Humidity

[jwillans]

Hello,

I'm hopefully getting my restored Bechstein B back in the coming weeks. In preparation I have been measuring humidity in the room I intend the instrument to live. The humidity seems to sit at around 25% -+3%. This is lower than I was expecting, is this typical for the UK in centrally heated houses? My understanding is that such a low level would result in the piano drying out. I also understand that the more dangerous is large fluctations in humidity, so I am curious what to expect in the warmer summer months? If low humidity is a problem then I guess I can get a humidifer, but if high humidity is going to be an issue I need to think about a humidifer-dehumidifer to cope with both extremes. Does anyone have recommendations for standalone units of the latter? Finally, are there any other systems apart from the Damp-Chaser that I should consider that fit directly to the piano?

Thanks,

James

[D.J.Smith]

Are you sure your hygrometer is accurate? So low an Rh would be unpleasant to live in.

[Barrie Heaton]

22% to 30% is often found in homes with underfloor heating.
Most home in the north west England tend to go as low *32% winter and 68% in Summer 3 story new builds homes tend to be worst they can go down to 27%.

Large swing in humidity will make the tuning unstable but prolonged exposer to dry rooms can do a lot of damage to the piano.

Barrie,


* if it very cold outside then the humidity inside can be much lower then normal

[jwillans]

Thanks DJ and Barry. I'm not absolutely sure the gauge is working correctly. We don't have underfloor heating, the house is from the 1920/30s and has double glazing, central heating and insulated walls/floors/loft. It certainly feels 'normal' and is in no way uncomfortable. I think I need to get a second hygrometer to establish whether the reading is accurate.

I'm also interested to hear about recommendations/experiences for combined standalone humidifiers/dehumidifiers and also systems that can be fitted directly to the piano such as Damp-Chaser.

Thanks,

James

[Barrie Heaton]

Life savers are the bast way forward in a swing environment but if your house manly on the dry site then a room humidifier

The problem with dehumidifiers and grands they take too much out of the soundboard before having an effect on the action.

Barrie,

[crispin]

I live on the swiss-french border and often days go by where the outside temperature never gets above 0oC .... then this cold air is sucked into the house (we have an open fireplace) and the room humidity even at the modest temperature of 20oC is often around 20%. We now have a humidifier - and the humidity in the room has gone to the 30-40% range... we now have fitted a Dampp-Chaser and RH monitor inside the piano - the humidity stays at 54% +- 3 % ... the water tank only needs filling every 2 or 3 weeks... and I have peace of mind. In the summer the humidity will rise to 60-70 % ... and I will be interested to see how the Dampp-Chaser copes with this.
I should point out that our piano is an upright - and I believe an upright is better suited for a Dampp-Chaser system.
As an aside - I do not find 20 or 30 % RH unpleasant to live in - but in general we keep our house on the cool side

[Barrie Heaton]

This is a first for me 0% humidity underfloor heating god was it hot in there and it just about killed the piano


Barrie

[mdw]

If the UFCh is installed and run properly I dont think you should have any problems. I installed a Nuheat system throughout our 4 story victorian house 7 years ago. The t stats are a shoulder height in rooms with 10.5 foot celings. The tstats are set to 19 degrees and the heating runs all the time. The rooms get heat when the tstats call for it. No problems with either piano we have had in the house A Kemble and a Kawai. Im sure its bad instalation and temp control.

[crispin]

I believe there are more things that can affect the humidity....
Dryness (low humidity) is caused by cold air (from the outside) getting heated - so if the house is a drafty old house - then humidity can be low.
We all know that one should not place a piano close to a heater - with underfloor heating you can sit the piano right on top of a heat source - and thus increase the temperature of the piano - and thus cause the humidity to drop further.... (however 24.5 C is unpleasantly warm in my opinion....)

Yet again I signal my contentment with a Dampp Chaser system ... at least the inside of our upright piano is kept at a constant 53% RH