121
minimum we must calculate what this cost is at different efficiencies. To do this we consider the total cost of operating the lamps to be made up of two parts, viz., the cost of the current and the cost of the lamps. The cost of the current is made up of every expense incurred in operating the lamps, including materials consumed, labor, taxes, insurance, rent and every other expense incurred in operating the plant, except the cost of lamps. The cost of the lamps is an item by itself, and is the amount which the lamp has cost when it is put in use. This is a natural division of the total cost of operating a plant, since to produce light by incandescence all that is necessary is a lamp and current to operate it.
If, in any case, we know the cost of the current required to operate the lamps,
the cost of the lamp, the quality of the lamps—that is, the life they will give when burned at a given efficiency—and the rate of variation of their life with efficiency, we can then calculate at what
