[CAUT] Temperature/Humidity range

[Cy Shuster]

Here's how museums do it for furniture:

http://www.hfmgv.org/explore/artifacts/furniture.asp

"The recommended temperature and humidity levels for the storage and display 
of furniture are as follows:

      Winter Temperature 70 degrees F
        Relative humidity 35%-45%
      Summer Temperature 70-75 degrees F
        Relative humidity 55%-65%"


I invite people to think of the difference between their house and their 
(unheated) garage, and instead of a piano (which people think of as a box, 
protected somehow) to think of another wooden instrument of equal value, 
outside of its case.

In what temperature range would you leave a new, $20,000 violin, not in a 
case, on your workbench in your garage?  How long do you think it would 
last, compared to storing it in your house, in your own comfort zone of 
temperature and humidity?  If it lasts 20 years in your house, that's $1000 
a year replacement cost.  If it only lasts 10 years in your garage, that's 
$2000 a year: double the expense!

Now imagine that you turn on a space heater in your garage every day for 
concerts, and turn it off at night -- and also for weeks at a time during 
breaks.  Add in the extra minimum HVAC air exchange requirements for 
institutions.  Stress that pianos don't have cases: make sure they 
understand that the soundboard is exposed on the bottom, even with the lid 
closed.

--Cy Shuster--
Boston, MA
N. Bennet Street School
Class of '06
www.nbss.org