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The monster snowstorm in the East hit us and we lost our power for 48 hours... the house got to 38 degrees before the power came back last night. It was hard on out Estonia's tuning, but so far I don't find any other problems.

Dealers, do you take precautions with your inventory if power goes out in your stores? Have you ever suffered damage on your pianos from power outages?

I guess you could wrap the piano in blankets. (but you would probably need them for yourself!)

Thats my guess. I heard that some piano restorers that work in the garage, wrap the pianos in blankets to insulate them kinda.

When I had my Krakauer, I had to leave it in the garage in october for a month. I wrapped the piano heavily and tightly. Tuning didnt change a smidge. It got mighty cold 2 octobers ago!

Glad you have power again!

pianos are remarkably resilient. as long as it wasn't drenched in water or got close to a fire, or exposed to outside temperature, it should be fine. plus the period of time it was cold wasn't that long. the tuning might even get back to its former levels if you check it later.

sorry about the snow. it's coming up here tomorrow!

I get this question a lot, especially from members of country churches where the heat is off most of the time.

The surprising answer is that having the power (and heat) on probably does more damage than having it off. Sure, there's a low temperature at which metal will shrink so much as to cause serious stress, but what does most damage to pianos is dryness, not cold.

When the temperature drops, the air becomes relatively more humid, since cold air can hold less moisture. This is why condensation forms on iced tea glasses.

Conversely, firing up the heat creates warm air that can hold lots of moisture, so relative humidity goes way down. I'm measuring as low as 24% RH indoors right now, and 25% to 35% is typical in winter throughout most of the US (indoors, remember!).

So don't worry about the drop in temperature. Your piano may have gone a tiny bit sharp, but it should come back with the warmth.

--Cy--

It's good to hear the cold bothers me more than the piano!

Never had a climate issue with a piano I guess. its about 3 degrees fahrenheit outside right now. Nice and toasty inside.