Attach satellite dish to wall or roof? Timber frame house

Hello everyone,

I would be interested in opinions regarding the installation location of a satellite dish. The corner of the house between the eaves and gable side points almost exactly south. So the gable side faces southwest and the eaves side faces southeast. The house will have a pitched roof with 2 full stories and a 25° roof pitch in timber frame construction. Would you rather attach the satellite dish to the roof or to the wall? If the dish were attached to the gable, the thermal bridges would probably be negligible since it is an uninsulated roof. But what about the wind load? The externally applied wood fiber insulation boards are 120mm thick. With roof mounting, lightning protection would be more important and it would be harder to access. Thank you very much

"Professionals" always recommend the wall and not the roof. Easier to access, protected from weather/snow, no stress about penetrating the roof membrane, etc. What this means for a wooden house, I don't know.

"Professionals" always advise mounting on the wall and not on the roof.

I am an antenna professional and, depending on the case, much more often recommend roof antennas than wall antennas. With 12 cm wall insulation, mounting a wall bracket, for example with the THERMAX system, is significantly more complex than mounting a roof rafter bracket, which also fits a later roof insulation.

Easier to access, protected from weather/snow, no hassle running something through the roof membrane, etc.

That the antenna is easier to access at the position planned by the OP on the gable side can be true but doesn't have to be, and expressed so generally is wishful thinking.

In alpine regions, it may still be appropriate to install antennas under wide roof overhangs protected from snow. But where in flatland does it still snow so heavily that you have to clear the antenna? With proper planning, this can often be easier from a roof window than from a facade window.

Antenna cables routed through the insulation on the roof or wall must be equally windproof. A professional solves this without any hassle or shimming.

What that means for a wooden house, I don't know.

The creators of the so-called safe protection zone on facades according to IEC 60728-11 with ≥ 2 m distance below the roof edge/gutter and max. 1.5 m wall distance probably did not assume either soft roof covering or a wooden house.

Prophylactic safety note:
Antennas outside the facade zone defined as safe must be capable of carrying lightning current and connected and grounded with the building’s protective equipotential bonding.

Thank you for the explanation. A gable installation would be more easily accessible since you wouldn't have to go onto the roof, a ladder would be sufficient. In the case of a later photovoltaic installation, a satellite system on the roof could also be obstructive.

One more addendum: Variant A does not exactly meet with enthusiasm from my girlfriend, as the satellite dish would then be too visible from the terrace. The same problem would probably occur with Variant D as well. Perhaps Variant B would be better after all. Or on the garage, but then there would be sealing problems again if the satellite dish is on the flat roof, and the cable runs would also be longer.

You can deal with the issue of the thermal bridge with the right type of anchor. For wind load and varying stress, I would recommend a fastening on the exterior facade. It delivers what it promises. It is primarily intended for awnings and other heavy loads. -Remember: drilling correctly into brick (if present) is half the battle.-