THE ELECTRIC HOUSE. HEATING, COOKING, CLEANING, AND LIGHTING BY
ELECTRICITY
"The Poor Man's Light."
Some five-and-twenty years ago, when sixpence a unit was considered a
very low charge for electricity, Colonel Crompton, R.E., C.B., claimed
that before many years electricity would be "the poor man's light"; and
if the various supply companies had been developed on the broad lines
he advocated, there is no doubt that his prophecy would by now have
come true in every town of medium size and in many villages in the area
of supply, and we now might have been using electric current to light
and warm our houses, to cook by, and to work various labour-saving
machines.
As it is, there are very few places where this term can be applied.
Still, in nearly every town the charge for current has been
considerably reduced, and with the great strides which have been made
in the efficiency of various lamps, it can with certainty be said
that electricity is the light for those of small means. As the charge
for electricity is reduced, so will it be used on a larger scale for
heating and cooking; but at present the percentage of people using it
for cooking is so small when compared with those using it for lighting
that I propose to deal first with this latter application of it.
When considering the question of illumination of a house, oil, gas,
and electricity are the three possible alternatives; and when analysed
further, bearing in mind always the question of cost of labour and the
difficulty of obtaining it, and the cost of cleaning and decorating, it
will be found that the most suitable and economical is electricity.
Basement Rate and Checking of Waste.
In many districts special rates are offered where heating or cooking
apparatus, or motors for pumping, etc., are used during the daytime,
also for basement lights. So when arranging for a supply enquiry should
be made as to terms. In the case of basement lights in small houses
the saving is nearly all swallowed up in the extra meter rent, but in
houses having large basements where it is necessary to use the lights
for many hours a day the advisability of going on the special rate is
a point well worth inquiring into closely. In spite of the extra hours
necessarily burnt by basement lights, there is no doubt that great
waste often occurs in the domestic offices--lights are switched on at
dusk in passages, kitchen, pantry, and servants' hall, and even when
all the servants are having supper in one room every light will be
found alight in all the others. It is difficult to guard against this,
but if a small notice is fixed to the wall above the switches asking
that the light shall be turned off when not in use, it sometimes has
the desired effect. These notices can be bought ready printed.
Another source of waste which was never realised until the special
constable came into being is in the servants' bedrooms. I am told by a
member of that body that one of the things which has struck him more
than anything since he took up his lonely patrol is the number of
lights which are kept burning all night in the top rooms.
This can be obviated by a master switch controlling the top floor,
which can be in charge of one of the head servants. It is not advisable
to have this in one of the lower bedrooms, as is sometimes done, as it
necessitates the mistress waking up early in winter when lights are
needed before breakfast, and, further, might lead to confusion in the
case of a fire or illness in the night.
It is impossible to lay down any definite rules for the lighting of
the various rooms, as tastes differ so much as to the amount of light
required; but whatever the individual taste may be, the naked lights
should be so placed that they cannot be seen. This can be accomplished
by well-shaded wall or portable lamps or indirect lighting. This latter
form has much to commend it, as it is economical and gives an even
distribution of light all over the room.
When Putting in Electric Light.
It is as well to err on the side of extravagance in the number of wall
plugs. When the floor-boards are up it is not a very costly matter to
have them put in, and then when the furniture of a room is altered from
the position originally assigned to it, as is so often done with a new
house, it will not be found that the writing-table or sofa is on the
opposite side of the room to the plug to which the lamp required to
light it is attached.
The placing of the lights and the careful use of them would do much to
lessen the bill for current--a fact proved to me when we let our house
one winter to a family of the same size, who used the same number of
rooms as we had used. The bill for light was sent in to us, and thus
we discovered that it was just double what ours had been for the same
quarter the year before.
I put this down to the fact that basement and passage lights must have
been burned when not needed, and that instead of using one or two table
lamps when reading and writing in the evening all the wall lights were
lighted.
To Avoid Waste of Current.
The staircase lights should be on two-way switches, so that they can
be controlled from each floor--that is to say, from the hall you can
switch on the hall and first-floor lights. From the first floor you
can switch off the hall and light the second floor, and so on up the
house, the reverse process taking place in descending. If the lights
are installed in this way it is not necessary to keep all the staircase
lights burning, as is done in so many houses; the extra cost of
installing is trifling.
