Loft Aerials V's Roof Aerials, which is best

Loft Aerial v Roof Aerial, which is best?

The first and most obvious benefit of using a TV Aerial mounted in a loft is that it is out of sight. The TV Aerial, it's mast and clamp plus aerial cable will be mostly out of view from out side the building. This can be a great way to install an aerial if you don't want the unsightly TV aerial on your chimney and cable running around the outside of your home. Another benefit is that your digital aerial will be protected from the ravages of the UK weather and will extend the lifespan of your equipment by many years. There is 1 caveat to this and that is that for aerial cable to be installed in the cavity of your walls, this will generally have to be done during construction of the house. Otherwise cable would need to run from out of the roof space to the out side.

With some new builds there can be stipulations put on the owner not to mount TV Aerials externally. Also with new builds TV points are usually installed with the aerial cables running with in the cavity of the walls with the cables coiled up in the loft ready for connection to a new TV Aerial.

The downside to Loft Aerial installation is that you can lose anything up to 50 % of the signal strength when installing the aerial in a loft. Interference from walls, other buildings and trees can cause a huge loss in the quality and strength of reception. Whereas this can be avoided if the TV Aerial is mounted on a tall enough mast, avoiding the buildings and trees.

What kind of aerial is best for use in a loft?

At Digitec-Aerials we use the Log Periodic digital TV Aerials. We use this aerial because it works as a high gain aerial but is not as bulky, it is with out a balam or back reflector, this helps to reduce the amount of interference by up to 15db. When we've tested this aerial against a standard digital aerial we have found it draws in not only a stronger signal, but also a cleaner signal.

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Benefits of using an outside mounted Digital TV Aerial

The most obvious benefit of using an outside mounted TV aerial is that you will almost always get a stronger signal with less interference. The Aerial can be mounted on a mast to a position many feet above the top of the roof much higher than a loft aerial can be mounted. This is sometimes necessary is the signal is blocked by buildings or more commonly trees. Another benefit is that when a strong clear signal is received it can be split up to 6 ways without the need of amplification. Whereas aerials in lofts generally need to use some sort of amplification to split its signal more than 3 ways. Although not as aesthetically pleasing as a loft Aerial due to its being out of sight, the roof mounted TV Aerial is a much more practical solution to homes in area's where the signal quality is poor.

At Digitec-Aerials.co.uk we also use the Log Periodic TV Aerials for mounting on masts outside or on the roof/chimney. The reason we choose to use this aerial is it is just a great all rounder picking up a great signal even in poor areas, and with the increase in interference it picks up less than other digital aerials.

For aerial installation in either your loft or mounted on your chimney, then please give Digitec Aerials a call for a free quote and advice on what is the best aerial for your home