Winter Weather

[John Musselwhite]

>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
The air is thinner and so it's MUCH dryer among other things...

>piano.  I would suggest you consider controlling them, rather than letting them

In some cases that's easier said than done. Rather than having to control
the pianos why not start with pianos which are already "under control" as it
were, which is where this began.

>control you and your pianos.  Talk to your school and see if they can't install

Actually, I work at a concert hall (2750 seats) as well as privately rather
than a school. Two D's on stage with three other Steinways and two
Heintzmans on two stages and five other rooms with the verticals being moved
all the time.

>a humidifier-dehumidifier system on the air conditioning/heating system.  One

It's a government owned building built in the fifties. The conditions are
controlled by budgets unfortunately. Average humidity in the winter is 16%
unless a show is on. The pianos date from 1955-1981 and the soundboards are
perfect on all of them.

>small.  And of course you can install Dampp-Chaser systems, although they
>will certainly be more work if you have a lot of pianos.

Well, the solution at our hall was simple. Buy pianos that are designed and
built to take it rather than those which might need coddling all the time.
The problem lies with many of the thousands of other instruments out there.

>     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)

This is what we experience in the winter (roughly converted to farenheit).
+40 to +60 for a week, then down to -20 for a few days. Back up to about
freezing (daytime) for a week and down to -30 for 10 days. In one day the
temp will go to +50  for a day or two and the next day back to -20 and the
day after that it will come up and sit around freezing for a week or so.
That happens any time from late October to May although the cold temps get
less severe once March arrives. In all that time we might get a few inches
of snow spread over the winter or several feet of it.

Yesterday it was about 20 below with a wind-chill of about 40 below in some
places. Today, it's sunny and about +25 F with no wind. Tomorrow it could be
40 above or 40 below.

Aren't you glad you live in Vermont?  B-})

                        John
John Musselwhite, RPT
Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com