Does having the piano near a cold air vent hurt it?

[thalberg]

I know a piano should never be near a heat vent.  But what about a vent that blows moderately cool air directly at the piano?  This may seem like a stupid question but I am dealing with a very small room, and as much as I'd love to move the piano away from this vent, it's really hard to find another place for it. But I will do it if I have to.  Advice please.  Also, in your advice, please include whether you are a piano technician or a pianist or both.

[aslanov]

I'm not really a technician or necessarily a "pianist" in the technical sense of the term, but i do play piano. However, I would imagine (from a thermodynamic point of view) that the cold would have an adverse effect on the wood of the action, and the strings itself, and also, since temperature affects the movement of particles in the air, it would ultimately have an effect on the sound waves produced by the strings and have an overall effect on your sound production, which may........alter how you produce that sound in your cold vented room, compared to how you produce it in a recital hall with a more "room" temperature setting.

That line of logic seems to work for me :p, but again i'm not a technician nor a specialist in this topic, i just thought i'd apply some stuff i learned in chemistry and physics class to this.

[go12_3]

You know, a piano is made up of wood, steel and strings.  I think it doesn't make much difference to the piano itself.  I have a grand piano by a vent throughout the year, with heat coming out of it during the winter and cold air(AC) during the summertime.  To me the temeratures doesn't make a difference.  I have my piano tuned once a year and it's fine thoughout the year. The strings could be affected with with extreme cold and humidity , but hopefully, your piano will be alright, as long as it isn't outside and getting wet and miserable....

best wishes,

go12_3

[keys60]

Heat is bad. It will eventually dry out and possibly crack your soundboard, especially if it is old. Moderately cool air is ok as long as the temps do not fluctuate to wildly.