SERVICES · PIANO CLIMATE CONTROL
Protect your piano from Arkansas humidity
The Damp-Chaser Piano Life Saver system, the third most important thing you can do for your piano, after tuning and voicing.
What is it?
The Damp-Chaser Climate Control System is installed out of sight inside your upright or grand piano. It consists of four major components (a humidifier, two dehumidifiers, and a humidistat) that work together to hold a stable 46% relative humidity (RH) throughout your piano, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, automatically. It plugs in and runs on about 3 cents of electricity a day.
If the air in your home rises above 46% RH, the humidistat switches on the dehumidifiers until the piano returns to 46%. If it falls below, the humidifier runs until it comes back up. You never touch it.
Why it matters to your piano
Every piano is made of four things: wood, glue, felt, and metal, and all four are significantly affected by moisture. High humidity contributes to sticky wooden keys, swollen felts that cause playability problems, and rust on the 220+ strings. Low humidity dries out and cracks soundboards, action parts, and finished case parts, and causes glue-joint failures throughout the instrument. Pianos are engineered for a stable 44–48% RH environment.
The real reason pianos go out of tune
About 75% of the reason a piano goes out of tune is the swing in relative humidity over the course of a year; playing accounts for only 10–15%. The wooden soundboard, to which all 220 strings are attached, swells in humid summers and contracts in dry winters. That physical movement changes the tension of every string, exactly what a tuner changes when tuning. Humidity swings simply re-tune your piano on their own, badly.
In Arkansas, indoor humidity can fall to 15% in winter and reach 75% in summer. That 60% annual swing explains why piano tuners have an occupation.
With the soundboard held at a constant 46% RH, it stops moving, and the strings stay where the tuner put them. The piano stays in tune noticeably longer, while its wooden parts, keys, glue joints, and strings are protected from cracking, swelling, and rust. The system controls the humidity inside the piano, no matter what the rest of your home is doing.
Installation, warranty, and price
- Installed personally by Ryan in your home, about a 4-hour install, setup, and calibration
- 5-year parts and labor warranty, so you cannot be out any money for five years
- Serviced at each tuning visit, so nearly zero maintenance on your part
- A high-quality system endorsed by numerous piano manufacturers
- Bradshaw Piano Service has installed 200+ systems over the past 25 years, including one still running strong in a university performance stage grand 22 years later
- Ideal for homes, universities, schools, and churches where humidity can't be controlled consistently
$1,195
Installed, set up, and calibrated, with a piano tuning included with purchase
Have questions about climate control?
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