How to Heat Up a Darkroom

Doc W · Nov 26, 2018

My basement darkroom is about 10x15 ft and it is cold in the winter. VERY cold. Some days it might be less than 10C (50F) The basement is a decent temperature but I didn't include heating in the darkroom because I was worried about dust. However, now it is time to warm up that dungeon.

I have tried two types of space heaters: heater with a fan and a radiator type heater (the kind filled with oil). The fan heater gets it up to temperature, but it is a fan heater, blowing all over the place. The oil radiator just can't seem to get it up high enough.

The heating in the house, including the basement, is forced air. I was thinking of adding the darkroom to the heating system (hot air in, cold return) but I am worried about dust again. I talked to one heating contractor and he said that a hepafilter system would cost over a grand. Do I need that much filtration or can I use something more affordable?

Any experiences with this?

photog_ed · Nov 26, 2018

When we moved to our current house three years ago, we finished the basement, including a darkroom in the corner. The darkroom has a forced hot air vent which keeps it comfortable, and close to 20C, all winter here in New England. I have had no problems with dust with a standard filter on the heating system.

Pentode · Nov 26, 2018

Radiant heating panels work pretty well and don’t involve any forced air but, being electric, are expensive to run.

Luis-F-S · Nov 26, 2018

photog_ed said:
When we moved to our current house three years ago, we finished the basement, including a darkroom in the corner. The darkroom has a forced hot air vent which keeps it comfortable, and close to 20C, all winter here in New England. I have had no problems with dust with a standard filter on the heating system.

I've not had dues issues either, and my darkroom is in a very dusty garage. I did put in a return register with a filter where the duct enters the darkroom, instead of a regular A/C register with a damper. That way I can put a filter before the air goes into the room. I also weatherstrip around the main filter in the intake register at the air handler to try to keep the dust from getting into the system in the first place. My intake register takes a 2" filter, I typically use two 1" filters and change them one at a time. When I change the front one, I move the rear one to the front, and put the new filter in the rear. Photographers like to invent problems that may not exist.

MattKing · Nov 26, 2018

For those who need the context, Ottawa has the lowest average winter temperature of any national capital city in the world .
How is the dust from your heating system in the rest of the house?
I would expect that adding a heat register and running a portable air cleaner during and before use should be fine.

johara · Nov 26, 2018

My darkroom is a little smaller (10x11). The floor is vinyl, but the room is a traffic lane between the garage (which is dirty) and
the rest of the house. There is no vent from the house HVAC in there. I use an electric heater (with a little fan inside) connected to
an electronic temperature regulator with a sensor that I have up in the air near the sink. That setup keeps the temperature very
even. I turn the heater off, or set the temperature down, if I'm not going to be using the room for a while.

I have no problem with dust in that situation, and I am far from fastidious about keeping the floor mopped. Maybe I am helped by
the fact that I use a diffusion enlarger head and I only enlarge about 3x or so, but there it is.

I do have a particulate filter on the tempered water supply, which would be my bigger problem with the gritty water coming out
of my well.

Sirius Glass · Nov 26, 2018

I have forced air heating and air conditioning. Just change the air filters when you are supposed to and dust will not be a problem.

voceumana · Nov 26, 2018

I had a similar sized darkroom in my garage in the San Francisco area, so the outside temp was never so cold as Ottawa. But the floor was concrete slab, and outside temps often were in the 30's and 40's in winter; no insulation in walls, but outside wall was stucco.

One of the oil-filled heaters worked well until it died. Then I got a radiant heater, but no fan, and it worked fine, too. It was about 3 to 4 feet long. You might need several along the floor of the wet side.

M Carter · Nov 26, 2018

Just check your main HVAC filter; you could try adding a filter to the register in the darkroom, but that may cause problems or block too much heat.

If you can really feel air blowing from the register, build a little shield that directs the air away from the enlarger or spreads it out against a wall. Hot glue and corrugated cardboard would be fine for that.

spijker · Nov 26, 2018

My darkroom is also in the basement and has a hot air vent in the ceiling (no cold air return). No dust issues, not with printing or drying film. And I'm usually slow/late with replacing the furnace filter. Louis-F-S' suggestion (post 4) sounds good Or simply tape a small furnace filter over the hot vent if you feel that there's too much dust coming out.

mshchem · Nov 26, 2018

I have central heating in my darkroom. Still is cool in the winter 60-63F. When I turn on the print dryers it gets warm in a hurry. I have an electric, oil filled, radiant portable radiator that works great. 1100 to 1500 watt . No fan so no dust problems.

scheimfluger_77 · Nov 26, 2018

MattKing said:
For those who need the context, Ottawa has the lowest average winter temperature of any national capital city in the world .
How is the dust from your heating system in the rest of the house?
I would expect that adding a heat register and running a portable air cleaner during and before use should be fine.

