Should you keep a humidifier by your baby grand piano?

Answer 1

I am a Registered Piano Technician, so I feel pretty well qualified to answer this question. Humidity control is crucial for keeping your piano in tune and preventing humidity-related problems that appear over time, like soundboard & bridge cracks, loose tuning pins, sticky or rattling keys, sluggish action parts, etc. It's best to keep your piano at around 42% relative humidity year-round. Consistency is the most important thing, though.

You can put a room humidifier by the piano, but there are several drawbacks to that approach. First, you would have to monitor the humidity level in the room 24/7 to be sure that it's staying consistent. If the room housing the piano is large, or if it's open to other parts of the house (i.e., no door or a door that stays open a lot), you are trying to humidify a very large area, which most room humidifiers won't be able to do. Room humidifiers are noisy (you're trying to listen to and enjoy music, right?) and you have to fill them usually once every day or two. Finally, using a room humidifier will not do anything to bring the humidity level in the room DOWN when it gets too high (like during a rainstorm).

There is a very effective humidity control system called a Piano Lifesaver System, made by a company called Dampp Chaser. It must be installed by a piano technician. It has both a humidifier and a dehumidifier with a humidistat, so it's constantly monitoring the humidity level under the soundboard and turning on whichever end of the system is needed. It is almost completely invisible - it mounts up underneath the soundboard in the piano. There is a little LED light panel mounted under the keyboard that will flash when the humidifier needs water (typically about once every week-10 days in dry weather, sometimes as little as once a month in humid conditions). It comes with a watering can that fits onto a fill tube on the piano; when the light flashes, you put water in the can, attach the can to the fill tube and dump it in. It's best to use distilled water to extend the life of the humidifier and humidifier pads, along with a pad treatment solution that you can buy from your technician.

It's not as cheap initially as a room humidifier, but there is a study out there that shows that the monthly cost of running & maintaining the system turns out to be much cheaper than a room humidifier. And, you're protecting a big investment in your piano.

I know this sounds like a commercial for the Piano Lifesaver, but I truly believe these systems work well and are definitely worth the money.