In a message dated 98-11-02 12:58:09 EST, Bunch wrote:
 
<< soundboard cracks tend to proliferate no matter how carefully they're
stuffed
 >shut every year.
 >
 Well, that is very interesting, and not what I would have expected.  I
 wonder why?
 
Perhaps the absence of hissing radiators and hot drafts gives the owner of
this particular instrument a false sense of security, and he neglects proper
humidification.
 
 >You are, I believe, at around
 >8000 ft. altitude, so when you're heating, you're really heating.
 
 [snip]  But I wonder what
 altitude has to do with heating requirements. >>
 
Temperature goes down one degree fahrenheit for every 300 feet of increased
altitude.  I learned that in sixth grade, in a class on the history of Texas.
Go figure.
 
Anyway, the folks in Santa Fe are a few thousand feet lower than you, and
consequently about 10 degrees warmer (even though only forty miles away) in
most circumstances.  Those folks in Santa Fe have heating systems that cycle
off more than yours does.  It's the introduction of heated air (or just plain
heat INTO air) that sucks the moisture out of furniture, sinuses, etc.
 
 <<Nothing like real data!
 >>
 
Don't forget your raincoat, Jim!
 
Tyre,
Dunedin