In bedrooms where there are two or three lights in addition to a
table-lamp at the side of the bed it is advisable and convenient to
have at least one of the lights in a two-way switch.
As regards the candle-power of the various lamps, so much depends on
the size and decoration of the room and the individual tastes of the
occupiers as regards the standard of illumination that it is impossible
to give any useful guide on this subject. Naturally the lowest
available candle-power lamps will be fitted in passages, bathrooms,
bedroom table-lamps, etc., but the smallest wire-drawn filament lamps
will in many cases be found to be more than is necessary. Owing to the
construction of these lamps, they have so far not been made lower than
16 candle-power for 200 volts, which is a common pressure in towns,
but to compensate for this it must be borne in mind that a 25 c.p.
metal filament lamp consumes about the same current as an 8 c.p. carbon
filament lamp, and it is undoubtedly only a question of time before
lamps of smaller candle-power and taking less current are put on the
market.
[Illustration:
_PLATE XLII_
A BREAKFAST COOKER FOR TOASTING, GRILLING AND BOILING
(The British Electric Transformer Co.)]
[Illustration:
_PLATE XLIIa_
A TOASTER FOR THE BREAKFAST TABLE
You do not need to ring for more toast but make it yourself and eat it
while hot and crisp.
(The British Electric Transformer Co.)]
[Illustration:
_PLATE XLIIb_
A PRETTY LITTLE ELECTRIC HOT PLATE FOR TABLE USE
(The British Electric Transformer Co.)]
Makes of Lamp.
The invention and development of the drawn-wire lamp, made by various
firms and sold under trade names such as "Osram," "Mazda," and "Z,"
have made a great saving in the annual bill for electric light, and at
the same time have raised the standard of illumination. With the carbon
filament, a 32 c.p. lamp would burn for seven and a half hours with
the expenditure of one unit of electricity. Now the same light can be
obtained for twenty-five hours at the same cost with the metal filament
lamp. Against this saving must be set the increased cost of the lamps
and the fact that higher candle-power lamps are being used, so the
saving is not as large as the above figures would indicate. This type
of lamp will undoubtedly be further developed, and the time is not far
distant when the present consumption will be considerably reduced, so
that a combination of lower charges and improved lamps will bring the
electric light within the reach of even "the poor man."
Scarcity of labour and the difficult state of the domestic labour
market have made many people look round for labour- and dirt-saving
methods of warming and of cooking; and certainly if not as attractive
as a coal fire, an electric fire is both convenient and dirt and labour
saving; it is likewise a boon in bedrooms and other rooms which need to
be heated only for an hour or two at a time.
[Illustration:
_PLATE XLIII_
AN ELECTRIC COOKER OF CONVENIENT MAKE SUITABLE FOR FAMILY USE
(Messrs. Townshends, Ltd.)]
Electric Fires.
Various makes of fires are illustrated in this book.
A great advantage of the electric fire is that it is red-hot in a few
seconds and may be placed where it is most required.
The Electric House.
Now let us see how things are done in a house which is worked by
electricity throughout. A maid is awakened by an electric alarum
(she cannot say that her clock was wrong, because all the clocks are
controlled by a master pendulum). She goes downstairs, touches a
switch, and sets the hot-water apparatus going. To warm or light a
room, to set the cooker to work, needs but a touch. An electric service
lift makes the laying and clearing and serving of meals a quick and
easy matter. There are no heavy trays and cans and coal boxes to haul
about the house upstairs and down. The cleaning of the rooms is eased
by the use of electric vacuum cleaners, and when there is no dust and
smoke from coal fires the house does not become nearly so dirty.
The breakfast dishes are kept hot on a heater. If more boiling water
or more toast is needed, it can be obtained in a moment or two without
leaving the dining-room. If you wish to speak to a servant, you do
not ring and wait for her to run up or down stairs, you telephone your
instructions.
In the Kitchen.
