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. :cool:

[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. (http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/hvac/air-conditioning/portable/portableairconditioners-spotcooler-etl-approved-796000?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=CjgKEAjwkpacBRCNlprWw-u-nBwSJACwHiw-5TTGKlZKOXXlyrEHkXcTQfvTuiqpWZpt32NirMZPhvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) One advantage is that a refrigerating type rather than an ice-chest cooler also dries the air.
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[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.

[brucetaylor]

Check this out. (http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/hvac/air-conditioning/portable/portableairconditioners-spotcooler-etl-approved-796000?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=CjgKEAjwkpacBRCNlprWw-u-nBwSJACwHiw-5TTGKlZKOXXlyrEHkXcTQfvTuiqpWZpt32NirMZPhvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) One advantage is that a refrigerating type rather than an ice-chest cooler also dries the air.
.
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..