_Modern Developments_
When we talk of lighting the modern home, there is generally but one
idea that enters our minds—electric lighting. Even those dwellings
remote from any power-house are installing small generators in
preference to the oil or gas lighting systems.
[Illustration: The modern 50-watt bulb]
Then, too, when we refer to good lighting we no longer think of
glaring bulbs of light, exposing all the harsh glow of the white, hot
filaments, causing one’s eyes to squint and strain to find things in
the corners of the room; but we picture a room flooded with mellow
illumination emitted from fixtures which shield the direct rays of
light from our vision.
Another change that has come about in our conception of good
illumination is the quantity and intensity of the light we expect from
the incandescent bulb. It was only a few years ago that we marvelled
at the yellow light given off by the 16-candle-power carbon-filament
bulb. But to-day if a bulb gave off as feeble an attempt at lighting
as did these old ones we would think it on its way to the graveyard of
lightning-bugs. We cannot talk of 16-candle-power lamps when the glow
of a modern Mazda light is around. We used to specify on the plans
so many 16-candle-power lights for the dining-room or living-room
fixtures, and it is hard to change our habits to refer to the modern 40
or 50 watt lamps which have taken their place in the home.
Thus within a period of not more than ten years our whole conception of
illumination has been jolted out of a rut.
_Indirect Lighting_
Now we have reacted so far in the matter of protecting our eyes from
a direct view of the source of light that some enthusiasts advocate a
system of indirect illumination, concealing the lights so completely
from the eyes that their location is difficult to know. This is
carrying the problem too far beyond its rational limits. Such a system
of indirect illumination reduces shadow to a minimum; consequently the
forms and the beauty of objects in the room are flattened. Moreover,
the eye unconsciously is confused at not being able to locate the
source from which the illumination comes, and, being puzzled, the mind
naturally resents it. For the small house, at least, the system of
indirect illumination carried to this extreme is not at all suitable.
[Illustration: Fig 1]
A type of fixture which develops a partial indirect illumination, and
yet which allows a certain quantity of light to come through direct to
the eyes, so that the source of light is easily discernible is the most
satisfying and most suggestive of home comfort. Such a fixture is shown
on page 122.
_Common-Sense Solution Needed_
Moreover, the lighting of a small house must be studied with common
sense, and no rule of the thumb can be laid down. Certain enthusiastic
illuminating engineers offer typical plans and suggestions for the
wiring of houses, which plans are crowded so full of outlets that they
look like a map of the starry heavens. We have in front of us now such
a plan in which a small living-room is marked to contain four wall
outlets containing two lights each, two more outlets on each side of
the fireplace, a wall plug for attaching a portable lamp or two lights,
and a central ceiling outlet for four lights. In addition to these is
another base plug and floor plug. The room is about 14 by 17 feet, and
if all lights were turned on at once and all base plugs attached to
lamps there would be a possible grand total of twenty 50-watt lamps
in this medium-sized room. Such brilliant illumination might please
the jaded nerves of the tired business man, but his wife would never
consent to such a garish display of wealth-eating current.
The problem of illumination for the small house can be sanely
considered from five different angles: (1) General illumination; (2)
local illumination; (3) ornamental illumination; (4) movable lamps; and
(5) light control.
By general illumination is meant the lighting required to flood the
room as a whole, and not locally in any one corner. The easiest and
commonest method of doing this is to provide a central fixture,
containing from two to four 50-watt lamps, or their equivalent, which
are hidden in some commercial type of semi-indirect lighting fixture.
The type of fixture shown on page 122 is one of the finest, and with
a silk shade around it the warm, cheerful effect of a home is greatly
enhanced by this method of lighting. When this fixture is hung in the
dining-room or living-room a single 200-watt Mazda lamp is employed,
while in the other rooms a single 100-watt lamp is used. In the kitchen
no shade is necessary. Usually in laying out the electric outlets
upon a plan the central dining-room and living-room lights are shown
to carry four 50-watt lamps, and those in the other rooms, in the
hall, and on the porch are marked to have two 50-watt lamps or their
equivalent.
But it is not absolutely essential to have a central light for general
illumination. Some architects prefer to have a certain number of wall
lights controlled by one switch, and obtain a general glow with these
lamps. By securing the right type of fixture which shields the raw
filament of light from the eyes, this method of general illumination
often produces a feeling of comfort and homelikeness unsurpassed by the
other system.
In those rooms where work is done under the central light, such as
the kitchen and pantry, and where opaque, indirect reflectors have
been used throughout the rest of the house, it is essential to provide
direct lighting-fixtures, so that the light can be thrown down upon the
working plane. Translucent reflectors or prismatic reflectors are used,
and a frosted bulb or a porcelain-tipped bulb is most suitable with
this reflector.
Local illumination is intended to give greater intensity of light over
certain portions of the room where work is carried on. Either a wall
light or a special drop light, protected by a reflector, is used.
Such lights are placed conveniently over the kitchen-sink and side
table, over the laundry-tubs and ironing-board, over the coal-bin,
near the boiler and over the work-bench in the cellar, by the side of
the lavatory in the bathroom, over at the side of the dresser in the
bedrooms, inside of closets and alongside of the serving-table in the
dining-room. These local outlets are generally planned to carry two
50-watt lamps or their equivalent.
