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Poll: How much have you spent on your lab?
I have no lab --- 7 (6.6%)
None; I use an institution's lab for personal projects -- 0 (0%)
$10–$50 -- 0 (0%)
$50–$100 --- 5 (4.72%)
$100–250 --- 7 (6.6%)
$250–$400 --- 11 (10.38%)
$400–$750 --- 10 (9.43%)
$750–$1000 --- 7 (6.6%)
$1000–$2000 --- 14 (13.21%)
$2000-$3000 --- 12 (11.32%)
$3000-$5000 --- 13 (12.26%)
$5000-$10,000 --- 6 (5.66%)
$10,000–$20,000 --- 6 (5.66%)
$20,000–$50,000 --- 4 (3.77%)
$50,000–$100,000 --- 2 (1.89%)
$100,000–$250,000 -- 0 (0%)
$250,000–$500,000 -- 0 (0%)
$500,000–$1,000,000 --- 1 (0.94%)
Over $1,000,000 --- 1 (0.94%)

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Author: Subject: How much have you spent on your lab?
karlos³
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[*] posted on 23-11-2017 at 15:40


Yeah I am not saying I spent every month this amount, this is just an overall estimation.
Like you said, there are months I don´t spend a cent on chemistry, while other times get me to my limit.

Maybe a "what do are your yearly expenses" would fit better?
Surprisingly, this is a consistent quantity, never below or above a certain budget, but I estimate maybe 2k/year(definitely not avobe 2,5k, in dollar), of course after having stocked glass, electronic equipment and a stock of long-lasting reagents useful just for me.

Which is the quantity I chose in the poll, even if it is not the real and complete budget I spent(since it´s ever-growing of course).

I don´t need to buy stuff for the hobby always, but I have a monthly budget put aside and when I discover something of interest, I´ll go and get it. And if not, even better, the budget increases for the next buy :)

This is the reason while I estimated to spent at least 100 dollars per month(new filter papers, some beakers etc, stuff that broke etc), but sometimes not even near that amount.
Honestly, my yearly expense on chemistry can be quite variable depending on my activities.
One year it might not even be more than a few hundred, the next year some few thousands, because of a difficult produced substance and me being a stubborn personality.

It seems, I rather burn a few hundred dollars(not literally) than accept me being incapable or just very bad at a certain reaction.
I also won´t admit easily that I fucked something up due to my own fault.
There are examples of reactions I got interested in decades ago, but failed many times, the most outstanding being a synthesis I wanted to try for like eight years, but never got enough of both precursors purely enough to try it finally right...and succeeded.
Lost my interestet instantly afterwards, typical ::)

Oh, and by the way, for those interested: I spent at least half the money on reagents and have the connection to get the most exotic stuff(plus fee), so that my expenses are justified due to the price of fine chemicals.
The remainder is spent on what else is needed at the moment, but I can assure you I am definitely buying too little glassware and too much reagents.
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Texium
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[*] posted on 24-11-2017 at 15:35


I've been tracking all of my expenses on a spreadsheet since the beginning of this year. Here's a graph of the chemistry sector for this year:

Screen Shot 2017-11-24 at 5.29.58 PM.png - 67kB

The leap in September was due to dropping $500 on a rotovap...
YTD chemistry expense this year was $923, so more than half was that rotovap ;)

Edit: I see I never actually replied to this thread previously, but I'm pretty sure I voted for the $3000-$5000 bracket, and I think I'm still in there. I've been into it for four years now! Time flies.

[Edited on 11-24-2017 by zts16]




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WangleSpong5000
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[*] posted on 28-11-2017 at 23:04


I'm in the $250 - $400 range though this is increasing steadily. It seems to be the largest distribution until you hit a grand. This makes sense I think as this is about the cost of distillation glassware with accessories, (cheap) heating apparatus and a few chemicals.

Almost ready to go!

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Sandman3232
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[*] posted on 29-11-2017 at 06:03


R4500 ~ in about 3 weeks. There seems to be always one last thing that would make life much easier.

R4500 = $330


[Edited on 29-11-2017 by Sandman3232]
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CouchHatter
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[*] posted on 29-11-2017 at 21:31


I have been experimenting for 2 years now. Only in the last 6 months did i start setting up an actual lab space, but all that has done is make it easier to spend! Just kidding. It helps to have a place to put stuff though. I have spent about $1000 on chemicals and now a bit over $2300 on equipment.

I've got a fume hood, flammable storage cabinet, deep freezer, hotplate stirrer/probe, vacuum pump, distillation set, and a foam-filled filing cabinet for all my glassware. All housed in a 10'x13' shed with electricity and running water. I got a commercial u-shaped stainless sink/table to act as a bench top, it fits really nicely in my shed. It's cost me much more time than money up until this point, insulating the space and running utilities to the shed. Probably another $500.

Now I only spend about 15 hours a month in it currently so overhead and upkeep aren't really a consideration. Discovering SM made me take more pride in, and have a lot more fun with, what used to be a fleeting interest.
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KiWiki
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[*] posted on 1-12-2017 at 20:36


Between 2000 and 5000 USD.

800 USD - inverter/special gel batttery with high voltage charger
800 USD - 2 vacuum controllers
> 1500 USD - oiless vacuum pump
> 800 USD - between 100 - 200 chemicals
700 USD - glasswork
Magnetic stirrer with heating
Complete distillation set
Electrochemical cell
All kinds of glassware

I spend about 500 USD/year on chemicals and replacement of broken glassware. I started when I was a teenager. Right now I’m 33yr if you do a quick calculation it have to be somewhere in that direction.
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NEMO-Chemistry
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[*] posted on 2-12-2017 at 12:08


Ouch another £1000 on a few bits
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NEMO-Chemistry
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[*] posted on 13-12-2017 at 17:05


Quote: Originally posted by zts16  
I've been tracking all of my expenses on a spreadsheet since the beginning of this year. Here's a graph of the chemistry sector for this year:



The leap in September was due to dropping $500 on a rotovap...
YTD chemistry expense this year was $923, so more than half was that rotovap ;)

Edit: I see I never actually replied to this thread previously, but I'm pretty sure I voted for the $3000-$5000 bracket, and I think I'm still in there. I've been into it for four years now! Time flies.

[Edited on 11-24-2017 by zts16]


I love this!! What other hobby does someone graph what they spend?? :D :D LOL, top award to serious home chemist must goto....ZTS

Shame i didnt see it before, i wish i had done one now. You better hope that dosnt correlate to a drug increase in your area ;) :P

[Edited on 14-12-2017 by NEMO-Chemistry]
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