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Hey Everyone,
I am new here. I recently just purchased a Yamaha P22 and traded my old piano in which was a Baldwin Spinet. This Yamaha P22 is my dream piano and I want to take the very best care of it. I am turning my spare bedroom into a music room so that I can give lessons out of it. It is a small bedroom with two windows in it. My house is old and the windows are too, they are single pane with storm glass on the outside of them. I don't ever feel a draft coming from the windows but during the winter and summer after the A/c or heat shuts off it does get a couple of degrees cooler in there than the rest of the house even with the door left open. When the heat or A/c kicks back on it will cool or heat it back to the right temp. It doesn't go way cold or hot in there I am talking maybe 3 degrees cooler or hotter depending on the season, I live in St. Louis, Missouri. The humidity has currently been in the 45-50% range. I suspect when the winter gets really going here it will drop to the high 30's or low 40's. I am planning on getting a small humidifier and I understand to place it away from the piano. I do have the piano on an inside wall but it is close to one of the windows. Like i said, I dont feel a draft but the room after awhile does either get a couple degrees colder or hotter and I will attach a picture for reference. I have it away from the heat and cooling vent it is on the other side of the room. But my question is, is that temp difference going to be bad for the piano? I feel like I can easily keep the humidity under control. My thoughts was to put a programable dehumidifier in there with the humidifier and set the humidifier to 45% and the dehumidifier to 50%? Is that too much of a swing in humidity? If the temp does matter, can I just get one of those programable radiator oil heaters that don't force air and put it on the other side of the room and set it to 72 would that be okay?

Thanks for any advise you can give! [img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/s1XxS59BkgTKzzvPA[/img]

Hi there and welcome. Not an expert on this subject (I'm in a desert) so eating popcorn.

I think you're overthinking it, put a large humidifier on another side of the room and don't set it to high, 40% is enough, it will use sh**load of water in winter even then, be aware that humidifiers can grow mold inside and spread it into your room.

If your humidity is often above 60% you need dehumidifier and don't buy those small ones, they didn't work at all.

Those air humidity precentages are relative humidity, that is how much water is in the air relative to a maximum water capacity of air at given temperature, higher temperature - more water can "fit" in the air, so the relative humidity drops when the air is heated, even though it has the same amount of water which means that it is better not to heat more in winter than is necessary for you to play comfortably.

Dampp chaser is another solution, it is a system that keeps constant humidity just inside your piano.

And your piano will most likely work just fine for 20 years even without all of that.

Okay thank you! I really appreciate your advise! I do have a humidifier I ordered coming from Amazon tomorrow. I will set it at 40. I probably am over thinking it i have a habit of doing that. I just want to make sure its in a good environment. So as long as the humidity level is fine, does the temp dropping a few degrees wont knock it out of tune or anything?

And thanks for the welcome An Old Square!

Okay thank you! I really appreciate your advise! I do have a humidifier I ordered coming from Amazon tomorrow. I will set it at 40. I probably am over thinking it i have a habit of doing that. I just want to make sure its in a good environment. So as long as the humidity level is fine, does the temp dropping a few degrees wont knock it out of tune or anything?

no, pianos aren't very sensitive to temperature alone.

I have always wondered at what temperature a piano would stop working because of cold?

-20F, -50F, -100F, -200F, what?

Would a piano work in outer space?

My piano has gone through many winter cycles down to -0F and summer cycles up to 100F with no apparent harm, but with humidity usually around 5-10% (we hit a record 0.5% humidity for a few hours this year).

As well as your humidifier, get a good hygrometer to check the RH. The control on the humidifier may not be set correctly. I have had personal experience of this.

Where are you? I'm movin' there! I like it dry! When I was in Saudi Arabia, the RH was 12 or 13% the whole year.

From Weatherspark.com:

"The perceived humidity level in Santa Fe, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining a virtually constant 0% throughout."

We regularly have weeks (we're in a now multidecade drought, massive forest fires on multiple points on the horizon in summer is now the norm) where RH stays under 10%, occasionally hitting the 1-2% range.

We do have a monsoon season, which this year meant days of flooding that wash out roads, followed by, you guessed it, blue skies and 5-10% RH.

Simplifies things piano care wise.

"It's monsoon season, don't tune it yet. Call me back a few weeks after the last rainfall. It's sharp now but will magically go back to dead on 440, trust me."

There are a few months where it *might* average in the 30s or 40s, but for here, that's high humidity season!

Are you sure about those numbers? I just looked up the Santa Fe weather and it was given as 36% at the moment. A more general description of the humidity being "Santa Fe has some comfortably humid months, with some very dry months. The least humid month is June (17% relative humidity), and the most humid month is December (49.5%). Wind in Santa Fe is usually moderate. The windiest month is April, followed by May and June."

I have 3 different digital hygrometers which were not expensive.The first one I bought hardly ever moved in the summer months -- so I thought I was in "piano paradise".During the winter it is actually very accurate.The two other hygrometers gave me rather a shock, humidty in the 60's!!! Checking them against my dehumidifier AND the technicians very accurate hygrometer I found that hygrometer A was useless for high R/H values and yet very good for lower R/H.
Living in a fairy moderate yet slightly humid climate hygrometers B and C are the most useful for keeping my piano in a stable humidity.I have a powerful dehumidifier in a room leading off the piano room.
I would watch that window though.(to keep the tuning stable and and piano dry) I cover the soundboard of my piano at night as the indoor heating is turned down.I am sure your piano will be fine.(It is lovely by the way) I hope the light or sun is not able to damage the wood finish.

Remember humidity is affected by the tempteture.of the room.

So, one very aged broken shop hygrometer on the way to the landfill.
Put it in a humid environment and only got up to 50%.
If I was playing idiot bingo I'd be on the way to winning.
I'll let myself out...

No but you are sweet! 😆
It moves right up to 60 (only if I blow on it) So it is Adagio in humidty but yes below 50 it wakes up.If you want it you can have it.😏 Naa=h since you live Sant=a Fe you can afford a really fancy one...Happy go! 😃 😀 😄 Enjoy your popcorn!

Old Square we try and advise and help people with their pianos.That is all.

Thank you!! I have turned this room into my music studio! I have curtains on the window now so the sunlight doesn't hurt the finish. That room seems to be fluxuating from 40-50 percent humidity with this automatic humidifier I have. I just refinished the outside of the piano, it had scuff marks from moving it into the room and now it looks great!! See the new picture I just added of it! I re did the entire room into my studio.

One proffesional said he covered the back of his piano with thin paper.He speaking (posting) to someone who's piano was exposed to big chnges in humidty.I do cover the back of my piano at night as the heating is turned down.It may help prevent the constant exchange of air flow.Not necessary perhaps.

Your piano room looks great so does the piano.Those are tough pianos though.If it's new it's going to need tuning more often.

Thanks for that I appreciate it! It actually looks completely different now. I have the room painted grey and music note curtains and all my music stuff hung up, just old stuff from my classroom (choir room) over the years that I have changed out. But now this piano has a bigger problem. When it got tuned 4 bass strings snapped when he hardly touched them. He ordered the new strings and came and put them on a few days ago and when I was playing last night another one snapped and it was on D2. I called him and he said since its under warranty we are just going to replace all the bass strings that he hasn't put in yet. This piano is actually from 1960!