Elwood, My recommendation would be to "widen your parameters." HVAC techs will tell you that the stated narrow range is very expensive to maintain and that the sacrifice will be a fluctuation in temperature (which inhabitants of the building will be unhappy with). At least, that is what I was told when facing your situation at a former institution. I would ask for a system that could maintain a range of, for instance, 35% low-side to 55% high-side. Humidity control is always an interesting challenge that we cauts face, isn't it? Good luck in your endeavor! Craig Waldrop, RPT Staff Piano Technician Baylor School of Music 254.710.1723 ________________________________ From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Elwood Doss Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 11:29 AM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: [CAUT] Ideal humidity levels Just to confirm this with some other CAUTs. The ideal humidity level for pianos is between 48% and 52%. My Interim Chair shared that information with the architects and they said, "Wow, those are some tight parameters." We are planning to press for those parameters. Just wanted to get some thoughts from some of you who have gone through a renovation/construction experience at your schools. Is it a possibility? Very expensive to do that? How far from ideal can we go and keep the pianos in a comfortable environment. I've measured the humidity level in the present Fine Arts Building as low as 25% in winter and 80% in the summer with the air conditioning on. Joy! Elwood Rev. Elwood Doss, Jr., M. M. E., RPT Piano Technician/Technical Director Department of Music 145 Fine Arts Building University of Tennessee at Martin Martin, TN 38237 Office: 731/881-1852 Fax: 731/881-7415 Cell: 731/479-4043 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20090513/1dbbeb98/attachment-0001.htm>
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