Outdoor TV Question

[DavidNorcross]

Got a question for my friends. My patio is covered by a roof and is sheltered from any weather but it is open on the sides. I want to mount a tv and have looked at the outdoor tv’s but just don’t think they are worth the price. If the tv is sheltered from the weather wouldn’t most any tv work for this purpose?

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Just bring it in for severe weather... One thing to consider is outdoor TVs do better in outdoor lighting, and also morning dew could be bad?

I couldn't do an outdoor TV at my house because of dew etc... but if I did one I'd just setup a mount where I could lift it off and bring it in when not in use and save big money vs a dedicated outdoor unit. New TVs are pretty dang light these days

[lostclusters]

Before I retired I worked a job where I went into our customers home to adjust and repair thier communications services and equipment in California. I had a customer right on the coast of the pacific ocean. While talking with him he told me he would never buy another expensive tv because he had to replace them every year due to corrosion from the humidity and salt air. And his tv was inside his house.

[Jfrosty27]

I have a buddy in the Savannah, GA area and has a similar outdoor space. He hung a standard tv on a mount that would allow for bringing it in if need be. Hasn’t had to yet after about a year and a half. Oh and he has a slip on cover for it too. I was there this spring after the VA meet up and it looked and worked great.

[HawkerXP]

This is what I'd dew. just get a cover for it when not using it.

[DavidNorcross]

Thank you all!

[Panhead John]

What size are you looking at getting David?

[DavidNorcross]

Not sure yet. Not overly large considering the location.

[Panhead John]

Just remember, “I sure wish I’d gotten a smaller TV”…..said no one ever! 😉

[tstalafuse]

I mounted one outside, kept a water proof cover on it, unplugged it when not in use, and it stayed outside year round without a problem. We hooked a Fire Stick to it and streamed whatever we wanted to watch.

[Bkhuna]

With >90% humidity and the ocean just a mile or so away, I'm afraid electronics are out of the question. The other factor is "who wants to sit outside when it's 98° and 98% humidity"?

[Purc]

I put a 10 year old Plasma tv in our screened in porch on the house wall with no issues. Our house was on a mountain outside of Chattanooga TN. My son in Atl has an older hd tv above a fireplace mantle that is at end of a covered porch that is open on 3 sides. The fireplace itself is open on either side. He does cover the tv on really bad weather days. The tv has been there for 5 years, no issues yet and it works great. Neither one of us would buy an "outdoor" tv because you can buy 3 or 4 indoor tvs if you have an issue. Also, I think there is a tv ceiling mount that folds down for viewing and back up against the ceiling for bad weather.

[barelfly]

A good cover helps. I know my environment is completely different from you given the dry heat and dust. But the cover my buddy has on his a few houses down keeps it sealed up nicely. It’s under the patio, but open to all areas. Wind, dust and heat are what we have and it has been out there for 7 years with a fire stick and still going strong.

and he bought a cheaper Samsung that is mounted up above his fireplace.

[BFlynn]

We leave ours out year round and haven't had any issues.

Years ago, in the pre-pandemic times - I got to be pretty good buddies with a guy than managed a bar here in Houston. When the smoking ban went into effect, Randy built a big deck on their bar and installed 5 or 6 flat screen tvs. Built ply wood boxes around them to keep them out of the elements and lock them up at night.

They weren't the fancy "outdoor" tvs. Those cost too much. These were the cheapest tvs he could get from Wally world.
Over the years, he seemed to get about 3 years of service out of each tv.

We moved into our current house 2 1/2 years ago. I bought an open box tv from Microcenter. They had a 4 year warranty that covers everything - even if you set it on fire - for $40. So I just installed it on the wall.


Our back patio is pretty protected but it works great...... Haven't had any issues with it, no matter the weather.

But I got this sneaking feeling it might have some kind of issue at 3 years and 10 months of age.

[Panhead John]

DavidNorcross Here’s an article I found which might be helpful if you’re going to go with an indoor TV. You’ll want to look at ones with a high brightness output and with a matte type screen….reflections on the screen can be very distracting. You might even want to hit up a Best Buy and talk with one of their TV specialists. As others have mentioned, you definitely want to get a cover for it, if even just to keep the dust out.

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/best/bright-room

[smokenoob]

I live on a salty humid bayou on the Gulf coast. Have a tv on the covered screen room. I keep it covered when not in use and take it in for hurricanes 😳😁. I get about 4 years out of a cheap WallyWorld TV.

[Panhead John]

Nice patio dude!

[jfmorris]

The short answer is - yes, any TV will work.

The banes of TV's and other consumer electronics are highs/lows and humidity. The outdoor rated TV's have PCB treatments (conformal coating) to somewhat weather proof the circuit boards. Some may have brighter panels as well, or non-glare treatments.

But in practice, any TV can work. I've got an old 32" Vizio that was no longer in use in the house hanging on one of the posts in the middle of my pavilion, and have had it out there since last summer. I bought an RV type mounting arm for it off Amazon, where it easily lifts off a bracket if I need to bring it inside due to inclement weather. So far, I've only brought it inside back when we had a really cold week and got down to 5F in the winter. Other times, when I knew a storm was going to roll in, I just unfolded the arm to move it as far as I could from the outside edge of the roof, and pulled a black trash bag over the TV to protect it. For content I am just using a Roku attached to the TV, as the Vizio smart TV apps were getting old and slow.

If I get a couple of years in the humidity and highs and lows of Alabama with an old cheap TV, it will be a lot of money saved over what an outdoor rated set costs. For what we use it for - the occasional football game in the fall, or a quiet TV night outside, it does a great job. For some reason I thought I would swing it around and have it point towards the pool for some floating movie nights this summer, but that didn't happen...

[radiodome21]

I’m in a similar boat and read that same article. my sister in law bought a Vizio and a TV cart and wheels it out from the garage to watch Bears and Notre Dame games. I will say though, the glare is an issue in certain lights. My brother in law brought out a cheaper Samsung for the Masters and no one could see anything. I have a soffit I would mount it too and then buy some sort of cover.

[Dadof3Illinois]

We live in Southern Illinois and see all 4 seasons in these parts. I have a covered pergola as part of my deck and have kept a TV in it for the last 3 years without any issues. I bought the cheapest 55" I could find...figure I can replace it every so often and still be money ahead compared to the cost of those outdoor/weather proof TV's.