How to find the best location for your Piano?
Due to their wooden structure grand/upright Pianos are highly sensitive to ambience conditions (moisture grade, temperature) variations. In order to prevent you from future troubles we recommend you to study well your home climate. Finding the best location – fix temperature and stable humidity – helps to maintain your Piano’s overall health and good working for long time.
The ideal ambience circumstances for acoustic Pianos:
temperature: 18-24 °C
humidity: 40-60% (priority of humidity to temperature)
What are the „ideal” conditions?
The main aspects to take into account: close to an anteroom may be too drafty; by near a window or door (f.i. hall, entrance door) Piano can be affected by air changing; summertime direct sunlight through the windows, wintertime heat sources such as radiators warm up the body of your Piano. It is best to avoid these locations.
As far as air humidity you can measure its level by hygrometer. Expecially in wintertime by heating it can decrease below 40%, in that case you need to moisturize. Optimal humidity level for Pianos is the same as for humans: a range between 40 and 60 %.
What is the risk of unoptimal climate circumstances for your Piano?
In the short-term, no irreversible effect happens, at worst your instrument lose sound stability, in this case pitch has to be adjusted and fixing the action, if necessary.
However, in the long-term, you risk wearing out or even ruining the instrument. By too low humidity wooden parts will be dried off, by too high humidity they might assorb humidity.
Temperature and humidity are not the only aspects you have to be care of in an internal environment. A further problem is caused by moths eating felts. Due to the high quality and large quantity of felts present in the mechanism of both grand and upright Pianos, these parts often get destroyed by moths. We recommand you put mothballs (or other insecticide) inside the body of your Piano.
