grand piano, temperature swings in the church

[debmurray]

Hello-
My question is this- I belong to an musical organization that owns a Steinway 9' grand.  We keep it in a church that has huge temperature fluctuations.  Our technician says it's killing the instrument.  We have a dampp-chaser on it, but apparently it's not enough.  It's too expensive to keep the church heated 24/7 just for the piano's sake. We have a cover on it, but are looking at a wool floor length one to seal in the heat.  ANY SUGGESTIONS???  Last year, we spent over $9000 in restorations, mostly due to temperature swings.  HELP!  What do other churches do?  We might have to move it out of the church, but we really don't want to. Churches need pianos.  Musicians need pianos. HELP HELP!
God Bless my piano friends on this site!

[themidiroom]

We have the same problem although our piano is not as valuable.  If a church is going to house a grand piano, then maintaining the temp and humidity should be part of the cost of doing "business"

[sjonathan02]

Buy a keyboard? 

[under13]

  If a church is going to house a grand piano, then maintaining the temp and humidity should be part of the cost of doing "business"

Buy a keyboard? 

Exactly. When you buy something like that, it cost a lot to maintain.

[themidiroom]

Exactly. When you buy something like that, it cost a lot to maintain.

That's why I don't have a piano at the house.

[under13]

That's why I don't have a piano at the house.

Do you have your Hammond serviced regularly, or do you do it yourself?

[themidiroom]

Do you have your Hammond serviced regularly, or do you do it yourself?

I do it myself.

[b3wannab]

Hello-
My question is this- I belong to an musical organization that owns a Steinway 9' grand.  We keep it in a church that has huge temperature fluctuations.  Our technician says it's killing the instrument.  We have a dampp-chaser on it, but apparently it's not enough.  It's too expensive to keep the church heated 24/7 just for the piano's sake. We have a cover on it, but are looking at a wool floor length one to seal in the heat.  ANY SUGGESTIONS???  Last year, we spent over $9000 in restorations, mostly due to temperature swings.  HELP!  What do other churches do?  We might have to move it out of the church, but we really don't want to. Churches need pianos.  Musicians need pianos. HELP HELP!
God Bless my piano friends on this site!

Exactly how old is this piano?  How often is it tuned per year? $9K for a year's worth of maintanence and upkeep sounds extreme. (Does it rain on the inside of the piano?!) 

Extreme temp. changes are harder on the piano, but a good quality piano that has a well-seasoned sound board (such as a Steinway) should not be susceptible to large amounts of damage from the temp and humidity changes.  The good quality pianos got their reputation because of their reliability over the years. 

Obviously I can't speak knowledgably about your situation based on an online post, but it sounds like your tech. has a boat payment that he needs to make.