air conditioner

[brucetaylor]

Check this out. One advantage is that a refrigerating type rather than an ice-chest cooler also dries the air.
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Has anyone used one of these? I need a/c for my new darkroom and studio area, looked like an interesting idea. I am concerned about how loud these things are as well as air velocity out the vent.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Has anyone used one of these?.

We had several of those units as back-up cooling for our server farm and they worked well, but expensive compared to a competent central AC system.

Speaking to a realistic personal level, I will report later. Our home central AC failed to the extent that a major, impossible replacement is necessary.

I am considering a small unit or two for the house.

No such needed for the darkroom in which heating is the issue. It is a Minnesota thing.

[brucetaylor]

Jac, I would be most interested in your report. The high temperatures I will be dealing with in the darkroom are new to me, the last time I had a darkroom was over 30 years ago, 2 blocks from San Francisco Bay and temps over 70 degrees almost never happenned. Now in Los Angeles I can expect many days over 100, and I'm going to need to come up with a water chilling scheme as well. A whole studio a/c system is not an option for me either.

[Leszek Vogt]

After running away to the coast whenever mid 80's or 90's pop up here (occasionally 100+) I sprung up and got a unit similar to what Jac suggested. I can roll it from my office to bdrm, etc., and mount it in the window and I'm comfy. The unit has a build in heater and dehumidifier built in, and good portion of the time the A/C does not need to be on as the duhumido takes out the moisture. Anyway, now I can take more planned excursions to the ocean instead them being forced on me.

Les

[MrFujicaman]

Consider a split unit A/C unit. Most of the working parts are outside, they are very quiet, and you only have to make about a 4" hole in the wall for the wires and tubing.

[cabbiinc]

The thing you have to remember is that with the portable AC units or anything that is a dehumidifier you have to drain the water it takes out of the air somewhere. Usually it collects in a basin in the unit or has a connection to use a garden hose to a drain. Not so tough in a darkroom but it does need to be accounted for.

[neil poulsen]

Just a question: might static electricity be a problem in a darkroom in which is refrigeration unit is used to cool the air?

[Lenny Eiger]

Do a search for free standing air conditioner. There are many varieties, the one's that are two-hose are far more efficient (and usually more expensive). Costco has them, and so does Amazon... You need very little to heat that space...

Lenny

[brucetaylor]

I think I am going to be using either a freestanding unit or window type installed in a wall. The disadvantage of the free standing types is that they take up floor space, which is limited in my darkroom. Later I will look into the spot a/c unit, it will help in both the studio and office areas. I wish I could just drop the $5k it would take to do the whole space, but that's out of the question unfortunately.

[Jac@stafford.net]

The thing you have to remember is that with the portable AC units or anything that is a dehumidifier you have to drain the water it takes out of the air somewhere. Usually it collects in a basin in the unit or has a connection to use a garden hose to a drain.

If you keep the unit clean, the water is good for chemistry, rinsing, etc..