Looking for recommendations of models (console or table models, not whole-house or furnace types) by folks who have cold winters. I went to the library to research Consumer Reports, and noted that there have been no reviews of humidifiers since before 2007, earliest issues they had.

A PianoWorld search yields page upon page of threads on "humidifiers," but there aren't many model suggestions...those that exist aren't very recent models.

The room is 19 1/2 ft. long by 19 ft. wide by 9 1/2 ft. high. A quick calculation site on the internet gave me 371 sq. ft. or 3520 cubic ft.

Thanks!

(Come to think of it, maybe it's time to start a new thread on PianoWorld.)

Progress report, of sorts. I found a table-top model misting humidifier we had lying around, cleaned it up and plugged it in, just to see if such a small unit will do the job. It has raised the humidity by 2% so far, in about 1-1/2 hours. We'll see how far it ultimately raises it. If successful, I may not need a humongous floor unit.

But Joe, Its not cold yet. In winter it is much tougher for a humidifier to keep up. I just got a new one from Sears, a whole room humidifier.

Hi, LJC. Well, that's true. It was down into the 40's the other day, but I didn't have the gizmo hooked up yet. I'm not planning to use this unit permanently; just wanted to see how it fared. By the way, the humidity was measuring 38% this AM and the humidifier brought it up to 50% -- had to open doors to keep it from getting higher.

I need to get a bigger unit for other reasons too -- don't want to fill tanks or clean it every day, plus I want a model with a built-in humidistat. I'm still running the Dampp-Chaser, too.

How do you like your Sears, and what model/capacity is it?

Joe, be careful with that misting humidifier.

When I first asked for help (on PW) it was because I used a misting one and it was the cause of this fine dust that I saw on the piano. And knew that the dust must also be in my lungs. It was from that misting humidifier.

Bad stuff.

So I got the VENTA which is very quiet.

You would need a larger one.

and yes, they need filling as often as the room needs humidity.

Bernard also has one. And he has birds.

My sister now has two.

LL, could you tell me which model of Venta you have? What is its water capacity, how do you fill it? If it's large, can you roll it to the sink? And does it monitor the humidity so it keeps it constant?

I have to say, I'm not noticing any fine dust with the little humidifier so far. I'll watch for it, though. I'm only using it till I get something better. It's keeping 48% today, while it's 41% in the other rooms.

My room is about 371 sq. ft.

I will have to get back to you..am dealing with 2 yr old comcast issues at the moment.

I have a small room.

I have a small venta

Sister bought a larger venta for a room your size and a smaller one for a smaller room.

The white haze took a while to form. But because the piano is black , I suddenly realized that this was this white dust that I saw on the piano after about a month? maybe less. And I questioned it as well as showed a picture on PW.

I was told that it was from the humdifier I was using.

I then asked what to do.

Several including Bernard, showed/told me what they are using. I saw Bernard's when I visted and trust him with his birds.

I feel safe with my Venta.

I bought mine on ebay through someone who had extras from I think, Ace Hardware / True Value (worldwide)

Saved $50 bucks.

Hi Joe, I just bought the biggest one Sears has. Its easy to fill you just bring the tank over to the sink. Most of the time it can go days but in the dead of winter its everyday during cold snaps. It has a hygrometer built into it with a hydrostat.

LJC, I used to have one of the smaller Kenmore models...evaporative, with a fiber belt that moved on plastic geared pulleys, in and out of the water. It was pretty ineffective, and hard to clean (you had to undo 4 screws to remove the whole mechanism to clean out the tank) but that was 10-15 years ago. I assume technology has marched on!

Yeah, Technology has moved on, the new ones are easy to clean and fill and look nothing like the one you describe or the last one I owned for that matter.

Does this discussion mean that you do not have a dampp chaser mounted under your Mason & Hamlin? For a piano that size I think you might even require two humidifier units and at least three heating rods.

Mine is not as big as yours. I have only one dampp chaser humidifier for it. I also use one "Air-O-Swiss" humidifier I bought at Blood Bath and Beyond. Definitely source one that has a heating mechanism as the cold mist ones are frowned upon because they bring a fungus among us.

Hi, Grotriman. Yes, there's a Dampp-Chaser. It's been there since I bought the piano; I didn't dare leave it without at least SOME protection. I guess I'll keep using it, even with a room humidifier.

My thinking is, now that I am able to seal off that room with new double doors, I can now optimize the climate control with a humidifier (and for the summer, air conditioner or dehumidifier). The DC system never did much for the action or pinblock, but I'm sure it helps the soundboard.

Does your Air-O-Swiss have a humidistat that cycles the unit on and off to maintain a certain humidity level? That's important to me.

Yes - it does have a humidistat control.

BTW - perhaps the most important upgrade to my piano(s) have been the use of the "undergarment" which is acoustically transparent speaker cloth that prevents air from circulating underneath the piano. Amplifies the effectiveness of a dampp chaser by 10X I would say. A pain to put on (you have to spend an hour on your back and be not afraid to staple gun or thumb tack the inside of the rim of your piano).

A concert grand like yours needs two humidifiers and at least three if not four heating rods - just so you know.

Then - my piano up in RI I put a quilted fitted cover on so that when windows are opened the piano remains unaffected. This greatly slows down the consumption of water from the system too.

i bought the air o swiss from BBB and it sucked--the hygrometer was always off and it kept running even when it had gone over the programmed humidity level.

i took it back and got the venta cool/warm mist humidifier (you can choose one or the other)--it has a filter that prevents the dust. it's MUCH less expensive than the venta airwasher and it has a dial hygrometer that actually WORKS (rarer than hen's teeth). it's a much more solid unit than the air o swiss also.

since i got mine, it has kept the humidity at a solid 45 percent simply by finding the sweet spot on the hygrometer dial and leaving it there. my room is 19 by 12 but open to three other rooms, and it gets the humidity on target in minutes, so i think it will be plenty big enough for your space.

get a separate hygrometer to keep next to the piano and adjust the humidifier to that reading.

we've had single-digit weather since i got the venta (also at BBB) and it handled it just fine. very efficient also as it seems to not run out of water very often. i paid $79 with the 20% off coupon you can get online.

Thank you all for your suggestions. This is the kind of direct experience that I need to hear about.

Grotriman, I have heard about the undercovers, but I think I read on PW that they do not work on the Mason & Hamlins because of the tension resonator. I don't know if the T.R. gets in the way, or if the moisture buildup tends to rust the T.R., but it's not recommended. I do have the recommended number of rods, even an extra water tank to reduce filling if I'm away for a period of time.

I suppose I will keep the D-C going even with a room humidifier. My tech said the room unit will just make the D-C's job easier. But if I have an accurate hygrometer for the room unit, I don't see why I need the D-C, frankly.

Pique', your experience with air-o-swiss jibes with some other negative reviews I've seen online, and your happiness with Venta (as well as lilylady's and bernard's) is pointing me in that direction. Thank you!

If your Venta is controlling adjoining rooms as well, maybe I don't even need to close the piano room doors.

I have two hygrometers: one a classy German-made brass one by Lufft (was pretty expensive when bought years ago) and a dinky digital. I have to recalibrate the Lufft every so often with wet toweling, but it still works. Right now, the two units are within a degree of each other.