How weather affects pianos

[Clyde Hollinger]

Paul,

Most of the pianos I service that have been stable in previous Februarys are
flat this time around, some severely.  Too cold too long, and it makes a
difference.  If I tune them to A-440, they'll be sharp next February, if we have
a normal winter, which explains why I float the pitch (in case someone wants to
have a go-around on that subject again).  I leave them a little flat, but they
won't be flat when the weather returns to normal.  (They won't be in tune,
either.)

Also, I have gotten requests for *extra* tunings from clients who normally have
their pianos tuned in mid to late summer.  The change in the tuning between a
humid season and an exceedingly cold and therefore dry piano climate becomes
more than they can stand.

Regards,
Clyde

"Paul Chick (EarthLink)" wrote:

> Terry, Clyde, Others
>
> Tell us what you see these weather conditions doing to the pianos you just
> tuned.  We experienced temps dropping from the mid 30's to -17 degrees, and
> temps stayed 10 degrees or lower for about 3 weeks. Now they are moving up
> to the low 30's again. Furnaces run almost constantly and the humidity
> plunges.  There has been a rash of sticky keys, tight actions, knocks and
> squeeks, tuning drifts-many needing pitch raises. It's like you haven't
> tuned the piano for years.  You mention temp changes of  20-25 dgrees.  With
> that would come some humidity changes.  I'm curious to know how this affects
> the pianos in your area.
>
> Paul Chick
> Southeastern Minnesota