Humidity Explained
A story about a piano owner
The effects of humidity are predictable to seasoned piano technicians. Once upon a time there were two excellent piano technicians in a city. Sally plans to tune it as often as her mother....once a year. Sally has a decent ear and has been part a choir for some time. When the first tuning happens, it was one of the summer months, Sally pays Charles who leaves a card in the piano. Six months later, when the furnace is turned on the tuning shifts and the bass sounds off. Sally finds Bill a highly regarded technician and has them tune it then six months latter the bass sounds terrible and Charles gets the request to come tune the piano. This seasonal humidity cycle of back and forth and piano tech swapping is due to the predictable humidity shifts. Over the course of the next 4 years the two piano techs have a slow game of tic-tac-toe on the back of the card in the piano. Sally finally had enough and had me install a humidity control system on her piano. Now she enjoys a stable piano and tunes once a year.
What can a piano owner do to limit the effects of humidity swings
Be proactive - have a humidity control system installed in your piano.
There are systems that fit grand pianos and upright pianos.
Which system is selected is depends on what type and size of piano you have.
If you do not have a humidity control system tune every six months at the moderate times of the year, or when you'll be using the piano. Clients without the system tune twice a year aim for a summer tuning at 65% humidity and a winter tuning at 30% humidity.
Be reactive - tune when your piano sounds its worst.
Have constant humidity swings cause you and family to enjoy your piano less and eventually give up on it.
Change tuners because you believe you received a bad product because of the predictable humidity swing and tuning shifted.
There are systems that fit grand pianos and upright pianos.
Which system is selected is depends on what type and size of piano you have.
If you do not have a humidity control system tune every six months at the moderate times of the year, or when you'll be using the piano. Clients without the system tune twice a year aim for a summer tuning at 65% humidity and a winter tuning at 30% humidity.
Be reactive - tune when your piano sounds its worst.
Have constant humidity swings cause you and family to enjoy your piano less and eventually give up on it.
Change tuners because you believe you received a bad product because of the predictable humidity swing and tuning shifted.
Humidity Fluctuations can and will cause damage its just a matter of time
Older pianos have gone through more humidity changes and develop cracks in the soundboard, have issues with the pin block that hold the tuning or bridges splitting or have keys that don't play because of wood parts failing from drying out.
Piano location is an important factor in tuning stability; Pianos placed on heating, AC vents, next to a radiator, pipes, on the other side of a wall to a dishwasher or chimney, in front of a window, exposed to sun shine will have more difficulty staying in tune. Pianos located on second floors or in apartments will cycle through more extreme humidity fluctuations than pianos on a first floor or in a basement.
Read more about humidity control and your piano
Piano location is an important factor in tuning stability; Pianos placed on heating, AC vents, next to a radiator, pipes, on the other side of a wall to a dishwasher or chimney, in front of a window, exposed to sun shine will have more difficulty staying in tune. Pianos located on second floors or in apartments will cycle through more extreme humidity fluctuations than pianos on a first floor or in a basement.
Read more about humidity control and your piano
All Photos and graphs on this page are used with permission of the Dampp Chaser corporation.