Need darkroom advice

[coops]

Well my wife is finally kicking me out of the spare bedroom (my darkroom stuff, not me) and I need to find another space to use as a darkroom for developing and using a recently aquired enlarger. My only option really is to build one in the garage. It will not be much bigger than 8 x 8, and will have a high ceiling. I will probably not have running water, and will run electricity in through ext. cords.
The thing that concerns me most is the temp. in the summer. I live in central Florida, and it gets pretty warm in the garage. I can use two sheets of drywall and put insulation between them, and get a portable ac unit to run when I am in there, but it will not be on all the time. What, if anything, happens to chemicals ( developers, fixers etc) when subject to several days of heat and then several hours of cool and so on?

[photographs42]

Buy a small under counter refrigerator to store film, paper and chemicals. Set it to a reasonable temperature so you don’t have condensation problems when you take it out.
Jerome

[Larry Gebhardt]

Heat does bad things to film, paper, and chemicals. Can you store it all in a few totes and bring them into the house when they aren't in use? Or get a large refrigerator to store it in. Preferably outside the darkroom since you will be space constrained at 8x8.

[Ralph Barker]

Definitely put the fridge, whatever size, outside the darkroom. Otherwise the heat-exchange coils will simply add to the heat in the darkroom.

I'd insulate the walls of the darkroom as best you can. You might consider high R value foam, instead of just fiberglass. If possible, also insulate the exterior walls and garage door. Rigid insulation panels from the home store are handy for this.

[Toyon]

How about a wine cooler with the shelves removed. They operate at around 50 farenheit and I'll assume at lower cost than a refrigerator. I think the lack of water will be more of a problem. Why not hook up something with your outside faucet and inexpensive irrigation pipe (not for potable water). Dispose of your chemistry in the sewer system, but the rest of your gray water can be reused for irrigation.

[jeroldharter]

I think I would get an efficient AC unit and leave it on at a relatively economical temp, e.g. 80 degrees and then cooler when I used the room. Otherwise you might as well be storing everything in the trunk of your car.

I think you could get by without water if you used processing trays for prints and stored the finished prints in a wash tray and then moved them to a proper washer in the house (bathroom or kitchen). In Florida, you might be able to put a washer outside too.

[Andrew O'Neill]

A portable AC unit will work fine. I had one in my spartan darkroom in Japan. I also had a dehumidifier that would kick in. I remember constantly emptying the bucket from that sucker, but it at least kept the room comfortable. Many parts of Japan are EXTEMELY humid. Before I purchased the dehumidifier, many metal items rusted. Your dry chemicals should be fine as long as they are in sealed packages/containers.
I'm not sure what will happen to them once they are mixed up, but I'm sure heating and cooling can't be good for them.
I had no running water in my Japan "darkroom". I had to walk across the hallway into the bathroom and fill buckets of water. Didn't really bother me.
My darkroom here is outside, under the balcony. The walls are heavily insulated, keeping it "comfortable" in the summer. The warmest it's gotten in there was 26 Celcius.

[steve barry]

hey coops. i live in south florida and have built three darkrooms over five years in different garages. if you are going to frame walls and put up drywall, for not much more money, add a breaker, run some romex, insulate the walls and ceiling, run plumbing and build a plywood sink. my darkroom is a similar size, and in the garage like you. i ran an flex duct off my ac plenum. should be no problem for your ac with that small of a room, just seal it up real tight so it is not leaking ac into the garage. if you are spending any amount of time in there, you should also have some sort of ventilation. a fart fan works great, ducted outside. sounds like alot of work, but if your going to frame/drywall anyhow, its not that much more work and you will be much happier i think. chems and film and paper are no good in the heat, but a florida garage is not a good place for equipment either, my first enlarger was covered in rust when i had window ac i would turn on only when i was in there. plus the humidity level is so high, without a sink, everything gets damp, stays damp and mildewy.

i have tried all variations of the garage darkroom in florida. any window ac is horribly inefficient and will cost an arm and a leg to leave on all the time, no matter what size it is. then you would have to put it on an outside wall to keep it getting fresh air, and not dripping all over the floor. or put a bucket there and constantly change it. trays with chemicals in and out of the house sucks, you get chemicals everywhere.

if you have any questions i can try and help.

[neil poulsen]

Do you have a utility room that's nearby? Maybe you could run water and a drain from there? I lucked out in this regard. Having built my darkroom in the garage, I located it on a wall just opposite the washer and dryer.

[Jim Jones]

In about half of the seven darkrooms I've set up, there was no running water. However, walking water sufficed. I walked in with gallon milk jugs of water, and walked out with a bucket of waste water. Only one had an air conditioner. Modest quantities of mixed chemicals were used up before they went bad in temperatures from maybe 60 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Adjusting development time for the high temperatures worked well enough. Storing water and film tanks at the same temperature as mixed chemicals, and adjusting development time, saved problems with adjusting temperatures. Even in a temporary darkroom a ground fault circuit interrupter is a worthwhile safety investment.

[coops]

Thanks for all the responses. Some great ideas for me to consider. Thanks

[Toyon]

"a fart fan works great, ducted outside"

What the heck is that?

Definitely need one though.

[Roger Thoms]

It's a bathroom exhaust fan.
Roger

[Andrew O'Neill]

I have a "fart fan" in my present darkroom...ducted outside, with a dryer hose duct taped to it. The hose hangs over any smelling things in my darkroom...no, not that smelly thing....;)

[coops]

"a fart fan works great, ducted outside"

What the heck is that?

Definitely need one though.

Never heard that expression before. I may start referring to my dog that way from now on though.