humidity

[chrisstan]

Hi All,

I have a quick question about humidity and my piano.

My baby grand is in a converted garage that is fully insulated and has plaster board walls and ceiling (previous owner used it as an office for 3-4 people).

At the moment there is no heating as the internal boiler has a problem.

Using a humidity and temperature meter the temperature goes between 11-18 C this week and the humidity hits 70%

Am I right in saying this is not a good range? If so, should I add a panel heater to increase the temperature and thus reduce the humidity or look to a de-humidifier?

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[Barrie Heaton]

Hi All,

Using a humidity and temperature meter the temperature goes between 11-18 C this week and the humidity hits 70%

Chris

70% is over the top limit for most manufactures, so long as it not up there for months you should be OK however, if it going to be a wile before the Boiler is fixed then a dampchaser would be a good investment the temp becomes a problem when at 11 c or below as the wood will act like a sponge and mold will grow on the felt

Barrie

[chrisstan]

Thanks Barrie,

I have a piano humidifier under the piano, similar to this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/19083582 ... =92&ff19=0

My piano is from around 1950 so not a modern one.

Thanks for the advice.

Chris

[dboyce]

I'm a huge believer in the general value of domestic dehumidifiers, especially where I live in the west of Scotland.

They cost little to run, and slightly warm the air they output after drying it. It is most satifying to empty the collection tank, knowing that the water you are pouring down the drain has come out of the air in the room.

The Dampp Chaser 'dehumidifier' bar is certainly a good option. By keeping the piano a little warmer than the rest of the room, moisture in the air simply cannot condense in the piano. It is perhaps slightly misleading to call the Dampp Chaser a dehumidifier as it is nothing more than a tubular heater. I am not at all knocking Dampp Chaser here - they are an ethical company and it's a great product. But while it certainly, by keeping the piano a bit warmer, prevents condensation into the piano, it does not actually remove any water from the air in the room. That's what a domestic dehumidifier does. If you use a dehumidifier to extract moisture, lowering the relative humidity, then no matter how cold it gets in the garage, the piano will be OK as the moisture simply isnt there to condense into it.

Is there a risk of making the air tooooooo dry? Possibly, if the garage is very well sealed and if a very powerful unit is used. But in practice, with a small domestic unit, I doubt it.

[Barrie Heaton]

Thanks Barrie,

I have a piano humidifier under the piano, similar to this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/19083582 ... =92&ff19=0

My piano is from around 1950 so not a modern one.

Thanks for the advice.

Chris

That type can act as a dehumidifier as well but in your case infective.
as Dave as ponied out a home dehumidifier is a very good option if you have one, but don't put it too close to the piano as they do tend to take it from the soundboad first

Barrie

[dboyce]

they do tend to take it from the soundboad first

Barrie

That's interesting, Barrie, I didn't know that. I imagine that felt parts would be even quicker to both absorb and to give up their moisture content?

My first experience with using a domestic dehumidifier was in 1986, when they were relatively new on the market. I slept in a bedroom on an exposed corner of the building, befiore cavity wall insulation was installed, and with no central heating. As the room was unheated during the day, moist air would condense out in that cold room. Over time, everything was feeling very damp, and there was a lot of mildew. I read about dehumidifiers, and got a Toshiba Minidry. They cost £200 back then. I decided to measure what it extracted in the first day or two of operation. The room had draught excluder round the door, so with the door closed, the machine was working only on the air insdie the room.

In the first forty-eight hours of its operation, it extracted TEN PINTS, yes 200 UK fluid ounces, of water from the air and furnishings in that room.

I quickly realised what a useful device it was. That little Toshiba Minidry is still going strong today twenty-seven years later, in another house. Money very well spent. Later I also bought another machine, from Homebase, in a half price sale.

People often don't realise, when rthey suffer from damp homes, that the damp is not coming in from outside via leaking roofs or walls etc - it's from moisture generated by living in the home, and sealed in by well-fitting windows and doors, and no open fireplaces. Telling people to open doors and windows to circulate air in from outside, is only any good if its dryer outsdie than in. In the West of Scotland more often than not it's pouring outside, and opening doors and windows will just exchange warm damp air for cold wet air!

[dboyce]

Chris, I don't think your piano humidifier bar is a good idea. You won't ever need more humidity, and I don't think that bar will be effective at reducing the humidity (though I am open to correction on this, Barrie).

[Barrie Heaton]

That's interesting, Barrie, I didn't know that. I imagine that felt parts would be even quicker to both absorb and to give up their moisture content?

Hi David

Well the way they work is to pull air in and remove the moisture then expel dry air When the air is dry in the room it then pulls moisture from the walls and anything that is near by. Now in the case of a piano the action is inside a box, so the outside of the box is going to get more moisture taken from it, before the inside and as the soundboard is part of the box more so on a grand. As most uprights tend to be against a wall no as bad. Quite often I have gone to homes where the case parts are hard to get off and the action is sluggish but when you go back the case part are no longer a tight fit Yet the action is still sluggish

Felt will absorb and give up moisture content quickly yes but the bushing cloth is deep inside the action and that the bit that give you the most problems

The other problem is screws if you over use a dehumidifier and that includes Frame bolts

Barrie

[Barrie Heaton]

BTW Chris if your Hydroceel unit was made in the 50s you need to read this post

http://www.piano-tuners.org/piano-forum ... tos#p10896

Barrie

[chrisstan]

Thanks for all your help.

The heating is restored and the humidity has gone down to just below 50%

Thanks,

Chris