March, 1927] Electricity on New England Farms 45 



Poultry Equipment. 



Flat, pancake-type poultry fountain heaters for keeping water from freezing 

 in poultry buildings have been given preliminary tests which indicate that they 

 are feasible but details on their capacity and cost of operation are not yet 

 available. 



Poultry Pen Cleaning Equipment . Certain poultry diseases, which have re- 

 cently developed, require the cleaning of houses or pens at very frequent inter- 

 vals as a control. To do this once every three days entails a very considerable 

 cost for labor. A plan for doing mosl of this work with electricity as power has 

 been developed, and it is planned to test out the equipment on one of the 

 poultry farms. 



Yard and Building Searchlight. Safeguarding property at night and inspect- 

 ing buildings and grounds for prowlers and other disturbances is thought prac- 

 tical by the use of a searchlight. Such a device is at hand ready to be in- 

 stalled. 



Brooding and Incubation. It seems of considerable importance that further 

 studies in brooding and incubation equipment should be made. 



SUMMARY 



Seven farms in New Hampshire, representing dairy, poultry, fruit and general 

 farms, were selected in the spring of 1925 and equipped with appliances to 

 determine what limits in quantity of electricity can be economically used and to 

 secure data on the efficiency of the different appliances. The farms were 

 chosen as typical of substantial and successful enterprises operated with modern, 

 well balanced methods. 



Sixty major and 40 minor pieces of electrical equipment are now in use on 

 these farms covering 36 distinct operations, and metered in such a way that 

 detailed records can be secured each month for nearly every appliance. 



This bulletin presents figures for the period ending December 31. 1926. includ- 

 ing inventories, current consumption and costs for each circuit by farms, and 

 current consumption by appliances. 



Current consumption on the seven farms averaged 1683 kilowatt hours for 

 the year 1925 and increased to 1253 kilowatt hours in 1926. 



Heating equipment, such as refrigeration, ranges, ironers, water heaters, etc., 

 produced the greatest effect on the total consumption and developed a peak 

 load in midsummer. 



Total consumption for the year 1926 was distributed as follows: winter, 23%; 

 spring, 16%; summer, 32%; and fall. 28%. 



Total consumption by farms for 1926 ranged from 432 kilowatt hours for the 

 fruit farm to 7694 kilowatt hours for one of the dairy farms. 



The records are still too limited to draw many detailed conclusions, and fur- 

 ther research, particularly with farmstead appliances, is desirable. 



House lights showed an average monthly consumption of 34.6 kilowatt hours, 

 ranging from 15.2 to 63.3. 



Water pumps showed an average monthly consumption of 23.7 kilowatt hours, 

 ranging from 3.7 to 39. 



Kitchen ranges showed an average monthly consumption of 167 kilowatt 

 hours, ranging from 26 to 282. Combination ranges with wood and coal and 

 straight electric ranges are being used. 



House refrigerators used an average of 35.3 kilowatt hours per month, ranging 

 from 23 to 39.5. 



Hot water heaters used an average of 1S2 kilowatt hours per month, ranging 

 from 15.2 to 548. They have given a high degree of service, but their cost of 

 operation has been high. 



Washing machines used an average of 2.6 kilowatt hours per month. 



Flatirons used an average of 7.3 kilowatt hours per month, and ironing ma- 

 chines 12.7. 



Barn lights used an average of 7.9 kilowatt hours per month, ranging from 4.3 

 to 13.9. 



Milking machines used an average of 91.5 kilowatt hours per month, ranging 

 from 56.5 to 134. 



Dairy cooling rooms showed an average monthly consumption of 119 kilowatt 

 hours, ranging from 96.5 to 148. 



