How High Should My TV Be?

An item for consideration and something I have witnessed many a husband and wife argue over is the height that their TV should be installed on the wall. There are a lot of items for consideration and some you may be limited to where you actually mount a TV. It really does depend on your room and how you will be sitting when watching it. For instance, when you are watching TV in your lounge you will most likely be sitting upright and when you are watching in a bedroom you will most likely be laying down so installing both TV’s at the same height will not be a good idea.

Before I’m go any further I would just like to point out that getting the TV on the wall height correct really does change from room to room as things like TV size, distance away from the TV when viewing it will also have an effect as to where you might want to install the TV. I would like to also draw your attention to a couple of older blogs relating to this subject, these will help you pick the right TV wall bracket and determine how much you should pay a professional do mount your TV.

‍

Guide To Choosing The Right TV Bracket

How Much Should A TV Wall Mount Installation Cost?

Optimum Height For Wall Mounted TV’s.

There is one main rule for this and it doesn’t apply to everyone as many people disagree than agree. But the rule is that the centre of the TV screen should be eye level from the sitting down TV viewing position,making this a zero-degree angle. I personally prefer going slightly higher as I think that it looks better and it’s important to consider that many people tend to lay down when watching TV so if you considering this then a zero-degree angle wouldn’t really apply.

So, there is really no correct answer here because it comes down to preference. If you were to ask 10 people where they thought the best height for TV’s would be, you would be you would probably get 10 different answers. I recommend that before you start drilling holes in your wall that you check with the family or whoever is going to be watching the TV. But I will say that the average person tends to want their TV installed higher than is necessary, remember that you will usually be sitting down when viewing your TV so it helps to visualise things if you’re sitting down when planning your TV height.

If you were to ask me in person “what height should I mount my TV?”. I would give the now scripted answer. “Optimum height is eye level,but I prefer slightly higher.” I also usually point out that they will probably be sitting down when watching the thing so they should consider this also.There are also when other items for consideration so what may correct for one TV wall installation may be completely wrong for another.

Best TV Height In Lounge

If you want to go with the optimum height suggested above then it really is quite simple, just work out where the centre of the TV would be when you are sitting down. First measure the height of your TV and then divide this by 2 to work out the centre of your TV. Now measure the height of your eye level whilst in your viewing position. Usually sitting on your sofa.You can get someone with a tape measure to do this for you by measuring from the floor to your eye level height. It’s actually quite easy to do this yourself if nobody is around to help you. Once you have this measurement simple deduct half the TV height measurement and that’s where the bottom of the TV should be.Obviously if you’re living with someone that’s 7’ then this is going to be a different height that someone more of an average height but it’s good for a rough guide. This may be considerably lower than what you were going to install your TV and like I said before I prefer it a bit higher myself. I just think they look too low when stood up if mounted in the “optimum” position. This means that you may want to go a bit higher but not too high as you will get neck strain and even over the course of time even develop neck problems. I have installed TV’s on walls at specified heights for my customers only to return at a later date and lower them because they said it was hurting their necks looking at the TV. Which is why I can’t empathise enough that you need to consider your viewing position, not just what looks best in the room which maybe the same height as pictures that have hung on the wall or mirrors etc.

Installing TV’s Out of Children’s Reach

A very common reason that TV are mounted on walls,especially for families or parents with young children like toddlers is to keep out of reach of the children’s reach. I still find it funny when I turn up to customers house and find the screen covered in hand and finger prints. I know the feeling when my kids were young, and I hadn’t got around to mounting our TV on the wall.But the TV falling on a young child would be a lot less funny. For this reason,it’s a good idea to get TV out the way mounted on the wall. The height in my opinion should be just out of reach, maybe and extra foot or two higher. You will also want to consider where your AV equipment will be, like satellite set top boxes, DVD/ Blurays players, sound systems and games consoles and how-to cables will connect. It’s worth noting that your viewing equipment doesn’t necessarily have to be in front of the TV. It can go anywhere really like tucked away inside a cupboard. You would just need to get cables between this location. This may mean a bit of extra work on the installation, but it would be worth it with the piece of mind knowing that no cables are going to get pulled etc. You will also need to consider how you will be able to control the equipment. If your controllers or handsets work over Bluetooth, then no problem this will most likely work just fine. If it works over infra-red, then you need to consider installing some infra-red eyes and emitters. There are loads of different types on market that can provide a solution for this type of situation.