+1 on the portable air cleaner. We have run one straight time in our bedroom for at least 5 years with never a hiccup. Change the prefilter regularly and vacuum the HEPA filter, it will pull an amazing amount of dust out of the environment.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 26, 2018

Doc W said:
My basement darkroom is about 10x15 ft and it is cold in the winter. VERY cold. Some days it might be less than 10C (50F) The basement is a decent temperature but I didn't include heating in the darkroom because I was worried about dust. However, now it is time to warm up that dungeon.

I have tried two types of space heaters: heater with a fan and a radiator type heater (the kind filled with oil). The fan heater gets it up to temperature, but it is a fan heater, blowing all over the place. The oil radiator just can't seem to get it up high enough.

The heating in the house, including the basement, is forced air. I was thinking of adding the darkroom to the heating system (hot air in, cold return) but I am worried about dust again. I talked to one heating contractor and he said that a hepafilter system would cost over a grand. Do I need that much filtration or can I use something more affordable?

Any experiences with this?

I used an oil-filled radiator but had a solar system and my electricity was free; otherwise, they can get expensive to run.

Arklatexian · Nov 26, 2018

Pentode said:
Radiant heating panels work pretty well and don’t involve any forced air but, being electric, are expensive to run.

I thought about radiant heating but worried about the amount of light that such a heater puts out. I have a forced air wall heater (small) in my darkroom which puts out warm/hot air with no light. Most darkrooms are small compared to other rooms and are easy to heat. Dust does not seem to be a problem with mine.........Regards!......And yes, it does get cold in the American South. It just doesn't last as long, then we must air condition to make the place usable in summer!

Pentode · Nov 26, 2018

Arklatexian said:
I thought about radiant heating but worried about the amount of light that such a heater puts out.

The radiant panels I'm thinking of don't emit any light at all. They're solid panels with electric heating elements inside. They can be painted to match the walls.

removed account4 · Nov 26, 2018

Hi DocW -- my darkroom is like yours !
I heat it all winter long by wearing a sweatjacket wtih a hood
nothing other than that ..

Neal · Nov 27, 2018

I have a little machine shop where I use one of these in the winter. It works great, the fan helps heat the shop quickly (it is the size of a small bedroom with cinder block walls, two to the outside), even getting my little machines up to a workable temperature. To deal with dust I would then add one of those HEPA stand alone filter units.

Stay warm,

Neal Wydra

guangong · Nov 27, 2018

My darkroom is also in basement, which can get a little cold, but sweaters and thick soled shoes work just fine. Keeping chemicals and film at usable temperatures is not difficult using water baths and submerge able heaters. Living in a rural area on border with large state forest and little critters seeking refuge from cold, several cats patrol basement. So, my dust problem is from cat litter.

Doc W · Nov 27, 2018

Thanks a LOT, guys. I had no idea so many of you had to deal with similar situations. I have lots of suggestions to mull over and I really appreciate the input.

Doc W · Nov 27, 2018

jnanian said:
Hi DocW -- my darkroom is like yours !
I heat it all winter long by wearing a sweatjacket wtih a hood
nothing other than that ..

Nothing else? I hope you at least added socks! Now, that is indeed a vision...lol

AgX · Nov 27, 2018

Over here classic heating systems are completely different, But from the position of the ignorant I propose to lead closed metal ducts of your air heating system through your darkroom. Best in zigzag, best fitted with metal wings. By this you gain a large, low temperature radiator. And thus likely no airstream and thus no dust spreading. The same time effectively and economically employing your existing system.

pentaxuser · Nov 27, 2018

MattKing said:
For those who need the context, Ottawa has the lowest average winter temperature of any national capital city in the world .
/QUOTE]
We had a malamute move into out street last winter. The first time I saw him wandering outside on a bitterly cold night( minus 5 degrees centigrade ). I asked if he was locked out but he replied he just loved wandering the streets on those balmy nights in the U.K.

pentaxuser

Mainecoonmaniac · Nov 27, 2018

There are infrared heaters which heat with light. You basically heat objects (You) instead of air (your whole darkroom). If your printing black and white the light shouldn't fog your paper. This could be an economical option.

Trond · Nov 28, 2018

Hi,

I also have a darkroom in the basement, about the same size as yours. I use a 1000 W electric convection heater. I manage the heating schedule from an app, and it's set to heat the room to 20C when I'm most likely too use the room. It works quite well.

Trond

AgX · Nov 28, 2018

Bu to my understanding the OP does not want convection.
Though a convection heater still is something different than an air heating with stronger airflow.

How to Heat Up a Darkroom

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