Pianogoods Blog

by Mark Purney (Registered Piano Technician)

If you look on the Internet, you will find some disagreement as to whether or not pianos benefit from humidity control systems. I’ve always been baffled as to why this point is even still being argued. The research on the subject clearly proves that pianos with humidity control systems will live longer, healthier lives.  But with the sheer amount of bad information available on the subject, many piano owners adopt a skeptical attitude and decide against protecting their pianos from the damage caused by changing humidity.

If only the piano manufacturers could weigh in on the subject. Oh, but they have!   Read for yourself what the manufacturers have to say.  It’s astounding that when presented with this (and other) good information, people will still choose to believe some misinformed stranger on the Internet who makes a convincing argument based on faulty logic.

Some of the worst advice I’ve seen is to use room humidifiers or room dehumidifiers. If you love your piano, please don’t do this!  Unless you are using top-notch equipment and you *never* fail to keep it maintained and operating 100% of the time, you will likely do more harm to your piano by trying to control the humidity of the room.

I recently tuned a piano for a client who moved from Houston to Phoenix. Luckily, her piano survived the drastic climate change without any immediate signs of damage, but three of her pieces of antique furniture split right down the middle just weeks after the move.  She did not need any convincing to understand the effects of humidity on wood, because she could see the quarter-inch-wide crack in her table from across the living room.

Fact:  Wood fibers expand when exposed to an increase in humidity, and contract when exposed to a decrease in humidity.

Fact: The repeated cycle of expanding and contracting of wood fibers, such as the seasonal changes of most climates throughout a year, weakens the fibers of the wood over time. This weakening usually manifests itself in the form of cracks and splits in the wood.

Fact:  Piano pinblocks and piano soundboards are made out of wood, as are the bridges. These are critical, functional, and structural parts of the piano, and when you expose them to a yearly cycle of changing humidity, they eventually fail. It’s not a matter of if, but when.

Many soundboard cracks are not fatal. Some produce no audible change in the tone of the piano. Others cause a loss of sound, or unwanted sounds. Pinblock failure is like a critical illness for old pianos (or not-so-old pianos that have been stored in barns or sheds). Some pinblock degradation can be offset by applying ultra-thin cyanoacrylate adhesive fluid at the base of the tuning pins.

But eventually, every piano ends up in one of three places:  An unplayable state of disrepair, the local landfill, or a rebuilding shop where it will receive a new pinblock soundboard, and other critical parts made from new wood. If you’ve invested many thousands of dollars into your piano, a is few hundred dollars to protect your investment too much to shell out?

I’ve personally seen the positive effects of proper humidity control on a piano, and the negative (short and long-term) effects of pianos suffering through harsh humidity swings. That is why my piano at home has a Dampp Chaser Piano Life Saver system installed, and why I’ve become a Certified Installer for these systems.  It’s not snake oil, it’s perhaps the most important decision a piano buyer can make, after deciding on which piano to buy.

Be good to your piano!
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