Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-02-11
Lighting a Farmhouse

| farmer, no matter where he lives. can
| light his home with electricity and
enjoy other conveniences at the same
time. A lighting outfit can be in
stalled at a cost of from S4O0 to 81
900 depending upon the conditions;
Benjamin F. Eyer, professor of cleo
trical engineering in the Kansas
State Agriculture College, says so.
He is giving the subject particular
attention. Many farmers own and
operate gasoline engines of two or
more horsepower. A one-horsepower
engine is large enough for lighting
purposes and some small power be-
sides.
1t all depends upon what the cleo
trio outfit will be called upon to do
as to the first cost and maintenance.
A complete outfit for lighting con-
sists of 16 cells of storage battery, a
dynamo, switchboard, and gasoline
engine, or OF her source of power
water or stem. The new tungsten
metal-filament incandestant lamp has
made it possible to use a storage
battery to good advantage on the
farm. This has been brought about
in this way: The tungsten lamps
consume less than one-half the cleo
trical energy that the old carbon
lamps required and give much bet
ter and stronger light. They are
made for 32-voIt circuits, which re.
quire only Is cells of storage battery
of moderate capacity. The old car
bon lamps require either So cells of
storage battery or smaller number
of very large capacity. In either
case, the cost was prohibitive.
The gloomiest thing on "a farm is
the light, the oil lamps. Not only
are they nuisance, a source of lab
or-and danger too-but they are dis
couraging and depressing Nothing
brightens up the family, and the
home generally, like clear light.
Suppose a farmer desires to light
his house and barn and have an orna-
mental light or two on the driveway
but has no gasoline engine available
for power. Call this Case Number
One. An outfit suitable here would
consist of a gasoline engine of one
horsepower, a dynamo of approx
mately one-half kilowatt, Is cells of
storage battery capable of giving one
and one-half amperes of current for
seven and, one-half to eight hours,
and a small switchboard. The outfit
complete, made by reliable manu-
facturers, would cost approximately
S400 and the freight.
This does not include house wiring
or the wiring from the storage bat
terry to the place where light is to be
used. No small motors should be run
from this outfit. The batteries have
not sufficient capacity. This is about
what could be done with this outfit:
Five lamps of 16 candle-power could
be used 3-4 hours day, three lamps
of 16 candle-power for 3-4 hours, or
two 16-candle-power lamps for 8
used, the number could be doubled
for the same time rating.
If $50 be added to the cost of this
outfit, twice the number of lamps
may be operated for the same time
rating The extra $50 is applied to
increase the capacity of the battery.
Adding 5000 to the cost of the outfit
adequate to do some small power
work, such as operating four-pound
electric fiat-iron, vacuum cleaner,
or a sewing machine motor
The capacity of this outfit would
be approximately: 32 16-candlepower
lamps for 3 hours, or b S-candlepow-
er lamps for 8 hours, or 10 S-candle-
power lamps 34 hours day, for
four days, without recharge of bat
tery. Or you could run 10 8-candle-
power lamps for two days Sunday
and Monday, say, "a hours day,
and run an electric washing machine
Monday for two hours, and the four
pound electric fat iron iron Tuesday
for three hours, with enough energy
| left in the batteries to run the sew
ing machine motor one hour before