One of the considerations all our customers need to take into account when buying a piano is where the piano will be placed in its new home. Most people are able to eliminate putting the piano too close to a window, radiator or in an area where there will be high humidity. It is much better for all the moving and wooden parts that go into a piano if it is kept at a stable temperature. This is because extremes of hot and cold cause the wood to expand and contract and so over time undermine the stability of the tuning, and the overall build integrity of the piano. Two popular interior design trends of recent years have added to the risks posed to pianos from temperature fluctuations; wood burning stoves and underfloor heating. With wood burning stoves the solution is common sense and similar to the approach used for radiators and patio doors, don’t place the piano too near the wood burner! Underfloor heating raises a new set of issues because the source of the heat is the floor thus rendering the warm air rising unavoidable. The pianos most at risk from this are uprights, because many of the important components in an upright piano are closer to the floor, the strings and soundboard are not very many centimetres from the ground. Compare this to most grand pianos where the soundboard is a good 60cm away from the floor and you can see why upright pianos in particular require protection against under floor heating.
Fortunately there is a solution to this situation and that is to be found in the form of a high specification piano carpet. As well as providing a heat shield these carpets help to also protect the floor by reducing the need for castor cups. Piano carpets are also an asset to the acoustics of a room with a piano because they reduce the vibrations travelling across the floor thus creating a more pleasant playing (and listening experience). Piano carpets from the piano shop bath are also very damp resistant, fire proof, easy to install, suitable for most floor surfaces and made to measure, they are available in black or beige. If you need advice on how to protect your piano from under floor heating or would like to order one of our made to measure piano carpets call us on 01225 427961.