Lloyd Mandeno OBE (3 October 1888 – 30 December 1973) was a New Zealand electrical engineer, inventor and local politician.
[1] Mandeno invented, developed and successfully promoted widespread use of "single wire earth-return" (SWER) grids for rural electrification in New Zealand.
[2] This form of grid uses only a single wire, and made rural electrification dramatically more affordable and commonplace.
He promoted all-electric buildings, and invented, then improved an early electric storage water heater.
Near this time, his health also declined from a digestive complaint, and he lost about 20 kg on a liquid diet which he maintained for several years.
[1] A history of WEL Networks describes his distinguished career designing and building hydro power stations.
[3] In the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mandeno was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to engineering.