Let us descend to the kitchen. In the average kitchen the coal range is
placed where it is difficult to see the contents of the pots and pans,
and each time the cook wishes to put anything into the oven or take it
out she must stoop. To stoop and then lift a weight from oven to table
adds considerably to the labour of the day. In the intervals of cooking
the fire must be made up, and not only must all the pots and pans be
cleaned inside, but the outside becomes black and sooty, and must be
scrubbed. Dampers must be pulled in and out, and the cooking of the
household and supply of hot water attended to.
In an electrically fitted kitchen what do we see? A clean,
bright-looking oven and a hot plate for boiling and simmering, and
probably a grill, completed by a plate heater, all standing on a table
placed in a good light and conveniently near the sink. The cook may sit
at ease peeling apples and put out a hand to alter the heat of the oven
or hot plate, or to move a saucepan. If she is a forgetful person,
a red lamp reminds her of the fact that she has not switched off the
current from any portion of the cooking apparatus no longer needed.
This is not a fairy story. It is a statement of plain fact, and one
into which the public must enquire if it will solve the labour question.
[Illustration:
_PLATE XLIV_
ELECTRIC OVEN AND HOT PLATE
(The Dowsing Radiant Heat Co.)]
Simplicity.
That electrical household labour-saving appliances are no longer in the
experimental stages, and that now they can be depended upon to work
satisfactorily, is shown by the number of schools and restaurants and
canteens in which electricity is used.
Yet all the cook has to do is to turn the switches and so obtain
different degrees of heat. If she needs a fierce heat, she can secure
it in a moment, while if she requires a gentle heat, she can secure
that, in either case by turning a switch. If a fuse should go, it
is an easy matter to replace it, and the watchful red lamp makes it
impossible to leave the current on unawares. No one who has seen an
electrically fitted kitchen can doubt that it is labour and dirt saving.
In a school where three cooks were kept, two now do the work with
ease, and where a cook and kitchen-maid were needed, now that all
coal carrying, range cleaning, stooping, and so much dirt have been
eliminated, the cook does the work cheerfully and single-handed, except
for the help of a woman once a week to clean areas, kitchen stairs, and
passage, and to scrub. The cost of a woman one day a week at 2s. 6d.
plus 1s. 6d. worth of food amounts to 4s. a week; while a kitchen-maid
at as low a wage as £16, with washing, insurance, and food, would not
cost less than 18s. a week.
But there is not only the economy of labour and dirt to consider. There
is the saving in the food itself.
[Illustration:
_PLATE XLV_
AN ELECTRIC FIREPLACE SUITABLE FOR OPEN HEARTHS
(Messrs. Crompton & Co.)]
[Illustration:
_PLATE XLVa_
AN ELECTRIC FIRE
One great advantage about electric fires is that there is no waiting
for them "to burn up." They become red hot in a few seconds. (Messrs.
Belling & Co.)]
The Saving of Meat.
I will confine myself to the question of meat. When roasting with coal
the loss of weight on a joint is anything between 25 per cent. and 35
per cent. A really bad cook who gallops the meat and does not baste it
can effect a shrinkage of even 50 per cent.; but, fortunately, in this
land of bad cooks there are few who sin so deeply as this. Twenty-five
per cent., however, is quite a common loss, and even good and careful
cooks will account for a 20 per cent. loss. In proof of this weigh the
meat before and after cooking.
It is the boast of those who cook by electricity that they reduce this
loss to 8 per cent. Even when cooking electrically it would be easy to
cause a shrinkage of 10 to 15 per cent.; while, on the other hand, very
clever cooks will bring down the shrinkage to 5 per cent. Allowing,
then, to be fair, a loss of 25 per cent. when cooking by coal (that
is a quarter) and a loss of 10 per cent, when cooking by electricity,
you have a saving of 15 per cent. on your meat bill. Put this at £50 a
year, and you have saved £7 10s. on that item alone.
In one case when cooking on a large scale it was found that plates of
meat which had cost 5d. could be provided for 4d., a point which the
authorities responsible for the running of canteens for troops and
munition workers might do well to note.
The Cost of Current.
