POINTS WORTH NOTING

Evening Star, Issue 19651, 2 September 1927, Page 2

POINTS WORTH NOTING

’flic cost of any recurring item in tbo budget of the homo or business is important only in its relation to the total expenses. To compare the direct expenditure on coal with that on the electricity necessary to replace it for cookery may be misleading; even if raw fuels are low in price it is doubtful if they are over cheap as used in the homo on account of the waste involved and the heavy cost of attendant labor and tin: replacement of damage caused lo property and furnishings by the use of the lirc._ It is generally agreed that the heaviest part of housework consists in attention to fires, cookery, lloor cleaning, and the washing of clothes; by tbo use of electricity a direct attack can be made on these items. The new method can be introduced progressively, and against its cost can be set off the savings in wages, renewal of decorations, wear and tear of fabrics and furniture, provision of cleaning materials, saving in waste of food ami failures in cooking before even any attempt is made to assess the money value of the superior safety, health, and comlort which "enter the home as the heavy work is reduced and the unhygienic conditions of old-time housework disappear. , . Tbo extent to which electricity can be used with economy and satisfaction in the home of to-day necessarily vanes in different districts _ according to the prices charged, hut since the introduction of the penny rate for cooking and heating in Christchurch all doubts as to the economy of its use have been dispelled.