RENAISSANCE PIANO SERVICE & RESTORATIONS

The Piano Life Saver System is piano industry's most technologically advanced climate-control system for grand and upright pianos.  It protects your piano from cracks,  gives you more stable tunings and extend the piano's life  Prominent piano makers recommend it (see list below, left). 

Your piano, just like a rare violin, is highly sensitive to changes in humidity.  It swells with moisture when the air is humid and shrinks when the air is dry.  A small change in humidity, for example going from 30% RH to 40% RH, will make your piano go out of tune as the wood swells and pushes against the strings.  Larger swings in humidity will cause worse tuning problems and will, over time, cause problems such as cracks in the soundboard, bridges and finish, loose tuning pins, loose bridge pins, oxidation on the strings and tuning pins, warped keys and a variety of other problems.  

To get a quote or order a Piano Life Saver System for your upright or grand piano, click here.

Dry, Dry Winters 

Here in the Front Range area of Colorado, average indoor humidity in the winter is extremely low, around 15-20% RH --though it gets much drier!  See picture at right, taken on January 23 2009 on a warm, 67 F day, with RH at 5.7%!  For comparison, the average humidity in the Sahara Desert is around 25%! 

Not-So-Dry Summers

Summer humidity in Front Range Colorado is on average around 60% RH, with occasional short spikes up to 100% during thunderstorm season (**note: swamp coolers are popular in this area, and can drive the indoor RH up to 80-90% all summer long).  This causes a range of problems for pianos from Ft. Collins and Greeley, to Boulder and Denver, to Colorado Springs and Pueblo. 

A High-Tech Solution to Humidity Fluctuations!

Fortunately, there is a highly-sophisticated solution for your piano, and it installs right inside your piano, out of sight!  The Piano Life Saver System acts as both humidifier on dry days and de-humidifier on humid days, keeping your piano constantly within the 38-45% RH range that is recommended for pianos.  It's completely silent (no fans like portable or whole-house humidifiers and de-humidifiers) and comes with a 5 year warranty.  In short, it keeps your piano in the same range that museums do for their precious collections. 

If you'd like to read more about the Piano Life Saver System, you can read more below or follow this link to the company's website.  Feel free to call me (303-641-8863) or email if you'd like more info or would like a system installed in your piano. 

Benefits

1. You don't have to buy a separate humidifier (for winter) and a dehumidifier (for summer) to maintain steady humidity inside your home.  The Piano Life Saver System performs both functions, 24/7, year round, in one system that installs out of the way, under the piano.

2. No daily filling or emptying of water tanks, as is necessary with portable humidifiers and dehumidifiers.  The humidifier tank needs filling on average two to four times per month.

3. Smart technology will alert you when the humidifier needs water.

4. Uses much less power than room or whole-house systems.

5. Completely silent, unlike portable units.

6. Smart technology will alert you if the humdifier pads become hardened from minerals in your water so that you can have the pads changed.

7. Keeps your piano in museum-like climate conditions, between 38% and 48% RH all day, all night, year round.

Piano manufacturers recommend it

Here are recommendations for the Piano Life Saver System (also known as Dampp-Chaser) from major piano manufacturers:

Steinway & Sons
"The installation of a Dampp-Chaser Humidity Control System can, in our opinion, provide a degree of climate control for the piano which may not otherwise be attainable."

Bösendorfer
"The usage of Dampp-Chaser humidity control systems effectively compensates climatic changes within the piano's environment and is for that reason beneficial in terms of stability and long term reliability."

Schimmel
"The best way to preserve the value of fine grands and uprights is to automatically regulate the humidity right within the instrument .. with a System from Dampp-Chaser Corporation." - Nikolaus Schimmel

Yamaha
"...Yamaha fully endorses the use of the system with Yamaha pianos in areas that are subject to extremes in humidity. Without such a system, it is very difficult to control the humidity around the piano."

Kawai
"Your Dampp-Chaser humidity control systems are the best and most carefully designed systems we have seen."

Seiler
"The Dampp-Chaser Climate Control System helps retain both the regulation and pitch of top quality instruments, thus stabilizing the tonal character inherent in a particular make or instrument as well as its long-term value." - Ursula Seiler

Baldwin
"Baldwin recommends the Dampp-Chaser system as a valuable means to help insure the longevity and stability of our pianos."

Pearl River Piano
"Pearl River Piano Group USA believes that a properly installed and maintained Dampp-Chaser system can enhance the performance and longevity of our pianos."

Concert halls, universities and churches recommend it.

Institutions know the value of the Piano Life Saver System, which is why so many use it to protect their pianos.  The following list represents only institutions installing the system since 1999:

• 460 colleges and universities  across the continent.
• 322 arts institutions such as concert halls, recording studios, etc.
• 4,700 churches around the country. 

Compared to a Whole-House Humidifier

 A high-quality whole-house humidifier will help reduce the dryness in your home in the winter, but will not deal with the excess humidity in the summer, which in Colorado is typically around 60% RH but can zoom up to 100% for short periods during thunderstorm season, or can sit in the 80-90% range if you have a swamp cooler. 

In contrast, a Piano Life Saver System humidifies when the weather is dry and de-humidifies when the weather is humid.  It is designed to keep your piano at a constant, steady level of humidity.

Research

Not content with the enthusiastic recommendations from piano manufacturers, the Piano Life Saver company has invested in a great deal of research, testing their system under all kinds of adverse conditions.  The data shows conclusively that pianos protected by the Piano Life Saver System don't go as far out of tune from season to season, and last longer with fewer problems. 

 Upright piano system: