Even though piano tuners would have a reason to tell people to put pianos on exterior walls in an effort to drum up more business, you would have to assume they are dishonest people. Why not find a few local piano shops, gauge their opinions, and try speaking to someone in the music department at the local college?

My mother always kept hers on interior wall mainly because THEY told her too!
Maybe do like people that keep their cabinet doors open with the faucet dripping, you could open the piano lid and hit the keys every so often.........

As a music teacher, I think you should do everything you can to protect your instruments. Keeping your piano away from temperature and humidity/moisture changes will prolong the intonation and longevity of your instrument. When you're paying hundreds to thousands of dollars on a piano, it really makes a difference.

It stands to reason that temperature differences *can* cause damage. . .We all know what harsh, cold winters can do to crack pavement, what with expanding and contracting and stuff. . . In my experience, though, variations in humidity in your home are what actually do the damage. (e.g. try not to put the piano near a steamy kitchen or bathroom; if you're concerned, you could keep the room it's in realatively closed off and humidify during your dry season, and dehumidify during your wet season)

I've kept pianos on interior and exterior walls, and not noticed much of a difference. However, these were in modern constructions--I'd be a little cautious, anyway, with 1930s insulation. I would think it *probably* isn't going to be a big deal, but you could feel the wall where you want to put it from time to time. I would say as long as the wall stays pretty much room temperature to the touch then your piano won't really mind the difference. I think the main problem with keeping a piano on an exterior wall is if there is a drafty window there exposing the piano to changes in humidity from the outdoors. :)

It generally doesn't matter in newer homes because they are better insulated. Since you've already said your home is older and drafty, I would keep the piano on an interior wall if I were you!

When we bought our 1930 house, we had an interior wall extended by 9 inches so we could move our upright piano into the house. Seriously, we had no interior wall long enough for the piano.

How expensive is it?? If it's super expensive, then yes, preserve it. If it's a yamaha upright or something that maybe you won't have a lifetime, then just do it where it's convenient. It's the price we pay to live in small apartments or spaces.

I live in Asia, and here people are adamant on this issue. I have seen piano delivery men bring in handheld digital moisture readers before they make the delivery to check if the home is unsuitable. They highly recommend dehumidifiers, air conditioning, and room humidity sensors. Our piano store showed us the fluctuations in humidity just by walking in different rooms. The interior wall should be away from windows and of course less susceptible to temperature and moisture swings. Also, an interior wall is often load bearing and more solid, so the thinking is that the piano may be less disturbing to others. In this part of the world, humidity and heat are a big concern, but maybe that's not true not where you are.

Also keep it out of direct sunlight and away from the furnace/AC registers. These may also result in temperature extremes.

Why would you assume that all tuners were scam artists looking to lie to you to drum up business. Why wouldn't you instead assume that if tuners are saying it's ok, they might, oh, I don't know, be tuners who know what they're talking about?

Funny that you asked because we just had this conversation and recently moved our piano to an exterior wall. We were tired of having limited ways we could arrange our livingroom and really wanted to see what the piano looked like on a different wall, even though it's not an interior. And we LOVE the new arrangement! Our house is old, built in the 40's...the piano is beautiful and was given to us as a gift and my son is the only one who plays so we thought it wasn't a huge deal to move it. Hope that helps.

I'd be less concerned with the tuning and more concerned with the life of the instrument. To start with, a piano is made out of wood. Fluctuations in temperature and humidity cause wood parts to swell and shrink, which will affect tuning, joints, and can cause the soundboard to crack. That said, if your home was new construction with well insulated walls, I’d say it would be less of a problem (but still something to be aware of). However, a house built in the 1930’s just doesn’t have that level of insulation. My house was built in 1915. If I touch my hand to an exterior wall, it feels cold. Your instrument will be up against this – very cold on the back (where the sound board on an upright is) and getting the heat from the house. At the very least, you should keep it as far from heating/cooling vents and windows as possible.

Oh dear. I had never heard this rule before! I grew up with our piano always sitting against an exterior wall. My parents owned a big, 100+ year old farm house in rural Ontario. We would save money by keeping most of the house quite cool in the winter and heating on the kitchen with a woodstove, so I'm sure our piano was exposed to plenty of temperature fluctuations. Granted, it wasn't a piano my parents spent a lot of money on; it too was nearly 100 years old but it played beautifully and had amazing sound. They got it tuned every couple years. A while back we had the piano assessed ('worthless' in its current condition, but worth it to put some money into it to restore it). We didn't hear anything from the piano restoration company about damage caused to it by its life against an exterior wall.

Regular tunings are important anyway, especially if you're playing on a regular basis so really...? I wouldn't worry too much about the rule.

