"Homesun" ultra-violet lamp

Made:
1927

"Homesun" ultra-violet lamp, the original model, 1927, with transformer

Details

Category:
Domestic Appliances
Object Number:
1964-134
Materials:
metal (ferrous), copper (alloy), glass, ceramic (unspecified) and mercury
Measurements:
Lamp: 460 mm x 260 mm x 380 mm, 6 kg
Transformer: 290 mm x 200 mm x 225 mm, 12 kg
type:
solar lamps
credit:
Engelhard Hanovia Lamps

Parts

"Homesun" ultra-violet lamp

"Homesun" ultra-violet lamp

"Homesun" ultra-violet lamp, the original model, 1927.

More

Hanovia Ltd advertised the Homesun as the first ever home model of a mercury vapour lamp, with the source of ultra-violet radiation in the lamp being a medium pressure mercury vapour arc in quartz. This is an example of the original model, but many further iterations of the lamp were made in later years.

UV light therapy was advocated by doctors and the military - adverts for Homesun lamps could be found in newspapers and magazines, with one wartime advert claiming "the best way of keeping fit, alert, vitalized, is to sunbathe regularly with a Homesun... Fighting men keep fit this way, and it's even better for children" (Picture Post, 1941).

The "Homesun" ultra-violet lamp was introduced at the first Heat & Light Exhibition at the Central Hall at Westminster in 1927.

Transformer for the "Homesun" ultra-violet lamp

Transformer for the "Homesun" ultra-violet lamp

Transformer for the "Homesun" ultra-violet lamp, the original model, 1927.

Object Number:
1964-134/2
type:
lamp