"Sea Level Pianos" (long!)

[EHILBERT@midd.middlebury.edu]

John,
      I am hard pressed to see what difference the barometric pressure would
have at 4000 feet, but I do agree that temperature and humidity will affect the piano.  I would
suggest you consider controlling them, rather than letting them
control you and your pianos.  Talk to your school and see if they can't install
a humidifier-dehumidifier system on the air conditioning/heating system.  One
has been installed here at Middlebury College where we work, and while there
are some problems from time to time, most of the time the swings are fairly
small.  And of course you can install Dampp-Chaser systems, although they
will certainly be more work if you have a lot of pianos.
      Our weather conditions here in Vermont aren't all that different from
those which yhou are discribing (last night -10 degrees F and over a foot of
snow fell last night.  All day today the temperature stayed below 0 degrees F)
We don't seem to have as big a problem as you seem to have - when we have
control over the environment.  Give it a try, I think you will be a lot
happier when you are controling the elements (at least in the piano areas)
rather than letting the weather control you.
Ed Hilbert