The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1913-08-15
LIGHT
BILL OF K|LOWATTs
AS IT is BOUGHT
AS A RULE 1T is A PUZZLE TO
THE PURCHASER OF ELEc-
TRICKY.
ECONOMY CAN BE EXERCISED
The Number of Watts in Horse
Power, and How the Units Are
Calculated and Charged Up to the
Consumer.

| The Electric News in current
issue undertakes to explain the unit
of electricity and the manner in
which it is measured to the consum-
ers:
Look at that, sir" exclaimed the
irate housewife as she threw the
electric light bill on the cashiers
desk. "You have charged me with
30 hlowatts and there isn't kilo-
watt in the house and never has
been. We use only metal filament
lamps, toaster, fiatiron and an
electric fan. The very idea"
MY dear Madam" smiled the
cashier, thirty-five kilowatts is the
quantity of electricity you have used
for light and heat during the month.
We sell the current at ten cents
kilowatt, Just the same as you buy
sugar by the pound and berries by
the quart. At ten cents a kilowatt,
for thirty-tive kilowatts, your bill is
just $3.50 for the month, which is
very reasonable l am sure for what
you have used"
oh" interrupted Madam, Il.
see"
But she didn't really see. The
kilowatt was just as much of a my.
stery as ever. 1t is really surprise
to most users Of electricity to learn
that they are buying the current I'M
known quantities and that economy
In its use will make it go twice agI
far at half the cost All the work in
the house can be done with the aidl
OF electricity. 1t will cook, sweepd
wash. iron and tighten the labor OF
the housekeeper, as well as give light
and heat. All this is easily rnder4
stood and 1t is just as easy to solve
the puzzle of the electric light ,bind
you had to perform GER
tain amount of work and hired a man
with an engine of 5 horse power to-
do It. 1t will be assumed that the
engine takes 4 hours to do the worksj
Now If we call the amount Of work
that an engine of ! horse power will
do in ! hour a horse power-hourp-
this is merely an arbitrary tern 1T
Is obvious that the engine of horse
power will do horse power-hours
d work In hour, or 20 horse power
hours in hours. Another man
with an engine of 10 horse power
would do the same amount of work
n 2 hours, for he would do 10 times
:, or 20 horse power-hours of work.
Now what do we pay for, the horse
'ower of the horse power-house? Ii
obviously the latter.
In the case of electric service we
Use another unit, similar to The
lorse power in kind but not I'm ouan.
lty. This unit is called, just for :
want Of a better name, a watt
shus, on an electric toaster, for in. Ii
lance, there may be sen little II
late on which is marked 800 Fl
1atts," which means that the toastr =
axes 500 watts of electricity to heat 4
properly. (There are TAG watts inI
horse power.) But we do not pay y
Or watts any more than we did forl
orse power in the above example. a
is work or energy that costs | /
honey. Thus we establish another | /,
nit similar to the horse power-hour +,
nd call 1t 'watthour," which a
leans the quantity of energy deye. n
ped bya watt in one hour. Thus .
le 500-watt toaster would consume n
10 watthours of electricity in lot
our, or 1000 wathours in 2 hours n
100 in 8 hours, and SO on. In