First energy saving lamp Philips

4 min read · 21 Feb 2019 · 701 · 12 · 1

You probably remember them; the SL series of Philips, better known as 'Jampot'.

They were also from other brands, such as Hema and Pope, undoubtedly simply produced by Philips, first in the Netherlands, later in Poland. In the 80-ies, these energy-saving lamps came on the market for about 25 Guilders or something more, I think I remember. But the very first energy-saving lamps were actually not. The fluorescent tube was in fact also an energy-saving lamp and also the Halogen lamp was more economical than an incandescent bulb. Let me put it this way; with the same Wattage you had more light. Comes down to the same of course. And although I write in the past tense, all of these lamps are still natural.

(almost) Nobody wants this anymore... at least not in the house. Earlier you had those thick fluorescent tubes of 40 Watt, later came the thinner tubes of 36 Watt. A small difference seems to be only in a stable or factory hall, this saved because of the large amount of pipes, huge in energy costs. It is just very nice bright (work) light and therefore you saw and see them often in kitchens for example.

Above the 'jam pots', still made in NL. On the right, one of the Hema is booting up.

The term “jam pot” actually does injustice to this wonderful piece of innovation; a 'folded' fluorescent tube, including starter/ballast, which you can turn 'simply' into an E27 fitting. But still by no means all luminaires were suitable for such a lamp and over the years they were better rounded and reduced, as depicted further below. And also increasingly economical, of course. Also the old-fashioned starter, which you could hear clearly when switching on, has given way to some more sophisticated electronics. Below is a video in which I turn on the different SL lamps. When you turn the sound a little louder, the starter is clearly heard. I start with the lamp of the Hema, apparently it has the most burning hours because it takes a while to turn on. For fun, there is also a light bulb in between and at the end an LED lamp. In the video afterwards it is visible that when the lamp is at temperature, it gives a sea of light.

The lamps above are from Philips, Pope and Hema. They are made for an AC voltage of 220 Volt/50Hz.

Today our electricity grid has a voltage of 220-230 Volts and modern equipment is also calculated for that. (220-230Volt/50-60Hertz) But these lamps are not yet so they can wear out faster. It also affects whether you're directly behind the transformer. (transformer house) If you are far from that, the voltage at home will be closer to the 220 Volts. Below is the video of a Philips SL-9 energy saving lamp in my outdoor lamp. It's hard to film how much light it gives because the camera adapts. But it does not fall under a LED lamp; it only consumes a little more. Although... 9 Watt and a light output comparable to a light bulb of about 40 Watt is really not bad! Here I also show the light output of Hema's 18 Watt SL lamp in my outdoor lantern and the light from the LED street light. That doesn't make each other much. I bought the old lamps for €1,50 or less! ; -)