Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Care and Feeding of an Acoustic Piano

Hello. I have a digital piano and I am thinking about buying an acoustic piano, perhaps a Kawai K500 or Boston 126. How concerned do I have to be about changes in humidity and temperature? I live in northern NY so often the windows are closed and the heat is on. I would keep the acoustic in a well insulated sunroom, and no sun would fall on the acoustic. It would not be next to a heater. I do not use air conditioning so during the summer the acoustic would be at the mercy of whatever humidity and temperature changes occur. (It often cools off quite a bit in the evenings). I would have it tuned appropriately. I have read how temperature and humidity changes sometimes drastically affect pianos. Is it possible to have an acoustic piano without constantly considering the humidity and temperature? Would a Dampp Chaser be a requirement? I am 69 years old so a new acoustic would not have to last 30 years😜. Thanks.

Right after I posted this inquiry I read a response by “Ladybird” on another thread about her prior concerns about humidity, and someone suggested getting a “broken hygrometer”. Sounds good to me!

Large humidity swings or extremes of humidity are not good for a piano. Can you get a room humidifier to use when the humidity is low? How hot does the room get during the summer and what is the typical humidity in the room during the summer and winter?

I don’t know what the humidity and temperature for the sunroom is during the summer, but last week I had shades put in the will enable me to keep it cooler during the summer. I guess that if I get an acoustic I would have to start doing some measurements. At my age I may just keep my Kawai CA79 digital. It is a better piano than I am a pianist anyway!

Hello Damien!

It’s prudent to consider these issues

And I hope You’re able to answer Them in a manner satisfactory enough, so You can feel confident in purchasing an Acoustic Piano

I’d love to read a thread about Your new Kawai K500 or Boston 126

Carpe Diem!


~Lucubrate

We also use the expression of care and feeding with our customers.

Do everything reasonable to limit the extremes and make gradual the humidity swings. Nothing works perfectly by itself, and your home sounds like an excellent candidate for a Dampp-Chaser system as well as any room treatments you can provide. If you don't have a room humidifier for the winter, keep some healthy houseplants in the room with the piano.

Damien, I don't know if you mean Western Upstate NY or more to the East -- I'm more familiar with the Buffalo, Rochester, Finger Lakes regions, so my comments are based on that.

You might find that it's a little too dry in the winter (bc of the heating) and a little too humid in the summer. In my experience, humidity is easier to deal with -- at least in absolute terms, i.e. lowering the humidity, although it can be expensive to run a dehumidifier (as well as noisy depending on...) I have not yet try to use a humidifier (so far I don't think I need it) but I've read that it can be tricky to get right (either it's too damp or you end up with white dust etc).

Still, either with a Dampp Chaser or with dehumidifiers, once you get a system in place, it's not hard to control the climate in one room. And it's more than worth it to have an acoustic piano, even for beginners!

So don't let the humidity issue scare you away!

The important thing is to control humidity changes - temperature changes are less important. A Dampp Chaser would be good, but there may be other solutions. Having said that, our Bluthner lasted 40 years with no humidity control until the piano became untunable... Of course, you may have more severe humidity swings than we do here in London.

I will just add - hopefully a new acoustic will have to last you 30 years!

I'm in central New York (western Mohawk Valley region), about halfway between Albany and Syracuse. The indoor humidity changes in my area are quite drastic between seasons, and even from day to day. I'm guessing your temperature and humidity are similar to where I am, although you're probably colder in the winter. The better you can stabilize the humidity, the better your piano will stay in tune. If you can't control the humidity year-round within the house, a properly installed Dampp-Chaser system will definitely help your piano.

Feed it plenty of music, and stroke the keys with your fingers.

Kind of puzzled about this Dampp-Chaser system. Its purpose appears to be to keep only the relative humidity (RH) inside the piano constant. It seems that that could create a potential problem with the sound board on the bottom of the piano, since the RH on the inside side of the sound board could be much different from the RH on the outside side of the sound board. Can't imagine that such a large gradient in the RH through the wooden sound board could be good for it. Seems that a system to control the RH in the entire room that the piano is in would be better for the piano.

You don't get white dust if you use the appropriate type of humidifier.

Regards,

Not sure about the climate in your region. My parents acoustic piano never saw any humidity control and lasted for 100 years (but received some form of work-over in the last five years, and maybe also some form of work-over in its first 60 years even though I doubt it). At least in Germany I think that humidity control may therefore not be necessary, at least not if you are not very sensitive.

Hi Damian ,
Actually I now have 3 digital hygrometers .Two work well in summer and the third one works better in winter.There is also
one in the piano.
What I believe is that Japanese pianos are extremely tough when it comes to surviving the hi's and low's of summer and winter humidity. (just do not want to take a chance with my Sauter ,although it holds its tuning very well)
I finally ended up getting a dehumidifier which runs a fair amount of time,as our problem is high humidity.I also have a small humidifier which I use not very often.
Some people say having a few potted plants in the room provides some humidity when it is low .I know hanging wet towels in the room raises the humidity ,but it looks awful.
and dries out so quickly.
I tend to cover my piano in winter as I feel it keeps the humidity stable. In fact we are going away for a few days now in summer and I shall just cover the piano with a quilt and hope for the best. Best wishes on finding your new piano.

Using a humidifier to increase the humidity is not tricky or difficult at all. For excess humidity a dehumidifier or AC will generally solve the problem.

I want to thank you all for your kind answers. I forget how I stumbled upon the Piano World website but I like it very much. It is very informative. Anyway, today I ordered a Boston 126 with a Dampp Chaser. It is supposed to be delivered on Tuesday.

Neat, and congratulations!

Back when I was using a DC system (winter isn’t as dry here as prior locations) I would do the first fill with tap water + a cap of pad treatment, and then subsequent refills with distilled water + half a cap of pad treatment. It seemed to keep the system operating correctly, and the pads lasted a lot longer between changes (which can be messy or cumbersome, if you do a thorough job).

For pianos I serviced that got just plain tap water and a cap of pad treatment, the pads get gunked up with minerals and residue, and become pretty ineffective in just a few months. With primarily distilled water, I was only needing to change them out, once per year...and they still looked/felt decent.

Where in NNY are you? I spent a good amount of time in Clayton/Alex Bay and still go back to visit.

Hello Damian,
First congratulations on your purchase; buying a Dampp Chaser was a very smart move.
My Kawai 52" upright is fitted with a Dampp Chaser.
I live in the Middle Atlantic area and we have hot humid summers and semi-cold winters.
Nonetheless, we have forced hot air heat and A/C.
We don't run the A/C much below 78 or 77F.

My piano tech comes twice a year; during the summer and the winter.
He was just here in July and he said my piano is doing really well and is really getting settled in.
So, I would not over worry the humidity conditions in your home.
As long as you are comfortable, your piano will be as well.
Best of luck to you.

Hello Damian,
First congratulations on your purchase; buying a Dampp Chaser was a very smart move.
My Kawai 52" upright is fitted with a Dampp Chaser.
I live in the Middle Atlantic area and we have hot humid summers and semi-cold winters.
Nonetheless, we have forced hot air heat and A/C.
We don't run the A/C much below 78 or 77F.

My piano tech comes twice a year; during the summer and the winter.
He was just here in July and he said my piano is doing really well and is really getting settled in.
So, I would not over worry the humidity conditions in your home.
As long as you are comfortable, your piano will be as well.
Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the advice about the pads. I live in Watertown, and my sister lives in Clayton.