Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum I got an AprilAire dehumidifier! (not really OT)

We live in a brick house built in 1960. As is common around here, the house is built sort of on a slope, and so it has a crawlspace under half of it and under the other half is a full-height basement that is a walk-out. The crawlspace (again, as is common) is literally just dirt, and as it happens, the part of the house above the crawlspace includes the piano room. In other words, my piano sits on a (lovely) wooden floor, below which is -- was -- a damp, musty pile of dirt. ETA: I don't know if they still do with when building new houses, but this was just how it was done in this region for many, many years. My mother, who has only ever lived "up north" was shocked when I described it to her. She kept saying "so, but, there's concrete right?" And I kept saying, nope, just dirt, and she kept saying "but? did they do it that way on accident?"

A little more than a month ago, we had a sump pump and an AprilAire dehumidifier installed in the crawlspace and then had the crawlspace "encapsulated." This means that they block off the air vents, line the walls with insulation board, and cover the dirt pile with a "vapor barrier" -- which is a heavy-duty, 20mm sheet of... while, it's not plastic, probably poly-something. Oh, we also had the old yucky (mildewy!) insulation removed from under the floor boards as well.

Holy cow!! This has made a huge difference! I mainly wanted to do it for water control (hence the sump pump) and to get rid of the chance of mold and mildew in the crawl space. But I had no idea it would make such a huge difference throughout the whole house, and of course to the piano room!

For the past two summers, even when the AC is on, I've generally had to use a free-standing dehumidifier to control the humidity in the piano room -- which I hate because it's noisy! And it was never perfect.

Well now I don't need that free-standing dehumidifier in the piano room. I'm watching the hygrometer and it's waaaay more stable that before. Last summer the RH in the piano room would jump around, sometimes up to 65-70%, and I sometimes had a hard time bringing it down below 60%. Now it fluctuates between 45-55%.

As a fluke of scheduling, I actually had the piano tuned just before getting the AprilAire installed, so I think the piano will sound better after its next tuning, but I can already tell that my piano really likes this level of humidity a lot better. And this will be better long-term, because the RH does drop a bit lower in the winter, but this way I won't have to worry about the super high summer RH levels anymore.

Also, the AprilAire has made an improvement throughout the whole house. It seems like our AC doesn't have to work as hard. And, the basement-part of the basement no longer smells like a musty basement, the relative humidity down there is consistently 55% and it's just so much nicer down there. Which is great because we have exercise equipment down there, and there's one room that's finished and that's where my husband's studio is.

Anyway, sorry for the super long post, but I have just been so amazed at what a huge difference this makes for the whole house and especially for my piano!

No, I'm not being paid by AprilAire!

Congratulations on your most positive improvements to your lovely home, Dr. ShiroKuro!

Yes, I'm sure you have noticed some very noticeable improvements in your living space, in terms of moisture and humidity control. The encapsulating of the dirt floor in the crawl space area alone was quite an improvement, I'm sure, and the AprilAir Dehumidifier was a positive improvement as well, on top of the crawl space treatment.

There is no doubt that your piano lives in a better, healthier environment, as do you and Mr. ShiroKuro.

I replaced my HVAC system, with a new, high efficiency unit, and all new duct work, last October, and installed new vapor-barrier, thick-mill plastic in my crawl space. Not as good as the total encapsulation, but the next best thing. The biggest difference I notice is my monthly power bill is lower, plus my home is more comfortable.

Good for you!! And, thanks for sharing your experience. It may help someone else.

Rick

I've seen the same thing in homes "up north". My mom's house was in a Chicago suburb that was built by a Texas company called Centex (Central Texas). They did a lot of things the way they do them in Texas, including a crawl space that was dirt and minimal insulation. My folks had to have that covered with heavy plastic and insulate the crawl space walls, similar to what you did. it made a big difference and kept the plumbing in the crawlspace from freezing in the winter. Glad it's helping keep you and the piano more comfortable.

Mark, Rick, thanks!

Mark, I actually grew up in central IL. but my mother lived in upstate NY for a long time. Down here, we don't have to worry about freezing pipes so much, but actually with the insulation they installed, I imagine it will be better in the winter as well.

Rick, we got a new HVAC when we first moved in (so only two years ago), and it is really nice. I wish we could afford to get our ductwork redone, mainly because all of the ducts that you can see in the basement look horrible! But I can't afford to do something that which would be purely cosmetic and in the basement no less!

That's awesome! I recently got a little portable dehumidifier and basically have it running right under the piano

I have a whole-room dehumidifier in my small piano shop (10'X20') and it runs 24/7/365. It does a great job keeping the humidity around 50%RH. I do get tired of emptying the water bucket, but I don't want to drill a hole in the wall to run a drain tube. So, I just empty the bucket when it needs it.

Since I got the new HVAC system in my house, the humidity (%RH) in my music room seems to be lower than with the old system. So, the new system does a better job of dehumidifying for sure. In my area (west central Georgia) I need the dehumidification far more than I need humidification.

Rick

That was another benefit of getting the AprilAire installed in the crawlspace with the sump pump -- it's set up to drain into the sump pump, which then pumps it out automatically as needed. Between that and not having to hear the sound of the dehumidifier in my piano room (or anywhere else in our living space), I could not be happier. I should have done this last year!

I like your story. It inspired me (?) to write another one of my awful poems:

dirt is too humid
piano does not like it
now it's good and dry



Perhaps Rickster can do better!

c++

Ok, here's my Haiku

A song in the air
My dehumidifier
Fifty-five percent

Yeah, that's horrible. (even if "my dehumidifier" is 7 syllables....)

ahahaha!!!!!!!

I doubt I could do better, c++, but thanks for the honorable mention...

Been working on the lyrics to a new blues song, but I'll wait on that.

However, to add to what you started, let's see what I can do.

Pianos are finicky, that's for sure
Dirt is too humid, though pianos can endure
Piano does not like it if too much humidity is there
Now it's good and dry, since Dr. Shirokuro added the AprilAir

Nothing like having a little PW summer fun...

Rick

Rickster, I'm learning a 12-bar blues right now (for those of you that don't know me, that's not the kind of music I usually play!) so I can put this one to music!!!

Rising damp causes piano scare,
Problem solved: AprilAire!

Cheers

Rick

In the Piano Buddies group, some of them inspire me to learn a little Classical music, and I inspire them to learn a little 12-Bar Blues! That has got to be a good thing! Right? Maybe? Wet? Dry?

Rick

It's definitely a good thing!

AprilAire makes rising damp evaporate,
But my Fridgadare is not for my hair,
The ghosts of the falling damp will echoe in tone,
Long gone, all I hear now is an occasional roar,
A singing piano will also return true notes,
Return a smile, sing a song as long as damp is gone.

Actually it's great you solved your humidity problem so well.I still use a regular dehumidifier.I keep it in the passage outside of the room where the piano lives.Like you I just have just dirt in that room under the piano.(3 feet below) We do not have overwhelming humidity and I can control it with the dehumidifier.(which I usually switch off when I play or practice)

Nice!

Rick

Thanks Rickster! 😊 I think the moderators improved the poem as well by changing two words which was an unsuccessful attempt by me at an old English style.Actually the last time I tried my hand at poetry was a long time ago.

piano haiku
wet piano bad for you
also too dry too