Humidity Control

[PSLOANE@OCVAXA.CC.OBERLIN.EDU]

                       --- ORIGINAL POST ---

Secondly, regarding Dampp-Chasers, several years ago I installed a
number of them in faculty studios and found out that faculty ignored
them and so they were ineffective.  I tried filling them myself, but
this was a very time consuming operation and finding a good time to
get into studios was sometimes a problem.  I have since taken them all
out and rely on the maintenance people to turn on the humidity in the
winter.  This year my humidistat has held at around 50% all winter.
The pianos are staying in tune rather well.  The problem is not
all rooms are the same.  Some have too much moisture pumped in which
causes too much condensation around the windows and has peeled some
plaster.  I'm sure the maintenance people don't like that, but
violinists, bassists, pianists, and I would rather have the humidity.

Richard West
Naive Nebraskan
rwest@unlinfo.unl.edu

                -----  MY REPLY ----

I have the same problem with humidity control here at Oberlin. We have a pretty
good system that is capable of maintaining  a  fairly constant environment for
our pianos. Rooms that have outer walls with northern and or western exposure,
however, take a beating with condensation. I, of course, argue to not lower the
overall humidity level in our buildings to compensate for isolated condensation
problems. Right now we're experimenting with perimeter heating for those rooms
with condensation problems (heat against the walls prevents condensation), and
it seems as though it might be the answer. Hard to tell right now as our winter
has been relatively mild and we need some more frigid days to test our new
approach.

Ken Sloane, Oberlin Conservatory -- sent 3/2/95