Philips Genie E-Saver

Genie E-saver compact fluorescent lamps having integrated 220-240V ballasts with E14 and E27 bases Features Triphosphor internal coating outer bulb (similar to Super 80 lamps) E14 or E27 base Color rendering index Ra of 76 to 82 Typical lifetime of 6.000 hour Luminous efficacy of 47 to 58 lumens/watt Two colour designations (2700 and 6500 K colour temperature) Universal operating position Lamp control gear Not required

Best retro purpose

Flourescent lamps are the most popular and widely used lighting source. Still widely used in most indoor environments due to their high efficiency and very good colour reproduction, flourescent lamp stocks and availability is still high. Millions of these lamps have been produced worldwide for decades. They are clearly suited for indoor lighting especially when paired with an electronic ballast that eliminates flicker and also increases system efficiency. Due to the great variety of lamps, there are some suggestions for use. Most flourescent lamps operate well at 25 degrees Celsius ambient temperature and have very low light output in freezing or below freezing environments but hot environments also reduce efficiency.

Genie E-saver lamps are usable as classic light sources although they do not have any particular feature. Since they were cheaply built and mass market produced, they do not have any feature that was not covered by LED lamps or previous incandescent lamps. This is why they are not really suited for retro applications. On the other side, the lamps themselves do not have any design flaw or energy efficiency shortcoming. If used, on indoor or outdoor applications, for whatever reasons, fixtures should not be fully enclosed, as it prematurely damages the lamp's internal components. Due to the lamp's low power rating, probably indoor lighting is better suited.

Understanding manufacturer data

Lamp light output is always measured in lumens. This is a way of measuring by averaging light output at a distance of 1 meter in an integrating sphere. This was carried out in lab environments and this information was mentioned in lamp datasheets and catalogues. While this information is accurate it should be considered only across similar lamp types.

Lamp life is presented in thousands of hours. It does not point at a specific moment when an installed lamp will not operate anymore but a statistical point at which some of the lamps may not operate, giving a rough estimate of useful life.

Ra8 colour rendering index, or simply colour rendering index is a way of expressing the typical colour rendering capability of a lamp. While it may be non-intuitive this is a computed average of brightness of certain coloured samples that are light by the lamp. The brighter they are, the more efficient is the lamp in this task. Most lamps do not have a continuous colour spectra so only some specific colours might look very bright and others look very dull. Colour samples are not intense reds, greens and blues but intermediately vivid colours that are focused on human skin colours and some fabrics or surfaces, meaning that a only very high colour rendering indexes are desirable for indoor home lighting. Sun light renders colours almost perfectly, having a value of 100 while typical lamps have a rendering index between 50 and 80, a good value being above 80 and a poor one below 50.

Colour temperature is another important detail. The value is presented in Kelvins and follows a theory that boils down to the fact that light can be produced by heating a metal up to a specific temperature. A camp fire releases light as the flame reaches around 1500-2000 degrees Celsius and a slightly higher value expressed in Kelvin. The designation is warm white for a value of around 2700 Kelvin, natural white with a value of around 3200-3500 Kelvin, cool white for a value of around 4000-4500 Kelvin, daylight for a value between 5000 and 5500 Kelvin, and cool daylight for a value above 6000-6500 Kelvin. There are cultural preferences that make some warm colour temperatures preferred in colder climates and cool colour temperatures in warmer climates. The most popular home lighting worldwide is mostly warm white, due to a comfortable, pleasant atmosphere that is close to the old incandescent lamp.

Technical details

Designation	Base	Lamp wattage	Luminous flux	Colour appearance	Colour Temperature	Colour Rendering Index (Ra8)	Life (to 50% failures)
Genie E-Saver 5W/827	E14/E27	5 W	259 lm	Incandescent White	2700 K	82	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 5W/865	E14	5 W	235 lm	Cool Daylight	6500 K	76	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 8W/827	E14/E27	8 W	420 lm	Incandescent White	2700 K	82	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 8W/865	E27	8 W	400 lm	Cool Daylight	6500 K	76	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 11W/827	E14/E27	11 W	600 lm	Incandescent White	2700 K	82	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 11W/865	E27	11 W	570 lm	Cool Daylight	6500 K	76	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 14W/827	E14/E27	14 W	810 lm	Incandescent White	2700 K	82	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 14W/865	E27	14 W	760 lm	Cool Daylight	6500 K	76	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 18W/827	E27	18 W	1100 lm	Incandescent White	2700 K	82	6000 hours
Genie E-Saver 18W/865	E27	18 W	1040 lm	Cool Daylight	6500 K	76	6000 hours

Durability and Repair-ability

Due to their build construction, these lamps are not serviceable in the true sense. The lamp itself cannot be plugged in and out of the base, to allow simple replacements. While some board repairs can be done if the ballast experiences failure, the most likely cause is the lamp itself burning out, meaning that fillaments are so damaged that the lamp behaves erratically or does not work at all. The lamp's fillaments can be joined to allow forced lamp starting although success varies on the actual lamp condition.

Philips Genie E-Saver lamps have some useful life left, especially as the starting method is quite harsh on electrodes if the lamp is frequently switched on and off. The lamp's ballast is quite difficult to access but considerably more durable than typical Chinese unbranded or no-name lamps. Operation in enclosed fixtures still is the biggest premature failure cause due to the high stress posed by high temperature operation, mainly in the case of the internal ballast components.

Greatest features & flaws

Features	Flaws
Low glare risk, uniform lighting	Quite large lamps and fixtures
High efficiency, long life, very good colour rendering	Fragile construction
Mostly suited for directional light	Sensitive to operating temperature
Quick lamp start and restart, inexpensive	Requires lamp gear

Review

Genie E-Saver lamps were very cheaply made incandescent replacement lamps. There was no real advantage to using such lamps over incandescent types other than lower energy consumption. Due to the lamp's mediocre build quality there were many issues with shorter than average lamp life, especially for lamps produced late in 2000s in China, when competition centered mostly on cost. While it is true that these lamps served their purpose, they were not appreciated as light quality was nowhere near the lamps they replaced while, relatively soon, LED lamps were available.

Operation

The lamp's operation is straightforward, as no gear is required and the lamp can be directly plugged into the mains. On the other side, dimmer switches designed for classic incandescent lamps (almost all classic mains voltage dimmers operate as such) should be avoided as they cannot reliably operate the lamp and they increase the failure rate of it due to additional stress. Just as well, classic light switches with a neon probe lamp should not be used as their low leakage current through the lamp creates potential cycling of the lamp every few seconds.

Suitability

Due to their low power and light output, these lamps are mostly suited for indoor use even if some cool daylight lamps may be particularly suited as accent light with good results on foliage and vegetation.

Closed as well as open fixtures are very well suited for any lamp type. In general, open fixtures are better suited for lamps operating in warmer indoor environments while enclosed fixtures are better suited for colder environments.