I grew up in an early 1940s house with a piano against an outside wall, in the living room next to the kitchen. (shrugs) It seemed to do all right. It wasn't an ultra-precious professional musician's piano, just a nice piano.

My advice is that not shoving it up right against the wall, but keeping it 6 or 8 inches out would make a huge difference. And then, just watch the humidity to some extent, and perhaps additionally give it some distance from a very drafty window. And enjoy it!

My parent always had the piano on an exterior wall growning up. It didnt seem to make much difference.

Heavens. I have a piano that has sat on an exterior wall for 35 years or so. It is currently sitting in front of a massive south-facing window, which might be the end of it. BUT IT IS 35 YEARS OLD ALREADY!!!! It needs a tuning, to be sure, but it still works just fine.

Weigh up your options:

To have a piano, or not.
To place it against the wall or floating in the middle of the room
To worry about it's longevity, or enjoy playing it.

Write a list of what you want/need, and you'll come up with the answer.

A piano is a big investment. Especially if you have a home that is drafty or not well-insulated, placing it on an exterior wall is a bad idea. And extra-especially if it's right in front of a baseboard heater! It's not even about the tuning, though that may be affected also. Pianos are made of wood, and changes in humidity and temperature can cause warping and cracking. If your sound board cracks, the instrument is pretty much done for.

Our home was built in 1910 and we have ours on an exterior wall. It helps if you keep it out from the wall, even 6 " or so. Honestly, we have humid summers, and I think that does more of a number on our tuning than cold walls in the winter. Unless your home is kept at the same temperature/humidity year round, you are going to be shelling out for piano tuning once or twice a year. (we pay $75-100). At some point you have to balance the cost of piano tuning against the cost keeping your house cool in winter and warm in summer.

I grew up in an old home (renovated early 1900's farmhouse), so while the insulation had been improved it wasn't entirely modern either. The only place for a piano was on an exterior wall. We ended up purchasing an upright style digital Yamaha Clavinova piano as we felt there the exterior wall would be a problem in our home. Depending on your level of playing, price range, etc, it might be worth looking into digital options as they won't be affected by moisture and drafts on an exterior wall. There are some very nice digital pianos now that look good and, to the amateur player, feel like a true piano.

Temperature and humidity can affect the sound, but it is only a concern for concert-level performance. The surrounding furnishing of your home probably have more effects on sound quality than its placement location.

For home use, it is more important to find a spot that is comfortable for the player. Think about it like buying a car. An upright is like a family sedan, it serves as a working horse.There is no point of giving it showroom treatment that would be an inconvenience.

Lastly, if you can't tell the difference between mp3 and quality CD recordings, the exterier/interior wall probably doesn't matter.

When we purchased our piano we knew it would be living in a poorly insulated cabin. So we also purchased an electrical gadget called a 'damp chaser' that sits inside the piano. It does not really heat anything, just drives off moisture. After 20 years of quite varied environments the piano is fine. It does make a good room divider.

Serious musicians will do anything to protect their instruments.
For a recreational player, I don't think it matters that much because they probably can't tell the minor differences in sound.
If you have a 35-year-old, no-name, upright piano, it probably doesn't matter to put it on an external wall.
When you only play no more than 5 hours a week, I think the functionality of your space should come first.
That said, if I can get my hands on a Steiner & Sons, I'll probably built a fortress around it.

It's Steinway & Sons, of course....

In my experience, (20 years playing on an 80 year old Wurlitzer) it is humidity that really does damage. I have never found temperature to be so much an issue, though in full disclosure I have always lived in the southwestern US which is not really known for being cold. If you are in a humid part of the world, think about investing in a really good dehumidifying device.

"If it's a yamaha upright or something that maybe you won't have a lifetime, then just do it where it's convenient." What? Yamaha makes WONDERFUL pianos.

All this, well if you don't care about your piano because it's old is nonsense.... old pianos will last forever if they are played regularly and taken care of. A well made old piano can have a sound that is equivalent or better than a brand new 80,000 dollar piano.

I have an old 1926 upright piano that I have had in my family since I was a child( my parents got it for free for us to have lessons) and has been played for the past 25 years. It has lived on both interior and exterior walls in old and new houses. It currently lives in my brooklyn apartment. If your house is older, I would recommend doing your best to put it on an interior wall.

Drafty isn't so bad, the two things that will destroy a piano's soundboard (the part that makes each piano unique and makes the sound resonate) are lack of playing and major humidity/ heat fluctuations. Think about how your doors swell and shrink, or floor boards or the like, the same is true for your piano. If the fluctuations are too drastic, then you can crack your soundboard, thus, damaging your piano....or, the fluctuations cause the piano to become out of tune... so, I'd say this, interior or exterior wall, put it in a place where you feel it has the most consistent temperature and moisture level, and invest in a dehumidifier. It's the fluctuation that will really kill an instrument, so if it's on perhaps a south facing wall, that is protected from the wind by hedges, better than than a north facing wall unprotected, etc....

