Why There's Simply No Need To Add A TV To Your Outdoor Space

Modern untraditional living room trends are embracing the outdoors by bringing your furniture out onto decks and patios. This includes comfortable couches, rugs, and ottomans. However, while bringing a bit of inside to your yard is a good idea, there is one piece of your living room you may want to keep inside, and that's a TV. It may sound like a perfect day to unwind by sitting in your backyard with a drink and watching your favorite game or show. However, outdoor TVs are just plain unnecessary and may be rather problematic.

For decades, we have been telling kids and adults to take breaks from the TV and to go outside and enjoy nature. If you have an outdoor TV, though, then you're never really away from it. Even "Fixer to Fabulous" star Dave Marrs has mixed feelings on adding a TV screen to your backyard patio, especially when it comes to giving his kids some time away from electronics. It can be neat to have one in certain situations, but most of the time, it's just going to get in the way of taking a break from your technology — and the sound may ruin your neighbor's relaxation, too.

Even if you don't really care about all of that, there are other issues with an outdoor TV. They aren't cheap, after all. A 50-inch TV in your home costs about $300. In comparison, an outdoor one, roughly the same size, will likely be upwards of $1,000.

You've got to consider the size, as well. For a 50-inch TV, you want to plan to be no further than 7 feet away. In a home, this isn't much of a problem, but are you really going to sit directly in front of the TV while outside? If you're planning on grilling, relaxing in the pool, or socializing outdoors, you probably want at least a 75-inch screen, which means you can get about 10 feet away and still see well. Of course, upping the screen also increases the cost. One this size is going to be closer to $4,000, which may be more than you want to spend on such a device.

Additionally, just because these TVs are made to work outside, that doesn't mean they're great at actually handling the elements. They can handle a bit of rain and the sun better than an indoor TV, but they still need protection from the elements, like sun shades and waterproof structures. Though you can install one yourself, it's a bit more complicated than just finding a place on a wall to hang it near an outlet. Hiring a professional and getting everything set up is another added expense. Even if you have the money to burn, you need to ask yourself if you want to waste it on an outdoor TV. What you're getting for the cost simply isn't worth it.

Many outdoor TVs come with Wi-Fi, but it doesn't matter unless your internet stretches that far. Have you ever sat on your patio and realized your phone wasn't able to form a strong connection with your internet? Your outdoor TV is going to face the same problem, unless you get something like a Wi-Fi extender.

If you really want to be able to watch movies outside sometimes, consider something like a projector instead. Using one of these, you can turn your backyard into a private movie theater with an easy DIY screen setup. It isn't quite as accessible as a TV, but it is there if you want to go and hang outside to watch a game or have a summer movie night. 

No matter whether you decide to follow our advice or not about adding a TV to your outdoor space, one thing you should never do is use an indoor television outside. Not only is the TV likely to break pretty easily, but the device shouldn't be near any water, as it can cause damage and fires. Plus, indoor TVs aren't made to handle high levels of light, and you'll have to deal with a lot of glare. The ones designed to go on your patio are expensive, but swapping for a cheaper option with an indoor TV, even if you're going to put it somewhere sheltered, isn't a good idea.