Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 186 Light Bulb

The investment in the Valencia shipyard was only 2500 million pesetas, which was just a small test for Carlo.

Next, Carlo used a large amount of funds to invest and support Spain's relatively weak heavy industries, such as metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, chemicals, materials, etc.

The average investment in each of these five major areas exceeded 2000 million pesetas, and the cumulative investment exceeded 1 million pesetas, which can be considered a large investment.

Even if more than 1 million pesetas were invested, it would still not be possible to rapidly promote the development of these industries in a short period of time. All that could be done was to effectively promote the improvement of the industry, and it would take a long time to achieve certain results.

At least with the royal family's financial support of more than 1 million pesetas, private enterprises in these industries can continue to survive and have sufficient funds for technological upgrades.

In addition to directly supporting companies in these industries, another option for the royal family is to vigorously cultivate outstanding talents in these areas and provide a steady stream of blood for these industries.

To this end, Carlo personally ordered the education department to assist certain universities in professional construction and restructuring.

At present, several universities have added majors and subjects related to heavy industry under the order of the Ministry of Education, which has effectively supplemented Spain's talent training system in these fields.

Establishing a sound talent training system is definitely the most effective way to promote an industry. Talent is the most important thing for any industry, more important than any ready-made technology and equipment.

After all, only with sufficient talents and a complete talent training system can the industry's technology achieve continuous progress.

If there is a lack of young talents, even if we can gain a short-term lead, technological progress will still stagnate in the future due to the loss of outstanding talents.

In addition to these heavy industries, in the field of electricity, after many years, the Electric Power Laboratory finally achieved certain results.

To be precise, it has been more than five years since the Electric Power Laboratory was built. During these five years, the Electric Power Laboratory built a DC generator and an AC generator, and discovered the electric motor under Carlo's suggestion.

This is not the end. Gram has been exploring wider application scenarios of electricity and has delved into the research of light bulbs.

Before the invention of light bulbs, the main way people relied on flames and kerosene lamps for lighting. Kerosene is also one of the main uses of petroleum today.

These two lighting methods have great drawbacks. Needless to say, using flames for lighting not only wastes various forms of fuel, but the flames are also not that bright.

Although kerosene lamps only need kerosene as energy, the brightness of kerosene lamps is not very high and people can only see things barely.

It is for this reason that the birth of the light bulb was promoted. Even the most primitive light bulb is not inferior to the kerosene lamp in terms of brightness.

If it weren't for the limited service life and the development of electricity, light bulbs would definitely replace kerosene lamps in a short period of time and become the main form of lighting in people's daily lives.

Before Gramm invested heavily in the research of light bulbs, the research on light bulbs was still in the large-scale exploratory stage.

When people in later generations mention light bulbs, the first person they think of is Edison. But in fact, the first person to invent the light bulb was American scientist Henry Goebbels. He used carbonized bamboo filaments placed in a glass bottle and powered it, which could provide lighting for more than 400 hours.

However, because Henry Goebbels did not apply for a patent in time, he was not as famous as Edison, the "King of Inventions", for his invention of the light bulb.

Edison was definitely a capable scientist, but he was also an extremely good capitalist. At least Edison's reputation is not so accurate, and a considerable number of inventions were named after Edison after purchasing patents.

Carlo had some knowledge of the history of the development of the light bulb. Edison bought the patent for the light bulb from a Canadian scientist because the Canadian scientist was no longer able to continue his research on the light bulb.

To put it bluntly, scientific research requires a lot of R&D funds. The birth of the light bulb is the result of scientists repeatedly experimenting with related materials, and finally the light bulb was born.

Carlo knew that before the advent of tungsten filament light bulbs, the longest-lasting and most efficient light bulbs were carbon filament light bulbs.

So Graham's light bulb research started with carbon filament light bulbs, exploring a commercial light bulb that could be used for at least a few hundred hours.

After five years of exploration and experimentation, Gram finally brought good news to Carlo. The electrical laboratory successfully produced a carbon filament light bulb with an average lifespan of up to 300 hours.

Upon hearing the news, Carlo happily went to the electrical laboratory to find out what was going on.

When Carlo arrived at the electrical laboratory, Gram had already prepared the relevant light bulb experiments, waiting for Carlo to watch and test them in person.

“Your Majesty, what you have seen so far is the entire process of our experiments on carbon filament light bulbs.

Our first experimental object was carbonized cotton thread, which had a lifespan of 40 hours. However, this lifespan obviously could not meet commercial needs. On this basis, we tested carbonized bamboo filaments and cardboard, and finally obtained a commercial light bulb with an average lifespan of more than 300 hours. "Gram excitedly introduced the experimental process of the light bulb filament to Carlo, and the excitement and admiration in his eyes were almost revealed.

The Electric Power Laboratory has indeed achieved good results in the past five years, but whether it is the electric motor or the carbon filament light bulb, the relevant theories were all proposed by Carlo.

Gram admired Carlo very much and even thought that Carlo was a natural scientist. If he had not become the king of Spain, Carlo would definitely become one of the greatest scientists in human history, and his achievements might not be inferior to becoming a king.

