Spacing for 2 pendant lights

[ericmark]

I do find it interesting how the old pre-electric lighting worked. The old gas lamp in the caravan kept it warm as well as giving light, and I have never seen one on the ceiling, in houses there were ceiling lamps I am sure, but all I have seen were wall mounted. I would guess to give some space for the heat to escape from the lamp?

Larger premises had two chains to switch the lights on and off. But in the main people used day light.

The old oil lamp with mantel was a pain to light, but was a really good bright light, seem to remember using meths to get it started. My friend had a carbide lamp for his bike and that was better than any battery lamp and also you could warm your hands on it. Never seen carbide used in the home. Not sure how a lime lamp worked?

But today all the sense used to select type and position seems to have gone! One sees spot lamps aimed at black floors, never worked out why?

 

[ericmark]

I do find it interesting how the old pre-electric lighting worked. The old gas lamp in the caravan kept it warm as well as giving light, and I have never seen one on the ceiling, in houses there were ceiling lamps I am sure, but all I have seen were wall mounted. I would guess to give some space for the heat to escape from the lamp?

Larger premises had two chains to switch the lights on and off. But in the main people used day light.

The old oil lamp with mantel was a pain to light, but was a really good bright light, seem to remember using meths to get it started. My friend had a carbide lamp for his bike and that was better than any battery lamp and also you could warm your hands on it. Never seen carbide used in the home. Not sure how a lime lamp worked?

But today all the sense used to select type and position seems to have gone! One sees spot lamps aimed at black floors, never worked out why?

 

[JohnW2]

I do find it interesting how the old pre-electric lighting worked. The old gas lamp in the caravan kept it warm as well as giving light, and I have never seen one on the ceiling, in houses there were ceiling lamps I am sure, but all I have seen were wall mounted. I would guess to give some space for the heat to escape from the lamp?

Like you. I've never see (the remnants of) a gas light other than on a wall. I can't really see how one could have a 'ceiling' one (at least, unless it dangled a long way below the ceiling on a sort of 'pendant') - otherwise it would presumably be at risk of 'setting fire to the ceiling'. Other than in caravans, I've never seen a (wall) gas light ever used other than in the house of my great-grandmother, who insisted on using it even after she had electricity.

On the other hand, the street lamps in the road where I spent my youth were all gas - until, I think, well into the 60s (not that they produced much useful light!).

Kind Regards, John

 

[Echo the husky]

I rewired a house several years back, and in the bedrooms the pendants were right in the corner where you would expect a desk/makeup table to be. I wondered if it was because at the time the house was wired the light output from the lamps would be quite poor, and it would make sense to position them where you need light the most.

I have several old carbon filament lamps and the efficiency and light output is very poor certainly not useful enough to put in the centre of a room. Nice warm glow though!

As to gas lighting, there is some nice gasoliers in a church we do work at, when they were taken down they were all stored, either that or whoever removed them couldn't be bothered to get rid of them and dumped them out of sight, they are quite large. There is also a gas tap on the wall where it looks like a lighting wand was connected to light the ceiling lights. I've always wanted one of them but the warden is never there when I'm working to ask if they would part with any, in fact I've never even met him!

 

[SimonH2]

The old gas lamp in the caravan kept it warm as well as giving light

Ah yes, I remember them from when I were a lad. But I mainly remember the "annoyance" my father exhibited as the mantle seemed unable to cope with travelling and so we'd often need a new mantle on arrival.

Not sure how a lime lamp worked?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight

 

[JohnW2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight

Indeed. As it says, the 'lime', per se, didn't produce light. It was essentially a very hot (oxygen/hydrogen) flame directed at the lime, whose properties were such that it could get white hot without melting or degrading. I suppose one can think of the 'lime' a bit like the mantle of a gas lamp.

Kind Regards, John

 

[SimonH2]

Slightly more to it than "gets hot, emits light". If you follow the link for candoluminescence it talks about emitting light different to what you would expect just from incandescence. So it's not just that the "lime" can get hot enough to glow without melting, it's that it emits more of the whiter frequencies than something else would at the same temperature.
But yes, I assume a gas mantle does the same thing.

 

[ericmark]

Ah yes, I remember them from when I were a lad. But I mainly remember the "annoyance" my father exhibited as the mantle seemed unable to cope with travelling and so we'd often need a new mantle on arrival.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight

My dad used a spring and washer to hold the mantel in place, he sent his idea to a caravan magazine and got £5 for the idea, after that caravans all came with the spring and washer.

 

[SimonH2]

The mantle, or at least it's mounting ring base was still in place - but where the fragile "fabric bulb" had been before setting off was now just a few bits still hanging on to the base.
Ah yes, I think I know the spring and washer you mention - instead of the mantle just "sitting" on it's bayonet base, there's a spring pushing it down so it can't jump free. But it doesn't (didn't) stop the fabric bulb breaking up which was (as far as I can remember that far back) the problem.