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It isn't really that temp/RH changes cause damage to a piano, as much as they make tunings more frequent. Very old pianos (pre 1940s) were very sensitive to low humidity. Now the sounding board is sealed, so less likely to crack with reasonable care. Where you live, high humidity is more likely a problem. They sell heaters for pianos. It's a bar that goes along the bottom of the sounding board to keep condensation off (or underneath, in a grand piano).

Keep the piano away from windows, exterior walls, drafts. Leaving the thermostat on 55 degrees when you go on vacation isn't going to cause any damage, as long as you keep a heater bar in the piano. But it will need a re-tune when you get back.

Originally Posted by gregory_d

I guess humidity harms more than dryness. Still I'd ask an expert piano person about the temperatures. I'm a bit skeptical people have been able to keep pianos at 70F for the last 400 years. I'd speculate changes in temperature will do as much damage. It might be a tradeoff between oil bill and returning costs.
Personally I spent the first year or two watching and measuring vulnerable crawl spaces in my house, and now set it to 56F when not up and about. I leave it that way if I'm away.
My heating bill would probably double if I left it at 70F.

Need to add, that only with big temperature swings, condensation is an issue.
I've seen water droplets on the tuning pins and plate when a piano is in a warm, moderately humid room and then the temperature drops overnight.

A small update, from what I found. For piano, about 50 degrees is fine. This is actually beneficial, because lower heat levels in the winter will keep the humidity higher (source):

40-50% (humidity) is the ideal range. Higher than that and it's uncomfortable for most humans (at least this one), doors/windows/drawers swell and stick, and condensation/mold problems start to occur.

The key for maintaining good piano health, stable tunings, pleasant tone, and a consistent action is to control the RH level in the piano room. As you know, large swings are not good. A daily RH swing on the order of +/- 3 to 4% is OK; 5% or more is excessive (in my opinion). The treble in some pianos is quite sensitive to RH swings. I've got one or two notes on my piano whose tuning is affected by a RH increase/decrease of as little as 2% from the last tuning. (It's amazing what you notice once you become accustomed to hearing a piano in consistently good tune.)

Also, about your appliances. Most consumer electronics have a non-operating temperature that looks something like this - temperature: −4° to 113° F and RH: 10~90% so they'd be probably OK if you are going to keep the thermostat to 55-60 degrees.

As I said previously, 70F is an overkill if you're not at home, so when we are on vacation we set the thermostat to 56-60 degrees (night and day), since any colder kills the house plants. Our heating bill goes down some but it is still $100+ per month in the winter even when we are not there. Yet, it's still relatively comfortable for a warm dressed person to sleep in case someone need to stay at ours.
Still waiting for any feedback from you, yet I believe that keeping heater on high sets tends to defeat any savings. If I got it right, someone is going to stay at your house and that's why you want to keep two bedrooms warm. But I have a small warning for you - the problem with most small heaters are the inconsistent analog thermostat controls, the temp widely swings during operation and you either get too hot or too cold. So it might be a bit problematic.

It is quite confusing if you are leaving your house for vacation then why you are going to need heating in the bedrooms at night?
Now to your question ...if you are not in house 50 is ok. And at night if you in home then 65 for a more comfortable sleep according to your climate. Have you ever thought of a climate control HVAC system these also have 8 c function with smart app that can be switched on and off through your mobile?

Originally Posted by Abland

Now that colder temperatures are arriving again, I have a few questions on heating:

How low can I set the thermostat when I leave for vacation, without risk to our appliances and piano?

I have a 3000 square foot house, but at night, only two rooms need to be heated. My furnace runs on oil. During the day, I set the thermostat to 70 degrees. Would I save much money by setting the thermostat to 55-60 degrees at night and then having an electric ceramic space heater in each of the two rooms to get the temperature in those rooms to 70 degrees?

Forced air or Water?

A small mini would be a better option then ceramic heaters!

What are you doing for humidity control, that's the important thing!

I guess humidity harms more than dryness. Still I'd ask an expert piano person about the temperatures. I'm a bit skeptical people have been able to keep pianos at 70F for the last 400 years. I'd speculate changes in temperature will do as much damage. It might be a tradeoff between oil bill and returning costs.
Personally I spent the first year or two watching and measuring vulnerable crawl spaces in my house, and now set it to 56F when not up and about. I leave it that way if I'm away.
My heating bill would probably double if I left it at 70F.

Need to add, that only with big temperature swings, condensation is an issue.
I've seen water droplets on the tuning pins and plate when a piano is in a warm, moderately humid room and then the temperature drops overnight.

Originally Posted by Abland

Now that colder temperatures are arriving again, I have a few questions on heating:

How low can I set the thermostat when I leave for vacation, without risk to our appliances and piano?

I have a 3000 square foot house, but at night, only two rooms need to be heated. My furnace runs on oil. During the day, I set the thermostat to 70 degrees. Would I save much money by setting the thermostat to 55-60 degrees at night and then having an electric ceramic space heater in each of the two rooms to get the temperature in those rooms to 70 degrees?

I guess you would have to compare the cost of oil and the cost of electricity . It does sound like your on the right direction. Whoa 55F is pretty chilly for me and especially if you have kids. Maybe 60-62F might be more ideal. I hope you have a programmable tstat and you can set it up to reach 70F by the time you wake up.

heating the house in winter

Now that colder temperatures are arriving again, I have a few questions on heating:

How low can I set the thermostat when I leave for vacation, without risk to our appliances and piano?

I have a 3000 square foot house, but at night, only two rooms need to be heated. My furnace runs on oil. During the day, I set the thermostat to 70 degrees. Would I save much money by setting the thermostat to 55-60 degrees at night and then having an electric ceramic space heater in each of the two rooms to get the temperature in those rooms to 70 degrees?