Page:Incandescent electric lighting- A practical description of the Edison system.djvu/149

 values are given just as they were determined, and no effort has been made to bring the results into closer agreement, as could readily have been done. I consider the variation shown by these carves to indicate closely enough that this ratio of cost of lamps to total cost at the minimum point is nearly, if not quite, constant and that its value is between .145 and .15.

This establishes a very simple law for determining whether or not lamps are being operated at their maximum efficiency; for if they are, the lamp bills will be about 15 per cent, of the total operating expenses of the plant. If the lamp bills are more than 15 per cent, of the total operating expenses the lamps are being burned above their maximum efficiency, and lower efficiency lamps should be obtained. If, on the other hand, the lamp bills are less than 15 per cent, of the total expenses, the lamps are being burned below their maximum efficiency, and higher efficiency lamps would reduce the cost of operating the plant. Where