Originally Posted by
Doremus Scudder
Haven't read the entire thread; just thought I'd chime in with my solution.
The Doran light-tight louvers I bought were obviously just for one wall; the inside. No provision for outside.
What I did was to frame a 12x12-inch box in the wall, using 2x4s along with sealant (but you should use whatever width your shed is framed) so I had an air-tight box. The Doran louver went on the inside darkroom wall (just drywall and paint), a couple of 12x12-inch furnace filters went inside the framed box, and I installed metal louvers on the outside wall. My darkroom is adjacent to a basement room, so I didn't have to worry about weather-proofing the outside louvers. You may have to get louvers that have angled grill-work to shed rain and/or mount them under the eaves, etc. to ensure that water can't get in during a storm.
The other half of the system is an exhaust fan that takes air from above the entire length of the 10-foot darkroom sink. As that air exits, fresh air is pulled in through the filtered louvers so I have fairly clean air coming in. I have air filters working inside as well when dealing with film.
Pulling in filtered air and having it exhaust through the louvers is another idea, but I found my solution more practical for my needs.
Hope this helps,
Doremus
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