I once installed a TV on a wall for a family with a couple of young children who had broken their previous TV by knocking it over. They were keen to avoid this situation so chose to install their new TV on the wall.Naturally they chose a height that was a bit above the suggested optimum but still a sensible height. However, when it came to mounting the AV shelves with things like the Virgin Media and games console where going to be sited and would normally live underneath the TV. As they were keen to keep this out of reach and were restricted where they could otherwise install it they decided to have it installed above the TV. I had to install it with a step ladder and it took a bit of getting used to but it was very effective at keeping all the equipment out of the reach of the children, so they were very happy.

Installing TV’s Above Fireplaces

I must admit despite having done this myself at my old address this isn’t always ideal. If the fireplace is an active fireplace that is in use I would suggest installing the TV elsewhere as electrical items really don’t like heat, especially considering heat rises. Another reason why installing TV’s above fireplaces isn’t necessarily a good idea is because the TV will naturally finish quite high, but this depends on the height of the fireplace. All that being said above the fireplace can often be the natural place to install a TV on a wall. This would be typically over the years the fireplace would have been the focal point of the room, with furniture angled around this. Over the years this has changed so that the TV now dominates the room and a TV installed above a fireplace can look really good, albeit a bit high when you watch the thing. If you’re considering mounting your TV above your fireplace you way want to consider installing your TV onto a tilting TV wall bracket so that the screen can be angled down to your viewing location.

Best TV Height In Bedroom

Now here is a situation where the optimum TV height of eye level with the centre of the TV wouldn’t really make much sense. As with bedrooms you’re far more likely to be watching TV bed laying down, horrible habit I know but we all do it nowadays! This means that the TV would need to be mounted directly above you on the ceiling, which I don’t know about you but that would be enough to keep me awake at night never mind the TV itself. Or if you put it at the same height as your lounge you going to get a permanent crick in your neck.

With bedroom TV’s you want to higher than you typically would in your lounge. I would say a couple of foot from the ceiling would be good,but it really does depend on the size of the TV and how far you’re going to be when watching. You may also want to consider installing a tilting TV wall bracket that will allow the screen to be angled towards your viewing position.

Best TV Height In Kitchen

Once again here is another situation where the seated optimum viewing position from your lounge will probably not be the correct height in your kitchen. As kitchens dramatically from home to home it’s difficult to give generic advice on what the best height will be for you. Firstly,you need to decide your main viewing location, in my experience TV’s in the kitchens are installed so you can watch TV when you are doing things like cooking the dinner or washing up, so you will most likely want to go higher with the finished TV wall mounting height. However, you may also want to be view the TV when you are sitting at a dining table. Personally, I think that it’s okay to install the TV “too high” in the situation as I would have thought that having a TV installed at eye level whilst sitting down for dinner may be a bit much but whatever floats your boat I guess. If you’re going to be viewing the TV in a couple of different locations in the kitchen you may want to install a tilting wall bracket or a full motion wall bracket that will allow the TV to be turned around to face different viewing positions giving you the greatest flexibility and most also allow the TV screen itself to tilt down.

Optimum Viewing Angle for Wall Mounted TV’s

I think when we think of optimum viewing angles for TV’s it helps to think how happy you were with the height when the TV was installed on a stand. If you were happy with this height, chances are you’re not going to want to go much higher than that. Plus, the higher you go the more difficult it is going to be to hide you wires and you may need to get some longer cables.

Optimum TV Viewing Angle – 0 degrees to centre/ bottom third of TV

Maximum Viewing Angle – 15 degrees (my opinion)

I hope you liked this blog and it has helped you to pick the right TV height for your TV. If you have any questions, please do LEAVE A COMMENT in the blog comment section below and I will be delighted to help you.Please also unless you’re based in Sussex, Kent or Surrey please do not call our telephone line as we are unable to deal the volume of questions we get asked, if you leave a comment I will get back to you however. Of course, if you’re in our coverage area of the south east of the UK then we will be delighted to receive your call.

Until next time.

Tom

‍