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I am at the VERY beginning stages of purchasing a new piano (currently playing on a Kawai KDP80 - which was given to me). I am a beginner adult with 18 months of lessons behind me.

My first decision is whether to go with acoustic or digital. I live in a coastal community on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. I am less than a mile from the beach. My studio is a brick building with tin roof and bad windows so controlling the climate inside is near impossible.

My question - with the various climate issues where I live, and the sea salt/breeze issues - would I be better to go with an electronic rather than an acoustic piano?

Currently there is a piano tuner about an hour from me (I have an antique upright in the house that I have attempted to keep tuned but it needs major maintenance.)

If this topic has been covered somewhere before - please point me in the direction of the thread. I did have a bit of a search but didn't find anything.

Thanks.

IMO, a digital might be the right choice under these conditions.

An acoustic needs stable humidity and temperature to stay in tune.

It depends how bad the windows are.(and the rest of the building) You would need a dehumidifier and a good cover for the piano.(and a cheap digital hygrometer) Obviously the windows would need to be kept shut while the dehumidifier is working. I use a small fan if I am playing and the dehumidifier is switched on.
Salt of course is not good for pianos.To prevent rust a good cover may help, especially if the windows are left open.

Kris
I would recommend posting this in the technicians forum because they can give you some sound advice over the effects of salt air on strings. You can also ask them if you’ll ever be able to play with the windows open And whether a cover for the piano would be helpful

Dehumidifiers are little used for pianos in the non-tropical parts of Australia. Even near the coast it’s fundamentally a dry country that occasionally gets a bit of moisture.

The majority of decent quality but entry level pianos sold here are Asian pianos, typically Yamaha and Kawai, that have been built suitable for the largely dry climate. They sit in houses that very often don’t have 24/7 heating / AC and they do just fine.

Temperature fluctuations are probably the biggest issue. Where I live, not that far from the coast, we have winter lows of 2 and summer highs of 42. About November each year I can hear some of the unisons nagging at me and I get the tuner in. I have an AC unit but it only runs for my benefit, not the piano’s. The piano (a U1) doesn’t seem to mind.

A stable humidity is more important than temperature.With those kinds of temperature ranges the humidity is unlikely to be stable.

You would think so, but coastal NSW, where the OP is, has remarkably stable year round average RH, between 50 and 60%. Obviously there can be more humid days than the average but it’s the average that matters.

Where I am it gets a little dryer but very little more humid.

It’s dry old country outside of the tropical areas. The Yamaha and Kawai factories have it much, much worse!

Thank you for your advice. I will follow up as recommended with the tuners forum.