Do Attic Antennas Need To Be Grounded

Yes all outdoor tv antennas should be grounded.

Do attic antennas need to be grounded.

For electrical saftey the antenna should be connected to a lightening arrestor and that connected to ground. If it is important should i just tap the coax or is a separate grounding wire needed. If it needs grounding it can t go in the attic because code requires that grounded antennae be on the edge of the roof and that the wire from the antenna to the ground follow a straight line path or something like that i m not the electrician. Check to ensure that the vent tube is firmly grounded before connecting the wire.

Furthermore tv signals are made of electricity. If it is just for reception e g. Antennas mine are receive only for fm tv and public safety bands will be generally restricted to the attic. I can tell you that as of the 2004 nec and nfpa 101 which covers life safety codes there is no requirement to ground a receive only internal antenna system.

The antenna is essentially designed to capture that electricity. I found that a firm grounding of antenna mast gave a better reception as well. Even if you have a newer plastic antenna there is metal inside. However the connection of your antenna coax to various ac operated equipment in this case your converter box or tv introduces the potential of electric shock.

Note that the coax is going to be grounded at the receiver anyway. The copper wire at the base of the antenna mast attaches to the copper vent tube that runs to the roof through the attic in a 55 year old house. In the case of an attic installation your tv antenna will be sheltered from the environment so there s no need to ground it for that reason. How important is it to ground them.

There is an nec requirement to ground metallic objects in a structure likely to become energized such as metal water pipes appliances gas lines etc. Transmission antennas and cables i d have to pull the code books and check but i m fairly certain they do not require grounding as well. But this wouldn t apply to most attic antennas i would think.