io8 



THE HOUSE AND ITS EQUIPMENT. 



radiator or two. Those who have hitherto considered it impossible to instal an electric-light plant on 

 account of the cost will be well advised to think it over again, as the difference in cost that the last few 

 years have made can only be described as colossal. For intermittent requirements, such as the heating 

 of curling-tongs, cigar-lighters and flat-irons, the drying of a lady s hair after shampooing, or the boiling 

 of small quantities of water, the current provides an ever-ready and safe solution of the problems. 



To motor-car-owners, present or prospective, the electric installation affords a ready means of 

 charging the ignition cells, for which fancy prices are frequently charged. With low voltage this can 

 be easily done without any loss worth considering, by merely inserting a few lamps in circuit, these being 

 connected on a panel with an ammeter to show the rate at which the current is passing. For photographic 

 work electric light has no rival ; not only is the dark room kept cool and free from carbonic acid gas, 

 which results from the combustion of an} form of gas, but the ordinary lamp or red lamp can be 

 extinguished or lit at will. For bromide or other printing processes which lequire a regular exposure, the 

 constancy of the electric lamp enables exact work to be reproduced if care is taken to keep the distance 

 from the print the same, and for enlargements the electric lamp is equally convenient. Musi of the 

 farm machinery, as well as the cream separator, the churn and the lathe, can be economically driven 



by the plant, as also a. fan for extracting the smell of cooking, 

 which has a way of pervading some houses. 



Let us now consider the cost of an electric-light installation 

 such as would be required for a country house of the size shown 

 in the plans, which may fairly be taken as a type of residence 

 costing from twelve to fifteen hundred pounds. The wiring of 



I | I SCULLERY the house to thirty-one points, including the wire casing or 



tube, with thirty-one switches to control twenty-nine ten-candle- 



power and six 

 teen sixteen- 

 candle- power 

 metallic filament 

 lamps, together 

 with any distri 

 bution fuse- 

 boards that may 

 be ne c e ssary, 

 would cost forty- 

 seven pounds 

 eighteen s h i 1 - 

 lings. This would 

 not include the 

 cost of the 

 fittings o r the 

 lamps, nor the 

 fixing of them ; 

 but if the fittings 



134. GROUXD FLOOR PLAN. 



chosen were of a simple character, the price for this work, including metallic filament lamps, would be 

 about twenty-seven pounds five shillings. The cost of the generating plant, including oil engine, dynamos, 

 switchboard and set of accumulators, would be ninety pounds, and a further charge of twenty-five 

 pounds ten shillings would be made for erecting the plant and setting it to work ; this is inclusive of a 

 small sum for builders work in connection with foundations for the engine. We may say the total cost 

 of plant and installation comes roughly to one hundred and ninety pounds. It should be here stated 

 that the wires would be run in wooden casing over the face of the walls and under the floors. If it were 

 required to sink the casing in the walls, the cost of making good the plaster and redecorating would have 

 to be added. 



The generating plant would consist of a horizontal engine giving i| h.p., using ordinary paraffin 

 oil, directly coupled to a dynamo giving four hundred watts. The accumulators would be capable of 

 supplying current for thirty ten-candle-power metallic filament lamps for nine hours. The engine 

 would use about one pint of paraffin per horse-power per hour, so that for a i J h.p. engine a pint and a-half 

 of oil at about sixpence a gallon would be required ; this works out at one and one-eighth pence per 

 hour when the dynamo is giving its full output. When the lights are being supplied by the accumulators 

 it is necessary to make some allowance for the fact that the accumulators will not give out as much 

 electrical energy as is put into them, so that about twenty per cent, should be added to the figure of cost 

 of oil, which will bring it to about three halfpence. It will be safest to take this latter figure as the basis 

 of our calculations, as the occasions when the engine is required to supply all the lights at once will be 



