I'm after some advice on the placement of this humidifier, bought under my teacher's recommendation.

It's for a W.Hoffmann T186 grand.

The official instructions suggest putting it above the strings. Not only would this look ugly when the lid is up, it would necessitate screwing into the metal plate.

My teacher (who also has a grand) has hers under the keyboard, placed back where the underneath of the keyboard meets the main body of the piano. Obviously it's far less obvious and intrusive here, but would it have much beneficial effect further away from the soundboard and the strings? She seems to think it does, and her opinion holds weight as far as I'm concerned, but I thought I'd ask a few other people.

I have never seen nor heard of this product. I assume water is fed to this "distribution rod". What bothers me a bit is there appears to be no way of regulating the humidification.

Can you help me understand this product better?

If the answer is that there is no way to regulate humidity I suggest you go another route.

The best way to control RH is to control the environment. If you have the piano in a space that is controllable, why not just control the room with a portable unit?

The 40+ year old August-Foerster vertical piano in my parental home has such a humidifier.

I remember it has to be put in a plastic sleeve to suck up the water.

The rod is supposed to be soaked in a bath (and then outwardly dried) once a month or so. I believe it is supposed to even out low or high humidity. I couldn't go further into the details of the how or why, to be honest, but I've copied the instructions into a Word file and attached them to this post, if that helps.

This looks like a (big) version of what string instrument players put in their cases or even in the f holes. The problem is that on the piano there is no case in which to create a micro climate. I second the advice to control the humidity in the room even if it's with a $20 steam unit and a $20 hygrometer to keep an eye on levels.

Kurt

How easy is properly controlling the room's humidity though, with double doors near the piano and a door at the other end of the room (plus kids and dogs in the house)?

I was hoping that this might be a sufficient solution, if less efficacious than the going the whole hog. I did try (and fail) to find some reviews of the device before buying it, but in the end went with my teacher's recommendation. She uses it with her Bechstein (under the keyboard) and is happy with it.

I would second Rich's view that it is essential that the product must have an automatic means of switching on when necessary and off when the humidity is up to the required level.

Perhaps you should investigate installing a "Dampp Chaser" or "Piano Life Saver".

Ok, I am sure this doesn't answer your question... However, you've just resolved our month long problem of figuring out a great science project for my kid! I think we'll make our own hygrometer! I read the thread and the proverbial "light bulb" went off! Thanks!

Passive evaporators automatically "slow down" as the rh of the surrounding area rises. Since there is less differential in RH, evaporation slows. They are not nearly as "aggresive" in pumping moisture into a space as steamers and ultrasonics. Since the hound's space is open it's really doubtful that this humidifier would massively saturate the air. In fact I doubt its ability to actually stabilize the RH of the space at all. That's why I suggested keeping an eye on things with one or two hygrometers. One near the piano and one further away to see if he/she is indeed creating a micro-climate with the humidifier under the piano. I think it was Lord Kelvin who said, "Until you can measure something, you can't understand it."

Kurt

I'd recommend against screwing anything into the plate, and it's generally not wise to have liquid above the soundboard or strings. Air circulates pretty well in most rooms; imagine how far away you can smell a cigarette.

A reasonable first step for people worried about humidity is to spend about $30 on a cool-mist room humidifier (the warm ones need more frequent cleaning), and about $30 on a hygrometer to track the results. You're more likely to add water regularly to a room humidifier. No need to have it blow right on the piano, either.

Here in NM in the winter, people routinely use up more than a gallon of water a month in room humidifiers. How much can one of these things hold?

--Cy--

This is the best solution I have found:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605...=30-132069962-2

Two of them, one on each level, actually keep my ENTIRE two level, 2500 sq ft home at 40% to 50% RH throughout the North East winter with no problem. I fill the one on the first floor twice per day

Looks a lot like the ones I use but mine is branded essick. I use one next to my piano to keep it at 40. Might need a second one during the worst part of Winter if I dont want to be filling it up too often but they are big and white so not very easy to blend with the decor lol

Good suggestion.
Another brand (the one I use): Venta.

My Yamaha C2 got tuned today for the first time since it's in my appartment, and the piano tuner told me he could tell I was humidifying the room; otherwise the piano would have been out of tune differently. He said between 40% and 60% relative humidity is best for the piano.

When I let outside air in, in winter the RH can quickly sink below 35%. That's when I turn on the Venta; and the RH relatively quickly goes above 40% again.