Baths and chillers are crucial to a variety of tasks and workflows across the sciences, from controlling rates of enzymatic or chemical reactions to cooling critical instrumentation. In addition to core needs around temperature precision and ramping, the operational footprint, including energy consumption, space utilization, and user-friendliness, should align to your lab's workflow and budgetary framework. Consider the type of bath, like circulating or beads, cooling technology, and features like ultrasonic cleaning or shaking. For a list of bath and chiller manufacturers, see our online directory: LabManager.com/bath-chiller-manufacturers
7 Questions to Ask When Buying a Bath or Chiller:
- What capacity do you need to meet sample volume and throughput demands, and how much space do you have in your lab?
- What temperature range, precision, and uniformity do you need?
- How long does it take for the unit to cool down or heat up to the set temperature?
- What safety features, fail-safes, or shut-down mechanisms are in place to protect samples and users?
- How easy to clean is the unit?
- Does the bath or chiller have alarms to warn you of temperature deviations?
- What material is it made of? Some materials, like stainless steel, are more durable than others.
Controlling an Experiment's Temperature
From portable and benchtop units to industrial-size devices, baths and chillers come in a wide variety of configurations to serve many different industries. This article offers practical guidelines to choosing the best water bath for your application, considering such factors as capacity, agitation, control type, and more. Read more at LabManager.com/controlling-temperature
Save Energy with a Non-Refrigerated Chiller
Concerned about energy consumption? Consider getting a non-refrigerated chiller. These chillers use a heat exchanger to reduce the temperature of water as it circulates. (As a bonus: non-refrigerated chillers are also much quieter than their refrigerated counterparts.)
