Product News: Thermo Scientific Launch New High-Performance, Energy Saving Refrigerated Incubators

New refrigerated incubators with thermoelectric Peltier technology are designed to provide stable temperatures for the secure incubation of bacteria, yeast, cell cultures, storage of vaccines and more, without the hazardous refrigerants or large energy consumption that are common with traditional units.

The new Thermo Scientific Heratherm refrigerated incubators provide a consistent temperature environment for incubation applications from 5 to 70 degrees centigrade, with enhanced accuracy in the range of 15 to 25 degrees. The instrument’s easy-to-use interface can store up to 10 temperature protocols set by the user, with up to 10 steps in each, and includes an advanced timer function, an automatic temperature alarm and adjustable over-temperature protection.

The Heratherm refrigerated incubators employ Peltier technology, which circumvents the need for a refrigerant by using a thermoelectric element to cool or heat in one module, as needed. This element leverages the Peltier effect, where an electric voltage is converted into heat difference.

“With traditional incubators, laboratory staff would have to worry about regulations and the safety of the refrigerant, especially when handling or disposing of the cooling agent,” said Konrad Knauss, global product manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “The Heratherm system removes those concerns by circumventing the need for the use of a refrigerant as the heating or cooling element.”

In addition to using insulation that is free of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chemicals that are either phased out or are being phased out by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to reduce the overall risk to human health and the environment, Heratherm refrigerated incubators consume very little energy. In fact, tests against predecessor compressor-cooled models show up to 84 percent energy savings, making this system an ideal solution for many labs.

The highly accurate Heratherm incubator comes in two sizes: a 178-liter benchtop model and a 381-liter floor model for use in a variety of applications, including microbiology/fungi/yeast studies, reagent and antibody storage, and shelf life testing.