5 Spectrophotometer Tips in Line with Sustainability

WolfLabs has committed to reducing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 90% by 2040 from a 2024 baseline year, using a science-based targeting approach. As many other companies look at ways they can be more sustainable, we have four tips on how to run your spectrophotometer more sustainably.

1. Does it have a sleep mode? While turning off is great, as with computers, we know people will leave them on! Like a computer, lots of instruments now have a sleep or low mode that it will go into after a period of no use.

2. Lamp selection.  This depends on the type of instrument. 

• Colorimeter (fixed wavelength) or single wavelength (e.g. cell density meter) - LED lamp will have a longer life and consume ~80% less energy than traditional lamps
• Visible – ensure it is a ‘press to read’ type lamp when the lamp only comes on if a reading is being taken rather than one where the lamps is always on
• UV-Vis – Xenon flash lamp will give a very long life (unlikely to need replacing for the life of the instrument) and only consumes energy in miniscule bursts.
• UV/Vis – Tungsten/ Deuterium is sometimes necessary for higher specification applications. As with the Visible, ensure the lamps are only on when a reading is happening.

3. Recommended service intervals. Are there any? An instrument that is designed to be as stable as possible is sustainable. Some customers will need yearly service for their audit trails, so most manufacturers will offer this. But an instrument designed to be sustainable should be able to function well and without incident for years.

4. Consumables. Is the manufacturer locking you into using their consumables, or are you free to source locally? Local sourcing is not only a reduced burden on logistics and supply chains, but great for local economies.

5. Logistics and transport are massive contributors to sustainability

• Smaller and lighter instruments take up less space in cargo and thus consume less within the supply chain (spectrophotometers vary WILDLY in this)
• Is the packaging recycled/ recyclable?

Would you like pricing on servicing or a trade-in or re-use value for this type of equipment? If so please Email Us.

Click Here for energy saving tips on other product categories