Room Temps

[paul-wren]

Wondering what you harpist do when your home has no air conditioning.

[barbara-brundage]

People played the harp for centuries before there was air conditioning. They can stand it. Just keep it out of direct sunlight. If the house is bearable for you, it’s bearable for your harp, too. 🙂

[tony-morosco]

What’s this ‘air conditioning’ you speak of?

Having lived in various places in the past where the temperature could get high and I didn’t have AC I never had a problem. Keep it out of direct sunlight. Big changes in temp between night and day can mean it going further out of tune, but other than that they can take it.

[carl-swanson]

Temperature is not nearly as big an issue as humidity. If the relative humidity is between 40% and 60% then it almost doesn’t matter what the temperature is. High humidity isn’t a problem unless it’s so high that mold is growing on it. Very low humidity is a huge problem.

[Sylvia Clark]

One interesting side point I thought of when I saw this is that harps are now built in air conditioning, so I wonder if they are as seasoned as the older ones not built in AC.

[carl-swanson]

Wood used to build musical instruments for the American market is dried to 5% to 8% moisture content, which makes it as stable as possible. Traditionally, and for centuries, musical instrument wood in Europe was dried to 15% moisture content. That works in a very temperate climate with small changes in relative humidity over the course of the year. But when those instruments are brought to the United States, they usually develop cracks and warp terribly. Now musical instrument wood is dried to the 5% to 8% standard worldwide.

[paul-wren]

Thanks all. I was wondering because I have gone through 6 broken strings in the past two weeks with the heat during the day and cooler temps at night. We have AC, but trying not to use it to save money. But with temps in the upper 90’s this week, it’s back on.

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