We must now consider the question of cost of current, and here we
are in many cases up against a difficulty, for unless current can be
obtained at a reasonable price the use of electricity in the household
is not a paying proposition. Speaking without inside knowledge of the
workings of the power companies, it would appear that they are greatly
to blame that electricity is not in more general use. Apparently few
of them make any effort to induce their customers to use current for
aught but lighting purposes. The offer of a flat rate of 1d. per unit
for all domestic purposes, added to an energetic pushing of electrical
apparatus and demonstration of its value, would result in an enormous
betterment in the conditions of domestic labour and in the purifying of
the air of towns.
There are, of course, electric supply companies who are more
enterprising--Marylebone, West Ham, and Poplar, for instance, and some
provincial town companies. The engineers of these supply companies have
formed what is known as the "Point Five" Club, their object being to
supply current for heating and cooking at ½d. per unit. Still, when
Marylebone represents the only district in highly rented residential
parts of London willing to do this, I think I am not unjust when I
say that the electrical companies are sadly behind the times in their
methods.
It is said that the current used for cooking (allowing for late dinner)
should be 1 unit per day per person, and that the amount should
diminish with the number of persons cooked for, until, when cooking
for 100 persons, the saving would be as much as 50 per cent. This,
naturally, depends to some extent upon the cook, who can, if she will,
waste current and spoil food by cooking it at too high a temperature;
for, as all cooks know, after the first ten minutes' cooking in a hot
oven the meat should be cooked quite gently. Those of my readers who
are interested in the question of electrically fitted houses can see
the various utensils, stoves, etc., at the showrooms of the makers;
they can attend demonstrations at Tricity House, 48, Oxford Street
(the Electrical Restaurant); and also add to their knowledge of the
subject by the perusal of "Electric Cooking, Heating, and Cleaning," an
excellent book, published by Constable and Co., price 3s. 6d. net.
At Tricity House, a most popular restaurant near the Tottenham Court
Road end of Oxford Street, all the cooking is done by electricity,
and a clever lady demonstrator will show the enquirer exactly how the
various apparatus is used.
Labour-Saving and Comfort-Giving Appliances.
But even when all the cooking is not done by electricity, the would-be
labour-saver may avail himself of a large number of labour-saving
inventions and comfort-giving inventions in the shape of chafing
dishes, kettles, toasters, and dish-heaters. Examples of these are
to be found in all electrical showrooms, and these, even when cheap
current is not available, may prove a great convenience and indirectly
a saving of money. In one house known to me, where one servant only has
been employed since the war, the owner switches on an electric fire,
and grills the bacon, and makes toast and coffee in the dining-room,
the table being laid and the materials left ready over night, thus
saving any breakfast cooking and table-laying at the busiest time in
the morning. The table is covered with a wrapper, and the room is swept
and dusted later in the day.
Another useful small appliance is the electric fan. In the sick-room
it is invaluable, also for clearing a room of the smell of smoke, and
being portable it can be carried from room to room and attached to an
ordinary wall socket.
For large houses there is a great demand for small domestic motors,
and great saving of labour can be effected by using them for driving
boot-cleaning machines, washing-up machines, and polishing hobs for
brass and silver cleaning.
Before writing these articles I visited kitchens where coal, gas, or
electricity were in use, and I have also cooked on coal ranges and gas
and electric cookers. Excellent results may be obtained by all three,
but there is no possible doubt that as regards labour and dirt-saving,
gas or electricity is preferable to coal. At the same time, as one
cannot in many cases use either, it is only fair to say that some of
the modern coal ranges do their work admirably, at the least possible
consumption of fuel.
As, however, a coal range cannot be regarded as a labour-saving
apparatus, I do not give any consideration to them in these pages,
which are, as I have already said, devoted, not to ideal homes and
dream homes, but to those where the scarcity of labour makes it
necessary to save work, and ultimately cost, as much as possible.
A FINAL WORD
Just as the book was going to press I received this letter--
"I must tell you how thankful I have been for your labour-saving ideas.
