humidity and tuning (was health insurance (Fred))

[Fred Sturm]

--On Tuesday, August 10, 2004 12:37 PM +0200 Isaac OLEG <oleg-i@noos.fr> 
wrote:

> Fred, thanks for that comments ,you remind me that I still have to do
> that before September 15 ;(
>
> I usually let the pitch go down in the last months, but even if I
> allow for pitch to float up a tad, the treble and bass are tuned at a
> 442 as a standard generally.
>
> I was not able to sell damp chaser units in those places, are you
> experiencing suffisent correction due to the judicious use of them in
> some places (or is the pitch change still noticeable ?)
>
> That is sometime difficult to me to see all that waste of time tuning
> for pitch correction, while we know that we need a huge stability to
> really obtain the best tunings.
>
> Best Regards "bon courage !".
>
> Isaac OLEG
>
Hi Isaac,
	I have found that installation of dry humidistats with heater bars has 
been the most practical and useful solution for my situation, partly 
because I have no help I can call on to keep full units watered. I have a 
variance of RH between 10% (sometimes 7 - 8%) and 60% (occasionally 70%) on 
a fairly predictable schedule. December through May stays around 10 - 25% 
most of the time. July through September there is a sudden rise to 60% or 
so. So my main problem is the beginning of fall semester through mid-fall 
semester, where I get very sharp pianos prior to beginning of school 
followed by rapid pitch drop. The rest of the year, pitch change is gradual 
enough I can keep up with it fairly well. The "half units" (humidistats 
plus drying bars only) reduce a 25 + cent pitch rise to a 10 - 15 cent 
rise. Quite significant and well worthwhile.
	This is based on my own particular set of conditions, and would vary 
depending on your own climate, but it probably would be helpful. You would 
probably not want the Dry humidistats where you are, though. I have very 
good success with full units in private homes, though even there I will 
sometimes find variance in pitch as high as 15 cents (more commonly it is 
within 5 cents).
	What I really want is the ability to keep the building at a 30% minimum. 
Maybe some day (when pigs fly <g>).
Regards,
Fred