Also, listen to your instrument, it will tell you if it is incredibly unhappy. If it needs tuning more than every six months, then you may need to move it to another spot. Also, trust your local piano tuner. The large majority of them are hardcore musicians who tune pianos as a way to have a steady income. They love music, and instruments, and will give you an honest answer about how happy or unhappy your instrument is.

Whichever wall you choose, consistency is key!

I'd only heard someone mention the interior wall "rule" recently. I thought it was weird, since older homes were built with "piano windows" specifically for an upright piano to sit under.
Personally, I think that its location should be such that you are happy living with it. If the piano is more of an obstacle than an enhancement to your life, that's a problem.

Thank you, Bee for Brian, I was thinking the same thing. Yamaha makes outstanding pianos, and you can easily pay $9-10k for one of their uprights.

The fluctuations in humidity thing is definitely a concern. My piano went through several changes in climate -- from Nebraska to Colorado to Missouri. That has been harder on it than any other element. It was in a window with a draft in Colorado and held its tune for years (with regular tuning) but has had to have more intensive work as it adjusted to new climates.

Another consideration about the interior wall consideration is if you share walls with neighbors. From personal experience, neighbors appreciate the placement of your piano on non-adjoining walls. :-)

I've played piano for about 17 years now, and I would say to try as hard as you can to put the piano on an inside wall. Other posters are talking about humidity and heat/cold fluctuations, and, typically, those things are more likely near a window. The most consistent temperatures are easiest to maintain near the interior walls - this has always been my experience.
Almost all of my piano teachers kept their pianos on interior walls as well.
If you aren't overly concerned with the sound of the piano and with the life of the piano, then I would say to put it wherever you want. If you are, put it on an interior wall.
If you own any of the following: Steinway, Bechstein, Schimmel, Yamaha, Kawai, Fazioli, Bosendorfer, please put them on interior walls. Especially if you want to sell it in the future - or pass it down to children.

The only place we had was an outside wall so my husband made a small bump in wall right behind the piano. He built a frame put in heavy duty insulation and then drywall.

My experience with (independent) piano tuners is that they're generally honest, genuinely want to take care of instruments, and love music. Find a local one you can trust (via personal recommendation, Angie's List, etc.), and ask.

As others have said, if you have a super-expensive piano, it's worth being extra careful.

The value of used pianos is plummeting - older piano owners are dying off and younger people seldom buy them anymore. Why don't you look into purchasing (or rescuing - many pianos are just being dumped) a good used piano? You probably won't pay a lot of money for it, and you won't have to worry so much about having a "perfect" location for it in your home.

If you're really concerned, try having the insulation in that wall upgraded. That should negate most of the negatives associated with the piano being up against an outside wall (and could help with your utility bills, too).

I live in a 1910-era house in Michigan, my piano is on an exterior wall, and it's fine. I get my piano tuned every other year, it's a Story & Clark, so nothing overly precious. Now I wouldn't put a piano near a baseboard heater, radiator,or an egregiously drafty window, but I think that generally it shouldn't matter whether it's on an interior or exterior wall. Especially if you air condition in the summer, your home is a relatively controlled microcosm. That said, my piano tuner did recommend letting my piano acclimate to my house for 3 or 4 months before getting it tuned for the first time, and always get it tuned at the same time of year, whether it's every year, or every other year.
If you have a Steinway, well, maybe my advice is too casual. But for a run-of-the-mill piano played by the average recreational player or student, don't worry about it. Place it where it makes sense in your space.

I've heard you need an interior wall, too. But I always figured it allows the piano to use the wall space as a kind of "sound box" for better quality sound. In the way that a grand has better sound than an upright. Exterior walls, being insulated, wouldn't allow for better sound. Maybe that is why people tune up pianos on exterior walls more often. I am not a musician in any way, and I'm tone deaf but from a sort of science point of view, it makes more sense to use an interior wall. And for all the other reasons listed, too.

While piano tuners may profit from your piano being out of tune, they are also qualified experts on piano tuning, where most people here are not. Most of them probably will not profit by telling Some Guy On The Internet that it isn't a big deal, and most of them probably also take pride in their work/are decent folks. They probably aren't used car salesmen-types or anything, so since they don't have a huge motivation to lie about this, I would take them at their word.

Also, it is hard for me to imagine that the presumably-minute variations in temperature/moisture/etc. on an interior vs. exterior wall will cause shifts big enough for an amateur to be concerned with. I am guessing, by the fact that you don't already have a piano, that you are not a concert pianist or anything. So, I think you'll probably be good, as long as you're not putting it in front of a sliding glass door or baseboard heater or anything else that will go through noticeable, wild shifts.