My cook left to make munitions; my housemaid's fancy led her to become
the driver of a tradesman's cart; the parlourmaid remained, and still
remains, bless her! I have had to rely on what temporary help I could
obtain, for cooks so far turn a deaf ear to my entreaties. Had it not
been for our gas fires, circulator, and cooker, our washing-rooms and
our lift, Heaven knows what would have become of us.
"As it is we really have managed extraordinarily well. Most people's
houses are too full of things which no one wants. Most people eat too
much and serve the food with unnecessary elaboration, and vast numbers
of women spend their lives fussing over trifles and making unnecessary
work for vast numbers of other women.
"Will it be different after the war?
"Let us hope so."
The greatest Labour-Saving apparatus we possess is the Brain; it has
not been worn out by too much use.
This statement appears on the first page of this book, and again on
the last.
It bears repetition.
[Illustration:
_PLATE XLVI_
AN ELECTRIC RADIATOR
(The Dowsing R. H. Co.)]
INDEX
Advantages, some financial, 63
Advice, useful, 149
Appliances, household, 49
labour-saving, 185-186
simplicity of labour-saving, 180
Architects, reasons for women, 31
Arrangements, advantages of labour-saving, 70
Basement, general description of, 65
house, disadvantages of, 54-55
Bath, 45
Bedroom, 45
Bills, gas, coke, coal, 146
Coke, economy of, 144
Colleges, need of training, 20
Companies, Electrical Supply, 183
Cook, wages of, 120
Cookers, gas, 83
good idea for gas, 154
Cooker, size of, 155
Cooking, advantages of advanced, 127
economy of electrical, 182
Cost, counting the, 141, 145
Current, electric, cost of, 182
how to avoid waste of, 175
Decoration, 44
Dinner bogey, how to abolish the, 133
Domestic premises, 41, 43
Domestic problem, solving of, 25
Domestic service, advantages and disadvantages of, 19
Domestic training, advantages of, 13-14
for all girls, 11
national importance of, 12
Dressing-room, clever idea for, 45
Electric house, description of, 178
Electric light, fitting and arranging of, 174
Electricity, economy of, 171
cooking by, 134
Employer, ignorance of, 8
Entertaining, 137
Equipment, personal, 138
Family arrangements, 93
Fare, planning of bills of, 159
Fires, advantage of electric, 153
various makes of electric, 178
Flat, description of, 77-78
general arrangement of, 100
labour-saving, 99
Fuel, economy of, 147
Furnace, feeding of, 94
lighting of, 143
Furniture, 44
Gas, cost of cooking by, 160
use of, 148
Geysers, 151
Governesses, secretaries, companions, 18
Grill, management of, 162
Heating, water, 150
Home, the ideal, 37
House, labour-saving, 66
condition of the modern, 53
country, 95-97
furnishing of, 69
heating and lighting of, 46
how to reduce work of, 36
inconvenience of the modern, 29
suggestions for rebuilding, 30
Houses, labour-saving method of heating, 142
Kitchen, electrically fitted, 179
warming of, 165
Labour-making house, condition of, 76
conversion of, 57
description of, 56
some experiences of, 75
work of, 73-74
Labour-saving house, arrangement of, 89-91
convenience of, 110
description of, 88
domestic arrangements of, 79-80
economy of, 115
London, 87
menu of, 113
provincial, 108
reasons for, 3-4
suggestion for, 64
the ideal, 35
Labour-saving ideas, test of, 107
Lamp, makes of, 176-177
Lights, rate of basement, 172
checking of waste of, 173
Lighting, various means of, 152
Look-ahead plan, advantage of, 130
Meals, arrangement of, 114
Meat, saving of, 181
Menu, 121-124
Meters, slot, 166-169
Mistresses, new race wanted, 10
Nurse and Nursery, 62
Ordering, method of, 125
Oven, temperature of, 161
Restaurant, the electrical, 184
Rooms, arrangement of, 109
Rubbish, destruction of, 165
Servants, 9
shortage of, 7
their dislikes, 21-22
Service, cost of, 141
Service room, 42
Shopping, 126
Soups, 128
Stove, cleaning of, 164
Suburban house, description of, 101
furniture and fittings of, 102-103
Sweets, 129
Table, useful advice for, 49
Time, division of, 114
saving of, 119
Utensils, cleaning, 135
gas-cooking, 163
Waste, checking of, 173
Water service, 32
Water system, question of hot, 58
Work, dislike of menial, 17
organization of, 92-93
Worker, how to obtain best results, 26
_THE QUESTION OF THE MOMENT_
WAR RATION COOKERY
(THE EAT-LESS-MEAT BOOK)
BY MRS. C. S. PEEL
The Director of Women's Service, Ministry of Food.
