So SWIM was thinking of getting some hot plate to help in evaporation, and also one could for example boil the xylene for bufotenine extraction

the thing is, SWIM doesnt have money (of course ) so he was looking around in hardware/appliances stores for cheaper hotplates. There were some from 25-50 euro. Are they good enough? What information does SWIM need to know about it? There is a temperature wheel, but it does not state the temperatures, just the typical gradual from low to high. What sort of temperatures do these hot plates reach?

The hot plate only needs 800W for experimental purposes. The one SWIM purchased is just about that, Aroma($20USD) which has presets needed for necessary temperatures. He was using a radiator before, but that just wasn't cutting it. So if SWIY is just planning on using it for experiments or I don't know.. tea parties than aim for 800W, should be fine. If using something like a soxhlet extractor set for a higher voltage lets say 1400+? Those can get pricey though.

Overall they're really nice to have and definitely recommended.

You don't need that much power. SWIM uses a professional Cimarec digital stirring hot plate with a 4x4 inch top and it's 120 VAC, 3.3 amps, and only 395 watts. It heats up to 540C. It's enough power for use with a 1000 ml Soxhlet system, a 1000 ml continuous liquid liquid extractor, and enough power to even distill xylene. You don't need more power than that unless you’re dealing with really huge quantities of liquid.

thanks a lot for the answer

so you think a typical barbecue kitchen sort of hot plate with 800w or maybe even less is good enough?

what about the fact that there is no explicit temperature numbers, only a 'high and low' kind of thing.. how does SWIM deal with that? should he just take as is and its ok, or maybe buy some kind of thermometer separate to find out, or?

SWIM got one at a walmart...only has high and low settings..but works like a charm..just pay attention to it..