[Illustration: _Types of Direct Lighting Reflectors_]
Other wall lights than these are usually introduced for ornamental
purposes. The side lights for the fireplace in the living-room, or the
panel lights on the wall, or the bracket lights for the bookcase cannot
be considered more than ornamental features. Not more than one 50-watt
lamp is planned for these outlets.
In addition to the general, local, and ornamental illumination are
those portable lamps which have become more and more a serviceable and
decorative feature of the home. The reading-lamp in the living-room,
the light for the music on the piano, the table-lamp in the bedroom,
and the candle-lamps on the dining-room table are the most used of this
portable type. To properly attach these bulbs, a base-board outlet must
be installed at a convenient place in the room, so that the electric
cord to the light will not have to be too long nor pass across any part
of the floor where it may trip up the feet of some absent-minded member
of the family.
When the lighting of the small house has been considered from these
angles, the control is then the essential problem. The incoming
feeder, the meter, the house switch and service switch, and the
distributing panel must be located conveniently in the cellar. Often
the distributing panel with its fuses is placed on the first floor for
convenience of replacing a burned out fuse when some line has been
overcharged.
The next matter of control is the location of switches. All central
outlets and general illumination should be controlled by a switch at
the entrance-door to the room. The usual type of switch used is the
so-called three-way switch.
[Illustration: _The 3-way Switch to control light at two places_]
The hall light should be controlled from up-stairs and from
down-stairs. The porch lights and the front and rear door lights should
be switched on and off either from the inside or outside of the house.
One light in the cellar should be governed by a switch at the top of
the cellar stairs. And this is about all the complication of control
necessary.
Now, in addition to the lighting of a house, certain floor and
base-board outlets must be provided for attaching various electrical
devices that have become rather common. In every cellar there should be
at least one special power-current outlet for any household machinery
that might be installed. In the laundry there should be at least two
special outlets to which a washing-machine, a mangle, electric drier,
or an electric iron can be connected.
There should be at least one special outlet in the kitchen to which
may be attached a motor for operating the coffee-grinder, egg-beater,
ice-cream freezer, dish-washer, etc. Sometimes an electric refrigerator
may be installed, in which case an outlet must be provided for this
motor.
Sometimes a special outlet is installed in pantry for a dish-warmer or
water-heater.
In the dining-room a floor outlet should be provided for operating on
the table such things as a toaster, chafing-dish, coffee-percolator,
egg-boiler, etc.
In the living-room a floor outlet will be found useful for such
electric apparatus as would be carried on a tea-table or for running a
home stereopticon.
In the bathroom and in the master’s bedroom a special outlet is useful
to connect up such devices as vibrators, hair-driers, curling-irons,
shaving-mugs, electric heaters, etc.
Base-board outlets of the ordinary type should be distributed
throughout the house to provide convenient connections for vacuum
cleaners and fans.
Most of these electric devices require not more than 600 watts.
Electric irons, toasters, chafing-dishes, coffee-percolators, and other
heating mechanisms use up to this maximum of watts, but motor-operated
machines, like fans and ice-cream freezers, require about 100 watts.
As to the kind of wiring which the architect should specify, he has
a limited choice. The knob-and-tube system is the cheapest, but not
the safest. The flexible cable (BX) is better, although slightly more
expensive. Rigid conduits or flexible steel conduits are not suited
to the economic needs of the small house and are not used, except in
special places. For example, an overhead feed wire may be brought in
from the street at the level of the cornice, and then carried down to
the cellar in a rigid conduit on the outside of the house.
[Illustration: Cleat]
[Illustration:
Knob
Tube]
[Illustration:
Flexible Conduit (BX)
Rigid Conduit]
In addition to the wiring for lighting there must be an independent
system for bell service. The current for such a system must be supplied
by dry batteries when the local power company gives a service of direct
current, but when it supplies an alternating current a transformer can
be used and the bells operated upon this energy. In the kitchen there
should be a magnet-operated annunciator, connected with the front and
rear doors and the dining-room push-button.
In laying out the lighting plans for a small house the standard symbols
shown here are used, but a key should always be given to their meaning
upon some part of the sheet, for it must be appreciated that the
contractor can easily forget.
As an aid to laying out the lighting system on the plans, the following
checking list is suggested, since it is simple.
[Illustration: _SMALL HOUSE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT LIST_]
Unless specified to the contrary, it is usual to assume that wall
outlets in the living-room are to be placed 5 feet 6 inches above the
floor, in bedrooms 5 feet 4 inches, and in halls 6 feet 3 inches. The
usual height at which switches are placed is 4 feet.
Thus, by using common sense and the phrase in the specifications, “All
work shall meet the requirements of the National Electric Code,” and
requiring the contractor to furnish a certificate of approval for the
entire installation as issued by the Board of Fire Underwriters having
jurisdiction in the community, the architect has a reasonable surety of
securing a good and safe system of wiring and lighting.