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.
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.
