But the cost of the gas consumed will be high, and
actually light could be obtained directly from the gas by means of
incandescent mantles at far loss cost than by consuming the gas in a
motor for the indirect production of light by means of electric current.
Therefore electric lighting, if adopted under these conditions, must be
preferred to gas lighting from considerations which are deemed to
outweigh those of a much higher cost, and acetylene does not present so
great advantages over coal-gas as to affect the choice of electric
lighting. But in the cases where there is no public gas-supply, and
current must be generated from coal or coke or oil consumed on the spot,
the cost of the skilled labour required to look after either a boiler,
steam-engine and dynamo, or a power gas-plant and gas-engine or oil-
engine and dynamo, will be so heavy that unless the capacity of the
installation is very great, acetylene will almost certainly prove a
cheaper and more convenient method of obtaining light. The attention
required by an acetylene installation, such as a country house of upwards
of thirty rooms would want, is limited to one or two hours' labour per
diem at any convenient time during daylight.
Pages:
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31