Heating & Humidifying

[fuel925]

I have my piano in a room which is approx 4' x 8'. It's very cold in this room, so I have a portable heater in there, which I keep on permanently on the lowest setting, so that the temperature doesn't fluctuate. I also bought a humidifier so that the room doesn't dry out, which would also cause the piano to go out of tune. The problem is I can't keep the humidifier on all the time because it pumps an insane amount of moisture into the air, making everything a bit damp lol. Also I think it may be having an effect on the piano, because after a few days of having it on the piano seems "duller", quieter even.

My question is, when should I put the humidifier on, and how long for, to ensure that the room is not drying out, but its not getting to humid either?

[sonatainfsharp]

Your humidifyer should come on when the humidity drops below your desired level.

You should be able to set the humidifyer so that is is always "on" but it actually "kicks in" when needed.

For that, though, you have to refer to the manufactuer of the humidifyer.

[allthumbs]

Greetings

Having a humidifier on all the time is definitely something to avoid as this will damage your piano for sure.

To add to what sonatainfsharp has said, I would purchase an hygrometer (measures humidity) should your humidifier not be able to monitor humidity levels. It would also give you a much more accurate reading of humidity levels in the room.

In the case of a hygrometer, which can be mounted on the wall in your music room, you would have to check it manually and if the humidity is approaching the low end of the acceptable range, then turn on your humidifier for a short period of time.

Cheers

allthumbs

[sonatainfsharp]

I just read something about an hour ago that said the relative humity should be at 40%.

So, set your humidifyer to turn off once it gets above 40% and kick in once it is below 40%.

Again, you should be able to have the humidifyer "on" all the time, but only "running" when it needs to.  Letting it "run" all the time will probably swell and warp the sound board.