Scientific American Supplement, No. 1178, June 25, 1898Various
History
Scientific American Supplement, No. 1178, June 25, 1898
Various
Science -- Periodicals
In order to illustrate the important bearing which interest has on
cost, I have prepared graphical representations of the cost of
current, including interest, under conditions of varying load factors.
For the purpose of this chart I have assumed an average cost of
current, so far as operating and repairs and renewals and general
expense are concerned, extending over a period of a year, although of
course these items are more or less attested by the character of the
load factor. For the purpose of figuring interest, I have selected
seven different classes of business commonly taken by electric light
and power companies in any large city. Take, for instance, an office
building. It has a load factor of about 3.7 per cent., that is, the
average load for the whole year is 3.7 per cent. of the maximum demand
on you for current at any one time during that period; or, to put it
in another way, this load factor of 3.7 per cent. would show that your
investment is in use the equivalent of a little over 323 hours a year
on this class of business. This is by no means an extreme case. You
can find in almost every large city customers whose load factors are
not nearly as favorable to the operating company, their use of your
investment being as low as the equivalent of 75 or 100 hours a year.
Take another class of business, that of the haberdasher, or small
fancy goods store. As a rule these stores are comparatively small,
with facilities for getting a large amount of natural light and little
use for artificial light. The load factor as shown by the chart is
about 7 per cent., the use of your investment being not quite twice as
long as that of the office building. Day saloons show an average of 16
per cent. load factor; cafetiers and small lunch counters about 20 per
cent., while the large dry goods stores, in which there is
comparatively little light, have a load factor of 25 per cent. and use
your investment seven times as long per year as the office building.
Power business naturally shows a still better load factor, say 35 per
cent., and the all-night restaurant has a load factor of 48 per cent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account