Unfortunately, Carlo, who had become the King of Spain, obviously had no energy to devote to scientific research and development. This made Gram, who admired Carlo very much, very sorry and believed that mankind might have missed a great scientist.

After hearing Gram's introduction, Carlo nodded with a smile and asked his own question: "Mr. Gram, can the service life of this carbon filament light bulb be guaranteed to be more than 300 hours?"

A service life of 300 hours is definitely short for light bulbs of later generations, but it is definitely a huge improvement for light bulbs of this era.

For ordinary families, it is impossible to keep the lights on all night. The lighting time of a night is basically only a few hours after dark.

Based on 3 to 4 hours of lighting a day, the service life of such a carbon filament bulb will be about 75 to 100 days, which is about three months.

Even if it is a street lamp that illuminates all night, if it is illuminated for at least ten hours a day, a service life of 300 hours can be used for more than ten days.

This era was not like later generations, where many roads were equipped with street lights. Even if Spain had a need to build street lights, it would only be in some more prosperous streets and cities, not on ordinary roads.

Taking all these into consideration, although the service life of 300 hours is not long, it is definitely enough for commercial use. As long as the production cost of the light bulb is not high, it can ensure that such light bulbs can be put into commercial use and promote the use of electricity. This is why Carlo is concerned about the service life of these carbon filament light bulbs.

“我们一共制造了上百个这样的碳丝电灯泡，其中超过60个碳丝电灯泡的使用寿命超过了400个小时，接近20个碳丝电灯泡的使用寿命超过350小时，只有不到20个碳丝电灯泡的使用寿命勉强维持在300小时左右。

Your Majesty, based on the experimental results, we are confident that the service life of carbon filament light bulbs will remain above 300 hours, and it is even possible to increase it to above 350 hours in a short period of time. "When it comes to the actual service life of carbon filament light bulbs, Gram is excited and quickly answers Carlo's question.

Compared with the current light bulb research and registered patents in various countries, this Spanish light bulb with a minimum service life of 300 hours is definitely more advanced.

For Gram, who loves scientific research, being able to accomplish such an achievement with his own hands is more wonderful, exciting and thrilling than anything else.

Carlo nodded, his smile growing wider.

So the 300-hour lifespan reported by Gramm is actually quite conservative.

Because the service life of most light bulbs is more than 400 hours, some inferior products have a service life of only 350 or 300 hours.

According to the exaggerated propaganda methods of some capitalists, these carbon filament light bulbs can be advertised as having an average lifespan of over 400 hours and a maximum lifespan of nearly 500 hours.

Gramm did not do so, which also proves his rigor in treating experimental data.

"Light up some light bulbs," Carlo ordered.

Carlo was quite curious about these most primitive electric lights. Although Carlo had also experienced the dim incandescent lamp, it was a product that had been improved many times after more than 100 years.

Carlo now has no idea what the original incandescent lamp looked like or how bright it was more than 100 years ago. After hearing Carlo's instructions, Gram signaled his assistant to turn on the switch.

With a click of a switch, several light bulbs on the experimental table lit up instantly. Because it was daytime, the brightness of the light bulbs was not very high, and it could even be said to be very weak.

Carlo frowned. It seemed that conducting the electric light experiment during the day was not a wise choice.

Fortunately, the power laboratory had a way to deal with it. All the windows were curtained and the lighting was closed, making the laboratory completely dark.

With the dim laboratory as a backdrop, the originally dim light bulb suddenly became brighter. Although not as stunning as the lights of later generations, for 1875 when electricity was just starting out, such light was like a spark on the grassland, ready to take off with the wind and start a prairie fire at any time.

Feeling the brightness of the light bulb, Carlo nodded, feeling quite satisfied.

Then the light bulbs were turned off and several kerosene lamps were lit again.

Now the contrast is even more obvious. Although the previous light bulb was not as bright, it was definitely clearer than the kerosene lamp.

If we only talk about brightness, this kind of light bulb is at least several times brighter than a kerosene lamp, and it is much clearer to see things.

Working under the light bulb environment is at least not as harmful to the eyes as working under the kerosene lamp. With this comparison, Carlo is more satisfied with the current light bulb.

“Your Majesty, what you see is a small light bulb we have manufactured, which is mainly used for civilian lighting.

Considering the lighting needs of factories and large public areas, we have also specially produced larger light bulbs, which are much brighter than these small civilian light bulbs. "Seeing Carlo's satisfied expression, Gram was obviously more relieved and continued to introduce other types of light bulbs to Carlo.

Hearing that there were other larger light bulbs, Carlo became even more curious and asked with a smile: "A larger light bulb? What is the lifespan of such a light bulb?"

While Gram ordered people to install larger light bulbs for experiments, he answered Carlo's question: "Because of the current limited technology, the service life of this larger light bulb is far less than that of a small light bulb.

After hundreds of experiments, we finally determined that the service life of this large carbon filament light bulb is only about 120 to 150 hours, and it cannot be used intensively.

