air conditioner

[blindpig]

Not sure this is the proper site for this but it is a necessary darkroom accessory for my painfully small darkroom(36"wide by 47"deep).
As the summer starts here in SW Missouri with rising temperatures and humidity I'm finding being closed up in the darkroom becoming uncomfortable so to reduce said un-comfort a"hillbilly" air-conditioner became the solution.It's made from a Styrofoam cooler with a hole cut in one side for attaching a small fan and a hole in the other side for an exhaust tube entering the darkroom.A one gallon jug full of frozen water is placed in the cooler and with the lid closed and fan on,COOL AIR! is blown into the darkroom(much to my relief).Didn't say this was going to be elegant but sure is functional,LOL!

[NancyP]

Yep, that's why we spell our state's name "Misery" in the summer. It's a good thing the darkroom is small, this solution wouldn't be good for a larger space.

[Alan Gales]

I don't know where your darkroom is but if you have it in the basement and you have central air it would be a breeze (pun intended) to run some round pipe from your trunk line to your dark room if you have a drop ceiling or unfinished basement. It could be a cheap do it yourself job just using a few tools and a few items from your local hardware store like a tap, boot, 6" round pipe, straps, register, and an elbow or two.

[David Lobato]

Heck, if it works it's great. For a 12 square foot room it should be plenty. I would be tempted to add beer in the cooler though.

[lenser]

Hi, Don. I know you told me this darkroom is in your garage, but if you have any way to access one of your ducts off the furnace/air outlet, a little work with some snips and flexible dryer hose would bring you a more permanent solution both summer and winter.

When do we grab coffee again, friend?

Tim

[Toyon]

Smart. Early Pullman cars were air conditioned by blowing air over gigantic trays of block ice under the passenger compartment.

[blindpig]

Thanks for all the suggestions and supportive comments.Can't wait to see how it goes by July and August!!
Tim, sent you an email earlier about coffee,talk later OK?

[Jac@stafford.net]

Check this out. One advantage is that a refrigerating type rather than an ice-chest cooler also dries the air.
.

[blindpig]

WOW! Jac, that's really a cool(no pun intended)device.Probably down the road for me however as I'm being frugal(read cheap) with the whole dark room reflective enlarger and cooler setup.The darkroom became necessary to test my homemade reflective enlarger I'm using to enlarge in-camera paper negatives without the paper texture showing. the size of the dark room was based on the only space available in my side of our two car garage. The wife is somewhat negative about leaving her car outside so I can expand my shop into the remaining garage,LOL!
Thanks for the link.

[Shootar401]

Is your darkroom on an outside wall? If so you could make a hole in your wall into the outside and fit a small $100 a/c into it. With the A/C and a contractor to do the construction you are looking at a cheap $1000. No need to deal with ice and some units also have heaters to use in the winter.