<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: Thanks</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> On 12/20/03 5:39 AM, "MKurta" <mkurta@adelphia.net> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE>    Thanks to those who responded to my questions about radiant heat under a new grand, and the journals available.  I've forwarded your responses to the appropriate parties, they will respond to you directly if they choose.  Thanks again,     Mike Kurta Mike, I have serviced  pianos in churches and homes that have the heat coils inbstalled in the cement floor.   The benefit is the stable temperature which  can be lower than  ‘normal’   68 degrees to be comfortable.   The home owner kept the temperature in the high 50’s .  These areas can be humidified with a room humidifier, but in my experiences the rooms have not been humidified.      The church has a thick piano cover with an extension that goes underneath the piano.  Velcro is used to attach the extension to the straight side.  This  has been effective as there is very little change in tuning stability or wood part warpage.  This is a Yamaha C7 from the late 60’s. The home owner cut a piece of plywood  in the shape of the piano and installed 1x2 spacers underneath the ply.  This not only deflects the radiant heat, but acts as a pseudo soundboard.   The German Steinway D sounds great and  the tuning is also very stable.  Because of health problems the owner did not service the piano for several years and I heard from  a colleague technician that the pitch was still A-440 and with a few unison tuned the piano was ready for recording. That’s my  experience.   Extend the piano cover to enclose the piano or install a plywood  deflector.   Both are effective.   Oh, in our Wisconsin climate the floor concrete can crack and buckle.   Another client had to jackhammer the floor out because the heat lines broke and the heating unit stopped working.   Today I believe there are better materials that can be installed in the floors.   I don’t have any experience with the modern installations. Keep in tune and stay warm. Joel </BLOCKQUOTE>-- Joel A. Jones  RPT Assistant Director - TEAM '04 June 29 - July 3, Nashville, TN http://www.ptg.org/conv.htm jajones2@facstaff.wisc.edu <BLOCKQUOTE> </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>