5 Pieces of Laboratory Equipment Every New Lab Needs

Instrument Choice supports universities, scientific research organisations and pharmaceutical companies with a range of essential laboratory equipment. The Instrument Choice Team comprises scientists with plenty of laboratory experience, so if you’re ever thinking of setting up a new lab or refurbishing an old one, give us a call before you start. To help you get started we have made a list of the top 5 pieces of laboratory equipment every lab must have.

#1 Laboratory refrigerators

Laboratory refrigerators are used to keep cool samples, temperature-sensitive products, reagents or specimens for safe preservation. This category of laboratory equipment includes units for storing blood plasma and other blood products, as well as vaccines and other medical, scientific or pharmaceutical supplies. Generally, they differ from standard refrigerators used in homes or restaurants because they need to be totally hygienic and completely reliable.

Laboratory refrigerators need to:

• Be designed to ensure there is no risk of electrical sparks in the storage area when storing flammable liquids and hazardous chemical substances.
• Maintain a consistent temperature in order to mfinimize the risk of bacterial contamination, prevent chemicals going off and explosions of volatile materials.
• Achieve a high degree of accuracy – to do so, the refrigerator needs adequate air circulation and a fan that will always maintain an even temperature. Further, the fan must turn off when the door seal is broken to prevent the loss of cold air from the unit.
• Be secure - to minimise the risk of theft or loss of products.
• Prevent cross contamination – by being easy to clean and/or by having separate storage compartments.

Here’s a quick checklist designed to help our customers zero in on the right model laboratory fridge for their requirements:

• Size (for storage requirements versus available space)
• Level of security against theft/loss
• Level of security to manage an explosion or the risk of cross-contamination
• Acceptable construction materials
• Ease of cleaning
• Temperature variability tolerance
• Temperature pull-down and recovery times
• Storage area humidity levels
• Door construction – materials, sliding/swinging
• Mandatory control settings
• Defrosting procedures
• Running costs
• Acquisition cost

See examples of high-performance laboratory refrigerators. If the products on our website don’t meet your criteria, please chat to one of our scientific team who can help track down the unit you need.

#2 Pipettors

A pipette is a specialised piece of laboratory equipment commonly used in chemistry, biology, medical, or pharmaceutical applications to transport a measured volume of liquid, often as a media dispenser.

Pipettes come in several designs for various purposes with differing levels of accuracy and precision from single piece glass pipettes to more complex adjustable or electronic pipettes. Many pipette types work by creating a partial vacuum above the liquid-holding chamber and selectively releasing this vacuum to draw up and dispense liquid. Measurement accuracy varies greatly depending on the style.

Air displacement micropipettes are the most common type of adjustable pipette. They deliver a measured volume of liquid, depending on the size of the unit, between about 0.1 µl to 10000 µl (10 ml). These pipettes require disposable tips that can be autoclaved, that contact the fluid to be drawn and measured. The four standard sizes of pipettes correspond to four different colour codes.

This style of pipette is capable of being very precise and accurate. However, since they rely on air displacement, they are subject to inaccuracies caused by the changing environment, particularly temperature and user technique. For these reasons this equipment must be carefully maintained and calibrated, and users must be trained to exercise correct and consistent technique. Instrument Choice stocks a range of commonly used piston-driven air displacement pipettors. If you need an instrument that we don’t stock, you save time and money by letting us help you source it.

Check out our range of pipettors

#3 Scales & Balances

Scales and balances are essential laboratory equipment, whether for something as simple as checking the weight of incoming supplies, or as precise as determining the moisture content of a specimen.

In simple terms, balances measure mass, while scales measure weight.

A scale displays weight by measuring a deflection; the springs are deformed by the load, and the force needed to deform the springs is measured and converted into weight. Scales are affected by gravity.

A balance determines mass by balancing an unknown mass against a known mass. In modern weighing instruments, balances usually use a force restoration mechanism that creates a force to balance the force exerted by the unknown mass. After calibration, a balance will accurately measure mass, irrespective of gravity.

The two major measuring technologies are mechanical and digital.

Some of the most common categories of scales include:

Bench Scales - are useful for packing, shipping, receiving or quality control requirements.

Portable Balances - are devices that can be moved around or used for field work. A portable balance is likely to run on batteries and not depend on a mains connection.

Moisture Balances – are used to measure the moisture content in a material sample by first measuring the mass of an object before dehydration and then after dehydration.

Precision Balances - balances used to weigh quantities to a very precise number, usually up to one milligram. They’re sometimes referred to as “top loading balances”. Precision balances are available in a wide range of capacities, from several hundred grams up to kilograms. They’re not as precise as analytical balances, but more precise than the average bench or compact scale. Also, precision balances have a higher capacity than analytical balances, but a lower readability.

Analytical balances - are designed for quantitative chemical analysis and are used when measurements need to be accurate on a scale less than 1 milligram.

Counting Scales - calculate the weight of the items you place on the weighing platform and divide the weight by the number of pieces you entered, to compute the average piece weight (APW).

Compact Scales and Balances - measuring devices with a small footprint, making them ideal for use in areas where space is a premium.

#4 Vortex Mixers

A vortex mixer, or vortexer, is an essential piece of laboratory equipment with a small footprint used to mix samples or vials of liquid rapidly. They are most commonly found in bioscience, microbiology, biochemical and analytical laboratories.

The objective is to mix small vials of liquid in an oscillating circular motion, thereby creating a vortex in each liquid sample.

Two common applications for a vortex mixer include:

• Where a lab has created a cell culture and has a need to suspend the cells; and
• To mix the reagents of an assay or to mix an experimental sample with a dilutant.

#5 Centrifuges

A laboratory centrifuge is another essential piece of laboratory equipment. These devices are driven by a motor, which spins liquid samples at high speed. Laboratory centrifuges work by the sedimentation principle, where the centripetal acceleration is used to separate substances of greater and lesser density.

Centrifuges are commonly kept refrigerated, and their temperature regulated due to heat generated by air friction as lab samples spin.

There are different types of laboratory centrifuges:

• Microcentrifuges - devices for small tubes from 0.2 ml to 2.0 ml (micro tubes), but with up to 96 well-plates. They boast a compact design with a small footprint.
• Clinical centrifuges - moderate-speed devices used for clinical applications, like blood collection tubes.
• Multipurpose high-speed centrifuges - devices for a broad range of tube sizes. Capable of high variability but they have a big footprint.
• Ultracentrifuges – analytical and preparative models.

If there is a category we missed that you think should have featured in the top 5 essential types of laboratory equipment, then please contact us.