Humidity

[Siberian Husky]

whats the perfect humidity level for a piano room?..or a home with a piano in it...i knew too much was bad..but i just recently too dry is bad for instruments also...can someone point me in the right direction..i just bought a dehumidifier and in need of some direction..thanks

[mamma2my3sons]

42% is what the experts say. I keep a RadioShack hygrometer on my music desk & keep a humidifier & dehumidifer in my music room. I monitor it daily.

[Siberian Husky]

how did you pay for your humidifier?..i think i wanna return mine and get a bigger one..

where can i get hydrometers?

[mamma2my3sons]

The humidifier was less than $50 at Lowes, Walmart has them as well. Radioshack has the hygrometers but so does Walmart. (they are less than $20)

I bought both the Humidifyer & dehumidifyer with thermastat type controls & set them to maintain the humidity between 50-60%. While 42% is recommended, I don't think in *my* home it is really feasible to keep it to 42%. My grand piano is actually in our lower level (opens up to our front lawn ie.ground level) of our home in a room about 35 long X 12-14ft wide (plus this room opens up to yet another room.)

From all I've read, it becomes dangerous to the piano the closer the humidity gets to 70% & it is very important to keep the humidity consistent. I may end up needing an additional dehumidifyer this summer because of the size of my space.

There is also a product called a "Dampp-Chaser" that is installed on your piano & controls the humidity. It is about $500. There are pro's & con's to it. Personally I hesitate to install one at this point. Some people, some techs love them though.

Disclaimer: I am a piano novice. I've been taking lessons for 2+ years & read a great deal about pianos. You may want to check out "piano world"--a great website & forum with tons of information.

Good luck to you!

[DarkWind]

What exactly are the cons to Dampp-Chaser? I have it installed on my grand, and have not noticed any problems.

[c18cont]

I am going back to this thread first.

If I can't get some understanding of who actually knows of what they speak, I will try a new subject heading...

I am looking for info on the BEST (note...not "rec." not "preferred" Not the one from the auto. machines salespersons...but the best...!!!!!!!!) humidity range for ANY piano...

There must be someone who has the background to "tell it like it is", on this, and not the figures used to sell humidifiers and de-humidifiers...as well as whole-house systems used IN ADDITION, mind you, to central heat and air, some of which HAVE already supplied with built-in humidity control.......how foolish...!!

I found a few sites..(will go back and get the names later), that give

50% to 70% max. as best...

but SO MANY music stores call for 42% or even 39%.(??)..and I simply do not believe it is correct, as I worked with low humidity and wood and metals in the military, and low was even worse than slightly high....I remember the cracks and lost adhesives...

Anyone care to give some info???

John Cont

[G.Fiore]

 Piano's are not military equipment. They are made of a number of different woods dried to an emc of between 6.0-8.0%. The range of humidity given by most piano manufacturers as ideal for a piano is in the 40%-50% range.
 What you do not want for a piano is deep cycling of humidity extremes. Which means an uncontrolled environment that sees summer  humidity between 50%-90%, and then winter at 20% -35%. This will cause the sounboard to rise and fall with these extremes, and after a number of years of this cycling compression ridges will form that eventually turn into cracks.  The wood surrounding the bridge pin holes also expands and contracts with cycling, and can cause the bridge pins to loosen in their holes. This will cause poor tone and lead to false beats in the strings which can make tuning difficult. The same issue applies to the tuning pins in the pinblock.
 Last but not least, the extreme cycling of humidity will cause action parts to loosen on their rails and extreme rusting of the strings, tuning pins, and other associated hardware.
 Piano's prefer a stable environment with no extreme fluctuations of temp and humidity.

[c18cont]

Thanks for the kind answer;

I still have a problem with the bottom figure, but agree in full about large change and the serious effects on all precision components.

I have seen different figures for all those you give, and will try to locate them again...but it would seem the most important component is small change in the extremes...

Best,   John Cont

[c18cont]

Hello to any interested...,

I did fail to remember one figure I had written down. Given an emc of 8%, a humidity of 45% will maintain the figure..for 9% it is 50% (Uni. of Minn I believe..)

John Cont

[andyaeola]

"The range of humidity given by most piano manufacturers as ideal for a piano is in the 40%-50% range."

About a month ago, Bluthners of central London told me that when the relative humidity in their showroom hits 50% they turn the humidifiers on.  When I said that in my typical UK home the RH appears to vary from just above 50% to just below 70%, the comment was that '70% is a bit too high.'
From those comments, I aim to maintain around 60% RH.


Andy

[c18cont]

I would like additional information, even yet...

I am in that range now, (50 to 70), and it is easy for my heat pump and humidity control to stay in that range..

As I am in Florida the upper range is a bit higher than wanted, but it is a LOT..(a LOT!!!)... more energy to get it down to 60, in particular with tropical storms nearby and exterior hum. at 100%...it won't go below about 70 running 24 hrs a day....at high energy waste, seem's to me...

An added factor for me is that we both are more comfortable at 50 or above...I take meds that cause dry mouth and throat...so it is far better to have it a bit high for me...The low at below about 45 - 50 is indeed very dry to me....the main reason I am hoping to find a 50% figure acceptable...

Best,  John Cont

[G.Fiore]

 C18, have you thought about having a Dampp-Chaser system installed on your piano? Most people living in Florida do. The system will work much more efficiently than trying to control the whole home environment. It will also allow you lower your home energy bills.

[Floristan]

At another forum I belong to (Piano World), many grand owners have both a Dampp Chaser system and an Edwards string cover.  Many techs believe combining the two keeps the piano very stable.  The Dampp Chaser dries out the air around the sound board and the string cover prevents the strings from rusting and keeps dust out of the piano.

Go to the Piano World forum and search for "string cover" and "Dampp Chaser."  You'll get lots of good information.  Here's a hyperlink:

https://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php

[c18cont]

Yes, Fiore, and thanks for your expertise...,

Maybe it would be well to have a dampp csr system, but I already am close whole house anyway, and I don't have to monitor closely, as it works throughout the home...

In other words it's "set it and forget it..."  the prob. comes when the figure is hit by a hurricane, and hum. truly soars...(Should be a figure greater than 100% available just for Florida....)...

At present I am using a hygrometer right by the piano to see what variation may be occuring...(but I do forget to check it sometimes...). As you may know, we have a strong TS running up to my area this week end, so perhaps I will know more soon.

I will mention my first grand, by the American Piano Co. (Warranted by Ampico Hall.....!!!). I started on it at age five, and when we sold it, it had about 20 strings broken, and 8 to 10 cracks in the soundboard....plus action probs...and..Guess where it spent it's life??? With no air Cond in those days...

Best,  John Cont

[Barbosa-piano]

 Bosendorfer's website says that the ideal humidity is 50%-55%, and the temperature of around 20 C.

[c18cont]

So we have Bosendorfer,

One of the world's very finest piano makers, giving a figure that is perhaps 10% greater than recommended by music stores and mfg. of humidity control equipment....

In my case, after spending a lot of time this afternoon on the material, I will keep it at near 60 or less, which is not a problem for now, and then determine the needed item, which in Florida should be a dryer only, and put it in before summer gets any wetter and hotter in July-August...

Hope to see more on this...John Cont