(Second Edition.) Crown 8vo. =2/6= net.
"Mrs. Peel is universally recognized as the soundest and most sensible
authority upon middle-class housekeeping; she knows her subject inside
out, she has no fads, and she writes with great vivacity and verve.
She is just the person whose advice the small householder needs at
the present time, and this practical and business-like handbook is
nothing less than a public service of the highest quality. It ought
to be on every kitchen shelf throughout the length and breadth of the
country.... Indeed, the whole volume is invaluable, and we commend it
without reserve to every class of the loyal-hearted public."--_Daily
Telegraph._
"Mrs. Peel's book is eminently practical. It puts in an intelligible
way the problem of war-ration housekeeping."--_Land and Water._
"The book gives excellent hints as to the cooking of our war-time
rations. In addition to a quantity of recipes, Mrs. Peel has advice to
give on food values."--_Spectator._
JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD, W. 1.
_NOVELS BY MRS. C. S. PEEL_
THE HAT SHOP
Crown 8vo. =6/-= and =1/3= net.
"Mrs. Peel is to be sincerely congratulated on her vivid picture of
one side of the world of fashion and of the cost to those who serve
it."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
"The book is interesting and written with first-hand
knowledge."--_Morning Post._
"The bright and the shady side of feminine life in London are both
exhibited in 'The Hat Shop.' Mrs. Peel's pages are closely observed and
convincingly drawn."--_Sunday Times._
Mrs. BARNET--Robes
Crown 8vo. =6/-=
"With insight and tenderness and courage, Mrs. Peel has written one of
the most charming and at the same time most living of stories. It is
stamped with truth and is very beautifully told."--_Outlook._
"Mrs. Peel has handled a prolific theme in a masterly manner."--_Globe._
A Mrs. JONES
Crown 8vo. =6/-=
"This intensely clever and human-hearted story.... Fresh, genuine, so
impeccably true to nature. A very fine novel indeed."--_Mr. Arthur
Waugh in the 'Outlook.'_
"The description of a fashion paper's office and its Jewish
administration is vivid, real and humorous. The book goes merrily
forward, the interest of the reader sustained to the finish."--_Daily
Telegraph._
JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD, W. 1.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Original inconsistencies in chapter titles between the Table of
Contents and the first pages of each chapter have been retained.
Likewise, the titles on the List of Illustrations and the illustrations
themselves appear here just as they did in the original text, including
Plate 44's labeling of "Gas Oven" in the LOI and as "Electric Oven" in
its caption.
Minor punctuation errors fixed on pages 45 and 162. Punctuation on
Plates 4, 5, 6, 16, 20, 22, 34, 39, 40, 41, 42, 42a, 44 was made
consistent with the other Plates. Variable use of the words fire-place,
fireplace, Croutons, and Croûtons were retained. Other variations in
hyphenated words were retained only when they seemed to be used for
emphasis or when part of a quoted letter. The following changes were
made for consistency or due to typographical error:
Page 31, "house-work" changed to "housework." (...neither do they have
to do housework...)
Page 79, "talboys" changed to "tallboys." (...tallboys in a shocking
state of ill-usage.)
Page 121, "fourquarter" changed to "forequarter." (...a forequarter of
lamb has been in the house...)
Page 134, "House-Work" changed to "Housework." (A Letter from a
Professional Woman who does her own Housework.)
Plate 15, "WASH-STAND" changed to "WASHSTAND." (GAS-HEATED TOWEL RAIL
AND FIXED WASHSTAND)
Plate 32, "ELECTRC" changed to "ELECTRIC." (AN ELECTRIC KITCHEN IN A
CITY INSTITUTION.)