{
  "meta": {
    "key": "lighting_cost_lumen_hour",
    "title": "UK Cost of Light",
    "unit": "GBP/Mlmh",
    "category": "Energy",
    "source": "Fouquet (2026); Fouquet & Pearson (2006), via Our World in Data",
    "sourceUrl": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/the-price-for-lighting-per-million-lumen-hours-in-the-uk-in-british-pound",
    "verified": "2026-10-20",
    "url": "https://exponentialtracker.com/curve/lighting_cost_lumen_hour",
    "csv": "https://exponentialtracker.com/data/lighting_cost_lumen_hour.csv",
    "json": "https://exponentialtracker.com/data/lighting_cost_lumen_hour.json",
    "retrievedFrom": "Compiled by Exponential Tracker and re-derived from the source named above. Rebuilt on every deploy, so re-fetch rather than trusting a saved copy to be current.",
    "rights": "The underlying data belongs to Fouquet (2026); Fouquet & Pearson (2006), via Our World in Data. This compilation may be reused with attribution to Exponential Tracker. No licence is claimed or implied over the source data.",
    "citation": "Exponential Tracker, \"UK Cost of Light\", exponentialtracker.com/curve/lighting_cost_lumen_hour, data verified 2026-10-20. Underlying source: Fouquet (2026); Fouquet & Pearson (2006), via Our World in Data."
  },
  "data": [
    {
      "year": 1300,
      "value": 29674.293,
      "label": "Tallow candles: £29,674 per million lumen-hours"
    },
    {
      "year": 1310,
      "value": 29988.13
    },
    {
      "year": 1320,
      "value": 25177.365
    },
    {
      "year": 1330,
      "value": 28750.63
    },
    {
      "year": 1340,
      "value": 31155.14
    },
    {
      "year": 1350,
      "value": 28759.584
    },
    {
      "year": 1360,
      "value": 26533.373
    },
    {
      "year": 1370,
      "value": 27050
    },
    {
      "year": 1380,
      "value": 28154.984
    },
    {
      "year": 1390,
      "value": 25531.414
    },
    {
      "year": 1400,
      "value": 21262.875
    },
    {
      "year": 1410,
      "value": 20062.74
    },
    {
      "year": 1420,
      "value": 17965.1
    },
    {
      "year": 1430,
      "value": 21540.564
    },
    {
      "year": 1440,
      "value": 17261.902
    },
    {
      "year": 1450,
      "value": 16380.542
    },
    {
      "year": 1460,
      "value": 17128.227
    },
    {
      "year": 1470,
      "value": 16766.953
    },
    {
      "year": 1480,
      "value": 15565.136
    },
    {
      "year": 1490,
      "value": 14265.509
    },
    {
      "year": 1500,
      "value": 14087.045
    },
    {
      "year": 1510,
      "value": 14432.571
    },
    {
      "year": 1520,
      "value": 13041.676
    },
    {
      "year": 1530,
      "value": 10787.166
    },
    {
      "year": 1540,
      "value": 11158.398
    },
    {
      "year": 1550,
      "value": 12206.291
    },
    {
      "year": 1560,
      "value": 13461.376
    },
    {
      "year": 1570,
      "value": 13477.31
    },
    {
      "year": 1580,
      "value": 13029.094
    },
    {
      "year": 1590,
      "value": 13066.723
    },
    {
      "year": 1600,
      "value": 11492.944
    },
    {
      "year": 1610,
      "value": 11570.2705
    },
    {
      "year": 1620,
      "value": 11453.928
    },
    {
      "year": 1630,
      "value": 10712.924
    },
    {
      "year": 1640,
      "value": 10554.894
    },
    {
      "year": 1650,
      "value": 10517.034
    },
    {
      "year": 1660,
      "value": 10808.494
    },
    {
      "year": 1670,
      "value": 10441.713
    },
    {
      "year": 1680,
      "value": 10751.153
    },
    {
      "year": 1690,
      "value": 11129.145
    },
    {
      "year": 1700,
      "value": 10581.077
    },
    {
      "year": 1710,
      "value": 10547.676
    },
    {
      "year": 1720,
      "value": 13571.994
    },
    {
      "year": 1730,
      "value": 13469.794
    },
    {
      "year": 1740,
      "value": 12428.435
    },
    {
      "year": 1750,
      "value": 14408.9375
    },
    {
      "year": 1760,
      "value": 12141.749
    },
    {
      "year": 1770,
      "value": 11189.038
    },
    {
      "year": 1780,
      "value": 11068.724
    },
    {
      "year": 1790,
      "value": 10711.1
    },
    {
      "year": 1800,
      "value": 8497.482,
      "label": "Candles 90% of lighting fuel, whale oil 10%"
    },
    {
      "year": 1810,
      "value": 8300.918
    },
    {
      "year": 1820,
      "value": 5318.626
    },
    {
      "year": 1830,
      "value": 3275.5127
    },
    {
      "year": 1840,
      "value": 2804.65
    },
    {
      "year": 1850,
      "value": 2342.2937,
      "label": "Gas 78% of the fuel mix; candles down to 21%"
    },
    {
      "year": 1860,
      "value": 1359.8152
    },
    {
      "year": 1870,
      "value": 852.1402
    },
    {
      "year": 1880,
      "value": 588.6039
    },
    {
      "year": 1890,
      "value": 275.7337
    },
    {
      "year": 1900,
      "value": 222.63788,
      "label": "Gas 82%, kerosene 15%, electricity 2%"
    },
    {
      "year": 1910,
      "value": 233.21088
    },
    {
      "year": 1920,
      "value": 156.48373
    },
    {
      "year": 1930,
      "value": 69.65207
    },
    {
      "year": 1940,
      "value": 46.18788
    },
    {
      "year": 1950,
      "value": 11.904887,
      "label": "Electricity 99%: £11.90 and still falling fast"
    },
    {
      "year": 1960,
      "value": 5.8943443
    },
    {
      "year": 1970,
      "value": 3.506848
    },
    {
      "year": 1980,
      "value": 3.6321414
    },
    {
      "year": 1990,
      "value": 3.5816774
    },
    {
      "year": 2000,
      "value": 2.5215223
    },
    {
      "year": 2010,
      "value": 2.5027318
    },
    {
      "year": 2017,
      "value": 1.8028588,
      "label": "Series low: £1.80 on the five-year mean"
    },
    {
      "year": 2023,
      "value": 2.148248,
      "label": "£2.15 — six straight years of rebound"
    }
  ]
}