Up to the 1930s most rural houses in Europe and North America needed their own generating equipment if electric light was fitted. Engines would often be installed in a dedicated "engine house", which was usually an outbuilding separate from the main house to reduce the interference from the engine noise. The engine house would contain the engine, the generator, the necessary switchgear and fuses, as well as the engine's fuel supply and usually a dedicated workshop space with equipment to service and repair the engine. Wealthy households could afford to employ a dedicated engineer to maintain the equipment, but as the demand for electricity spread to smaller homes, manufacturers produced engines that required less maintenance and that did not need specialist training to operate.