How to choose laboratory equipment
By Grant, Inspection Tool Specialists. Reviewed November 2026.
Three things decide which laboratory equipment you need: the steps in your workflow (preparation, heating, mixing, measuring, analysis), the volume of samples you process, and the standard or method you must follow. Answer those first, because the right equipment for one method may be wrong for another.
Which equipment?
| Step | Equipment | Typical in our range |
|---|---|---|
| Heating and holding samples at temperature | Thermostatic water bath | BK-S4 10 L thermostatic water bath |
| Mixing and shaking | Orbital and linear shaker | SK-O180-Pro shaker |
| Heating and stirring liquids | Hotplate magnetic stirrer | MS-H-10 hotplate stirrer |
| Accurate liquid handling | Pipette | MicroPette plus autoclavable pipette |
| Preparing powder samples | Powder press | Laboratory powder presser |
| Recording weights with a balance | Balance printer | TPR balance printer |
| Protein and nitrogen analysis | Kjeldahl nitrogen analyser | AKN-01 Kjeldahl analyser |
| Crude fat analysis | Automatic Soxhlet fat extractor | BKXET04C fat extractor |
Method and records
Check the method your standard specifies for temperatures, times and equipment before you buy. Keep calibration and maintenance records for each piece of equipment, and check that accessories such as tubes and cells suit your samples.
Price guide
As a guide to our current range, including VAT: pipettes and presses from about R1,200; centrifuge tubes from about R950; water baths and shakers from about R5,000 to R7,800; stirrers from about R17,400; specialist analysers from about R46,300 to R72,200. Prices change, so check the product pages and confirm the accessories each quote includes.
Questions we will ask you
Tell us your workflow and the test method or standard, the sample types and volumes, the temperatures and times involved, whether you need records or printouts, and the laboratory space and power available. With that we can recommend equipment and provide pricing.