
Car headlight bulbs usually have 2 coils. This will allow us to quickly connect the second spiral when the first one burns out or use light bulbs with one burnt out.
Many seasoned motorists have such car bulbs in stock - today incandescent bulbs are “out of work” and have long been supplanted by more modern ones.
We connect the output from the lamp holder to the terminals of the meter or connect it with a twist to the supply wire. In the second case, you can get rid of the terminals by passing the wiring into the remaining holes.
Power can be provided by a small-sized electronic transformer, a conventional 12-volt "iron" transformer, a garage charger or a car's on-board network. Depending on this, we equip the power cord with an appropriate plug.
The resulting lamp has its advantages:
- light and durable body of almost "anti-vandal" design
- Good light bulb protection
- quick connection of the reserve coil
- use of half-burnt lamps
- Has a non-heating handle
- Produces a non-dazzling, compact beam of light with a rectangular cross section
And disadvantages:
- case not for the narrowest work places
If you attach such a lamp instead of a conventional reflector to a table lamp with a flexible tube, you can be sure that such desk lamp will not disturb others when you stay up late reading your favorite book. To give a more aesthetic appearance, the mounting “ears” and part of the terminal box can be cut off from the case, and the case itself can be decorated in any way.
