It’s summer in Richmond and Central Virginia again, and temperatures are inching up. So does the humidity. t’s time to find out how to protect your piano in the summer from excess heat and humidity as well as temperature and humidity fluctuations. It’s also a good idea to find out whether you need a humidity control system for your piano.

You probably know that your piano is very sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. And so it’s important to protect it from those changes as much and possible. read on for some tips on how to keep your piano safe during the hot Central Virginia summer months.

How Humidity Changes Can Affect Your Piano

You may wonder how a change in humidity can affect your piano. As you know, your piano is mostly made out of wood. And wood expands and contracts as the room humidity increases and decreases. As a result, your piano can go out of tune. worse, some of the key wooden parts can crack and may need costly repairs.

How to Protect Your Piano in the Summer

As a Richmond Piano Tuner, I am constantly giving tips to my clients on how to protect their piano in the summer.

The first step is to keep your air conditioning set to a level that you can maintain throughout the summer. This will keep both the temperature and the humidity stable.

Do You Need a Piano Humidity Control System?

You MAY need a piano humidity control system. Then again you may not. It’s important to find out whether such a system is necessary by measuring the humidity levels around your piano. A good hygrometer will allow you to do that.

A hygrometer is fairly inexpensive, and you can get one online or purchase one from your Richmond Piano Tuner during your next piano tuning appointment. And then start using it, both in summer AND in winter.

If your air conditioning system will not keep your room temperature sufficiently stable (as determined by your hygrometer), then it might be appropriate to install a humidity control system in your piano. Ask your local piano expert how to protect your piano in the summer.

Additional Summer Piano Care Tips

In addition to keeping the humidity and temperature around your piano stable, it is also important to keep your piano away from heating and air conditioning vents and from windows. Blasts of cold air and of excessive heat will damage your piano. Not only will it cause your piano to go out of tune faster, but it can crack the soundboard or pin-block. And those are expensive to replace.

So that’s it in a nutshell on how to protect your piano in the summer. Choose the location of your piano wisely – keep it away from ventilation vents and from windows. What if it happens to be in harm’s way? Your Richmond Piano Tuner can advise you whether you need to have it moved to a safer location in your home. And if that’s the case, they can make arrangements for Professional Piano Movers to move it safely.

Just contact me, Blanton Bendall, any weekday (M-F) between 9 AM and 6 PM, preferably by text message, but phone calls work too. I look forward to talking with you!

For additional tips, check out my article on keeping your piano safe during the summer, and also visit and “LIKE” my Facebook page.