Small is beautiful: the Streamer Mini is a powerful spotlight in a lightweight frame

Our Streamer spotlight now has a little brother. Debuting in December 2023, the Streamer Mini is an innovative and lightweight new spotlight that aims to take the advances seen in the original Streamer and push them further, delivering a powerful punch in light output from a small and low-wattage luminaire. To get all the details, we spoke to Fagerhult Product and Application Manager Peter Robertsson.

What was the goal in creating the Streamer Mini, and how does it compare to the Streamer?

With the original Streamer, the idea was to achieve a reduced carbon footprint through efficiency, getting a high output from a physically small spotlight. The challenge we set ourselves this time was to see if we could improve the efficiencies further, making a version of the Streamer that is smaller still, while retaining a powerful output.

We have reduced the weight of the units from 0.5 kilograms to 0.3 kilograms, and wattages also have fallen. As in the original Streamer, we use an exceptionally reflective material for the reflector, but we have also used the latest and most efficient LED chips and have worked to create the most efficient drivers possible.

How efficient is the product, and how do you measure that?

We’ve achieved higher than 150 lumens per watt with some of the offerings in the Streamer Mini range. That’s considered very efficient for an LED.

We now have a full EPD report, which is something we always take very seriously. That assesses the characteristics and carbon impact of the overall product life cycle, from materials to production to delivery and then end of life implications.

Regarding the last of those points, almost all of the metal and three quarters of the electrical and electronic waste is expected to be recycled ultimately. Even the wooden pallet used in transport is incinerated for energy recovery.

What materials are used for the product?

Less! But seriously, the frame is die-cast aluminium. Aluminium has sometimes been called the green metal because you can melt it down and recycle it repeatedly and it doesn’t lose quality. The housing on Streamer Mini is 99-100% recycled aluminium with Miro reflectors.

The reduction in the amount of that material of course means less carbon cost from manufacture. Right now, most of the carbon footprint of a luminaire is in usage – but we’re thinking ahead. If you use renewable energy today, most of the footprint from a luminaire comes from manufacture. And the world is going to get closer and closer to that every year. We want to anticipate a future where energy efficiency is not enough.

A smaller unit also affects transport – more luminaires per pallet, for more efficient, less impactful distribution.

Are there any other advances compared to the original Streamer?

There are additional switches on the driver. Let’s say you have a track-mounted Streamer Mini in a retail outlet. That’s a situation where there are new displays and products and you often want to move spotlights. If the light output you actually need in the new placement is different, you can adjust the output, stepping down from the maximum possible to whatever you need and no more. Traditionally, lights are carefully calibrated for the initial placement but everything gets less efficient the moment you move anything.

How does the Streamer Mini compare to other offerings from Fagerhult?

Again, the goal here was efficiency, and we have exceeded the efficiency characteristics of previous spotlights in our range.

Streamer and Streamer Mini are intended to complement one another, however. The absolute output in lumens inevitably remains more at the high end on the bigger Streamers, and larger spotlights may have more control options, for example for dimming the fitting.

It’s early days for this product, but are you able to share any initial case studies?

In Sweden, we have already started to ship out some of the luminaires. We have a big retail account, a major high-street fashion retailer, that has chosen to use Streamer Mini. Also, we are in talks right now with some of our larger British accounts about the product, and I would expect them to appear before long on the UK high street, but I’m not able to go into details.

Click here to see the product pages for the track-mounted and recessed Streamer Mini. If you have any further questions, please do get in touch.