But in terms of brightness, large carbon filament bulbs are more than three times brighter than small carbon filament bulbs and can illuminate a wider environment."

Perhaps because they had experienced many experiments, the laboratory staff installed the large light bulbs very quickly, and a large light bulb had already been installed in the conversation room.

To highlight the brightness of the large light bulb, only one large light bulb will be used in this test, and the brightness is still comparable to that of several small light bulbs and several kerosene lamps.

With a familiar click, the larger light bulb instantly lit up, emitting an even brighter glow.

Carlo looked around the entire experimental area and found that it was indeed much brighter than the previous small light bulbs. If the previous small light bulbs could only illuminate a circle with a radius of three or four meters, then the current large light bulbs could illuminate a large circle with a radius of at least five or six meters, almost doubling the illuminated area.

Although the lighting area has only doubled, the brightness has also increased a lot. Indeed, for factories and some public areas, such large bulbs are a more suitable choice.

If you use small light bulbs as street lamps, the lighting effect will be poor unless the height of the street lamp is only two meters.

But if this kind of larger bulb is replaced, the height of the street lamp can be increased to more than three meters, the area of ​​​​the road illuminated will be larger, and it can also prevent some incidents of stealing bulbs.

After all, if the street lamp is only two meters away, many people can reach the light bulb in the street lamp by standing on tiptoe. Even if the cost of the light bulb is not high, the selling price will definitely increase to a certain extent.

In order to prevent this phenomenon from happening, it is better to place street lamps as high as possible. Not only can they illuminate a larger road area, but they are also more beautiful and easier to maintain.

Since it has been confirmed that it is brighter than those small bulbs, there is no need to compare it with kerosene lamps.

Kerosene lamps have the weakest brightness, but because they are easy to carry and kerosene is cheap, they have become the main form of lighting in people's daily lives.

But in fact, the lighting of kerosene lamps is really not as bright as lighting a fire. The reason why Carlo doesn't like to work at night is because he doesn't like the dim lighting of kerosene lamps. Now that he has electric light bulbs, Carlo can extend his working hours by one or two hours.

"How much does such a light bulb cost? If it is mass-produced, can the output meet the current demand in Spain?" After confirming that the current light bulbs are sufficient for commercial use, Carlo once again asked the question that he was more concerned about.

There are two important factors in the commercial use of light bulbs. One is the output of light bulbs, and the other is the selling price of light bulbs.

After all, this is something with a lifespan, and its service life needs to be flexibly adjusted according to the lighting time of the light bulb.

If the price is too high, most ordinary people may not be able to afford it.

Of course, this is only possible if Spain has a rough layout of the power grid. At present, not only every village has access to electricity, but even every city in Spain cannot.

Even the generators currently owned by power laboratories can only supply electricity to a small number of experimental equipment and are simply not capable of promoting the popularization of electricity on a large scale.

This also means that before light bulbs can be fully commercialized and promoted throughout Spain, there is one thing that must be done, which is to build a large number of power plants to quickly increase Spain's power generation capacity.

"Currently, the cost of small light bulbs is not expensive, and there are only two main accessories, namely glass lampshades and carbonized cardboard.

According to our estimates, if such small bulbs are mass-produced, the cost of light bulbs can also be effectively reduced.

The current cost of the small laboratory-made bulb is about 2.12 pesetas, but if it can be mass-produced, the cost should be reduced to less than 1.5 pesetas.

As for the question of whether the production can meet Spain's demand, I don't think there will be much demand for light bulbs in Spain until our power plants are built in large numbers.

Your Majesty, regarding the promotion and use of electricity, I think it is necessary for us to establish a large demonstration area to show the leading edge of electricity to all Spaniards and serve as a model for the promotion and use of electricity." Gram answered Carlo's questions one by one.

Carlo nodded, agreeing with what Gram said.

Light bulbs require electricity. Until the electricity is connected, the light bulbs cannot function.

Connecting electricity is a hassle. Not only do you need to build a power plant, but you also need to connect the power plant to the area where the electricity is used. This also involves issues such as voltage and power loss, which cannot be explained in a few words.

What is certain is that even if the light bulb had been invented, it would be impossible for ordinary people to enjoy it.

It is nothing more than that some nobles and capitalists can use their own financial resources to build small power stations, bring electricity to their own residential areas, and drive other electrical equipment including light bulbs.

Perhaps it can also promote the reform of some factories. Electricity is also a very important energy source. Electric motors can replace some steam engines and become an important power equipment in factories.

Factories can also use electric lights for lighting to improve factory efficiency. It was difficult for factories to operate in two shifts before, after all, lighting at night was a big problem.

But if light bulbs are used in large quantities, the factory can still be brightly lit at night, and another group of workers can be used to replace the daytime workers to carry out production, allowing the factory to operate a two-shift production mode and greatly improve production efficiency.

This may exploit Spanish workers, but it is unavoidable. After all, there are various kinds of exploitation in later generations, and there are many workers who work more than ten hours a day.

In 1875, talking about the eight-hour work system, two days off a week, and protecting workers' rights was going against the times.

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(End of this chapter)