The Importance of Piano Humidity Control

CLEVELAND - March 20, 2019 - PRLog -- Local Business Protects Heirloom Pianos

CAS DataLoggers provided the piano humidity control solution to Jim and Mary Kelly of Fur Elise Piano (http://www.furelisepiano.com/) Service in Pawleys Island, SC. Fur Elise provides tuning, repair, and action regulation for all makes and models of pianos including heirloom Steinway, Knabe, Baldwin, and Mason & Hamlin grand pianos. Jim has a Certificate in Piano Technology from North Bennet Street School in Boston, advanced training on Yamaha, Petrof, Nordiska pianos, and polyester finish repair training.

Installation

While searching for a monitoring device, Jim heard about CAS DataLoggers online. "I started getting requests from people who needed to see their piano's condition while they were gone, so I decided to try using data loggers as an experiment. I always bring a gauge with me to monitor conditions while I'm there, but I wanted to show them the whole picture, not just a snapshot." He didn't want a high-cost system for his business, so he requested a portable solution that had good accuracy, memory and software for data presentation.

CAS DataLoggers provided Fur Elise with 2 EasyLog LCD Temperature/Humidity Data Loggers (https://www.dataloggerinc.com/product/el-usb-2-lcd-usb-te...) to match his unique application's needs of piano humidity control. The EasyLog's high contrast LCD display shows current temperature and humidity levels with its two-and-a-half-digit display. Using its internal sensor, this standalone datalogger records and stores over 16,000 temperature and humidity readings within a -35° to +80°C (-31° to +176°F) and 0-100% RH measurement range.

Usage

Their built-in USB interface makes it easy to connect to a PC for quick setup and to download all the data. Buttons on the device cycle between the current, maximum and minimum stored temperatures. Each data logger gives its status indication at all times via bright red, green and orange LEDs and comes with a replaceable internal lithium battery to power logging for up to a year. Additionally, the loggers have good protection against dust and moisture, rated to an IP67 standard.

Generally, a high of 50% RH is considered safe for pianos, and the logger alarms reflect this. "I usually set my alarms a little higher…in reality, up to 55% isn't a problem, but I want to alarm anything above that." Likewise, temperatures over 80°F are cause for concern, so the high alarm limits simultaneously watch for these conditions and show them with a red LED.

Software

The free EasyLog downloadable software allows users to set their own preferences which include naming the loggers, recording in Celsius or Fahrenheit, setting sampling rates and high/low alarms.

Easy to install and use, the control software runs under Windows 10, 8, 7, 2000, XP, and Vista. Users can also set immediate/delayed/push-to-start logging and then graph, print and export data to other applications for the quick organization.

Jim explains, "The software is great and the help guide explains the programming and alarm settings–everything you'd need. The graphs show all types of great information. In one case I'm handling, it's obvious that they have a huge year-round high humidity issue. Even in the winter, the humidity is in the high 40's, so the keys are hanging up. Well, now they don't have to just take my word for it! The data is easy to view and show people what I've been talking about. The graphs make my case for me every time."

Benefits

With its low cost and lightweight, EasyLog was ideal for this environmental monitoring application. Jim got the data loggers and software for about $200, and that also included our free technical support. The combination of their low price and low maintenance was a good fit for his business—now even these valuable pianos are continually monitored by our inexpensive dataloggers.

"CAS DataLoggers has helped me assemble accurate data that is crucial in convincing my customers that they need to take better care of their pianos. My loggers show everything that's going on in a home or building when I produce the printouts. For example, with many of my clients, I've got a really good picture of their conditions last winter, and now I can record and display data to pinpoint the real risk to these instruments. If I see data I can't explain, I show the owner–maybe their furnace was out or their system was installed improperly. This saves us both a lot of time and money. I am trying to get another client to upgrade an older piano de-humidification system on her Steinway L 5'11" grand formerly owned by a concert pianist in Southern California's dry humidity. To help make my case I'll use my dataloggers to have her see for herself what is going on—that's the real advantage of using them."

Jim is now considering a wireless system for the future, and for this setup CAS DataLoggers would provide T&D Wireless Temperature and Humidity Data Loggers and a T&D Wireless Base Station to automatically collect and send the environmental data. "The loggers are working great and I intend to purchase additional equipment. I have several clients who live about 50 miles away from my home, so I would like to be able to do some remote monitoring of the conditions surrounding the instruments. That way I could be instantly aware of a high humidity situation when a piano is unattended. There's an island home where the power occasionally goes out; that's the first place I would use a wireless data logger. Depending on the results of data logging we may recommend special piano humidity control equipment, woolen string covers, fabric undercovers, or even moving the piano. The technology gives us options."

For more information on EasyLog LCD Temperature/Humidity Data Loggers (https://www.dataloggerinc.com/product/el-usb-2-lcd-usb-temperature-humidity-data-logger/), piano humidity control or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS DataLogger Application Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or request more information (https://www.dataloggerinc.com/need-more-information/).