With winter coming and I see allot of time being spent out in the playroom, Im thinking about dropping in a fireplace of some-sort.

Its a good size room so space isnt an issue, just the thought of how it will effect any wood in the area. (Drums, guitars, etc...)

The room is part of the house but somewhat disconnected by exterior walls and isnt zoned in the heating. I have heat to the room but without being zoned-in it will get COLD.

A fire place would be a nice addition with it also being a gathering spot just to sit, chat and drink coffee and stair outdoors when the snows all pilled up.

Anyone else have a fireplace in their music area-concerns you have dealt with?

The first thing I thought of was would the heat effect any of the equipment (DAW and other electronic gear)? If not, I think it's a great idea......possibly a first!! :)

An open fireplace usually removes as much heated air as it produces. A closed fireplace...like an insert with doors will not let the room air be used for combustion or pulled up the chimney. 

I think a fireplace would not be any more concerning than any other source of heat. With wood, the humidity will play a bigger role than temperature by itself. 

Having a fireplace in the studio I think would be really unique and a nice place to gather to discuss production and songwriting. 

Yeh the humidity was my concern/thought on it.  Not sure but Id bet a humidifier would almost be required in the room.

digi2ns


Yeh the humidity was my concern/thought on it.  Not sure but Id bet a humidifier would almost be required in the room.

Wouldn't that just increase the humidity in the room? .......or are you just saying you're big time gambler?

Not that I don't agree with Herb but....

Temperature plays a very big role. Equipment like a constant temperature.
The wood instruments like @50% humidity.

So if you can control both the better it is for the woods.

So what if don't control these?

The temperature changes would probably not be fast enough to cause immediate
damage such as cracking the finish on a guitar but enough to cause tuning hassles.

The humidity issues will effect certain instruments more than others- such as an acoustic
guitar and depending on the amounts (low or high humidity) and the time of exposure will determine the results.
The results being the wood swelling or drying up...both are not good effects.

Location of instruments also comes into play. A good example is having an acoustic guitar
hanging on an outside wall...the back maybe against a colder temp. than the face.
Easy to imagine it....a cold backside and a warm fireplace front-side...not a good thing.

So personally I'd first have to decide if I was after the heat or the heat and being able to
visually enjoy the seeing the fire.
If it was for the heat I'd probably go with a free standing stove. It would be easier to control the heat and the humidity with it I believe. Just keep it stoked and a kettle of water
on it.
A fire extinguisher, fire/carbon monoxide alarm, and meters/temp. and humidity.....and with friends like mine maybe a few warning signs and possibly some caution tape or railing lol.

And one of those things that you hang on the wall to tell you the time, temperature and the humidity would be nice. 

If the room is not heated with your current HVAC system..... I would certainly look at installing some sort of small split system  to keep the temps above 60 degrees or so on those cold nights.  Nothing like coming into the studio and the temps in there are 35 degrees. Adding heat to a room at that temp will cause condensation on the cold items in the room. Not good...

As a gigging musician, we had to deal with this often in the winter when we loaded cold gear from the trailer into the clubs to play..... drums and guitars and amps and mixer boards and amps and speakers.... all got a bit of condensation on them till they warmed up.  I would often leave my guitar in it's case, with the case closed until it was time for the sound check. Give it time to warm up a bit.... slowly.

Free Stander I forgot about those.  That would be the ticket Id assume.

Yes the fire draws the moisture out of the room Mesh.

The temp swings would create a huge issue with tunings as well Id think. (Even though thats something I keep an eye on everytime I touch something )

I keep all my guitars on stands out from the walls just for the temp differences. Not a good thing to have changes from one side of the piece to the other.

If you are a gigging musician and going from cold to heated clubs there
is a technique for acclimating your guitar that works better than just leaving it
in the case....it's "fanning".

Open the case and close it. Do this a few times now and then. It helps the
guitar adjust and won't be enough to shock the finish.

I learned this many years ago from a guy that was also thinking all the tiny little
circles in his guitar finish was from temp. changes....and not the hot ashes from
his cigs LOL. I knew because my gold top had a bunch of them...but I didn't burn
the headstock!

Ah, I love Michigan as autumn kicks in! We've had hail up here by Sleeping Bear Dunes, 3 days in a row and are putting our yard stuff away, though I'm sure there'll be some nice Indian Summer days, still to come. I'm plotting out the warmer wall to put my guitar rack on, myself! Keep us posted on your discoveries RE humidity, etc. I suppose keeping a open pot of water on the stove helped, when I had a Franklin stove in the room next to the studio-instruments.
    I used to do an autumn campfire story-teller gig up here and refused to take my Martin, Taylors or Galloup outside. So, I bought a used Yamaha beater acoustic and tried not to notice how cold the back was ( or I was!) compared to the top! It probably isn't that cold in your music room!
Michael