Fort Wayne Duncan Wattmeter, 1896-1899

01

Artifact Overview

In the late 1800s, companies that supplied electricity to consumers needed a way to measure how much customers used--and then charge them accordingly. Thomas Duncan developed wattmeters for several companies before starting his own meter manufacturing business in 1901. This induction-type wattmeter was developed for the Fort Wayne Electric Works in the late 1890s.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Wattmeter

Date Made

1896-1899

Creator Notes

Manufactured by Fort Wayne Electric Works, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Object ID

30.470.71

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of General Electric Company.

Material

Metal
Glass (Material)
Wire

Color

Black (Color)
White (Color)
Gold (Color)

Dimensions

Height: 9.5 in
Width: 9.5 in
Length: 8 in

Inscriptions

on readout: WATT HOURS/ AMPS. 5/ VOLTS 100/ DUNCAN INTEGRATING/ WATT METER/ PATENTED DEC. 15, 96./ FORT WAYNE ELECTRIC CORPORATION/ FORT WAYNE, IND., U.S.A./ NO. 37316/ MULTIPLY BY 1/2 on plate: FORT WAYNE ELECTRIC/ CORPORATION/ FORT WAYNE, IND. U.S.A./ DUNCAN METER/ PATENTED/ JULY 4 1893/ APRIL 17 1894/ JULY 31 1894/ PATENTS APPLIED FOR