TV mounting

[Lucifers_Ghost]

Greetings all,

So the misses and I are looking to purchase a large-ish LCD/Plasma to replace our bulky 43" projection.

We are considering mounting it "above" the fireplace. I figure it will be about 3 - 4ft above. The chimney is behind the wall and has sufficient bracing to support a tv. What I am unsure about is whether or not the heat rising up from the fireplace will ruin/damage the tv set.

Any advice gentleman and ladies?

Thanks a ton.
LG

[gadgetguy]

Not advice so much as opinion as I don't have a flatscreen TV or a fireplace. But I've always had the same concern whenever I see a TV hanging over a fireplace. Heat is never good for electronics and I don't know of any reason why a TV would be an exception. I haven't seen any TVs with cooling fans, which suggests to me that they just use venting at bottom and top to allow the heat it generates to dissipate out the top. Having it draw hot air into the bottom just sounds like a bad idea to me.

[SquirrelDip]

Precisely what we went through before last Christmas.

Above the fireplace is not optimal height but we got used to it pretty quick.

If your fire place is wood then DO NOT put the TV above - soot would be more damaging than heat.

If your Fireplace has a blower it would help keep the heat from rising directly againt the wall.

If you have a mantle it would help keep the heat away also.

Below is a picture of our small living room:



We haven't had any problems - it's a gas fireplace with a blower. We used to have a mantle but the TV was too big. I'd have preferred to hide the wires but drywall is placed directly over the original brick - there's no room between to place the wires (we'll probably build a hollow mantle to hide them in).

Oh, and the lights above the TV can be turned off independantly from the rest of the lights in the room.

[Lucifers_Ghost]

It is a wood fireplace so I would guess my idea isnt going to pan out. Boo.

I was actually thinking about building a mantle for it. That way, I could "insulate" the mantle by keeping some of the heat away from it (ie. the mantle would get warm and not the tv).

Thats a sweet setup squirrel. Nice color scheme. Very warm and inviting.

[SquirrelDip]

I read quite a bit on the subject and had a pretty good thread going over at another forum.

Heat was debatable - but with a real wood fireplace all strongly recommended not to place a TV above. The fear is the small bits of residue and not much you can do about it.

Thanks for the comment on the room - it's quite small but works nicely.

[Lucifers_Ghost]

Fair enough. I actually hadnt thought of soot. I was only thinking of heat.

A friend of mine has a tv room with a very similar setup (except he doesnt use the fireplace). He bought some sort of infra red device for his stereo equipment. There are no wires in his living room as he opened up the walls to run the wires. All his stereo equipment is in the closet running of the infra red thing. Its crazy.

[Faustus]

sorry I dont' have much to add to this thread mounting TV is illegal in texas

[SquirrelDip]

However...

Considering the price of these TVs you may justify having it above and live with the fact that you're going to replace it a bit more often.

A 50" plasma 1080i can be had for just over $1000 (maybe less?) - we're using an LG 50" 1080i plasma ($1440).

[zzyzzx]

Do you actually use the fireplace?

[Lucifers_Ghost]

Well we dont use it "often." We have gas heating for the house in general. But on some winter nights, we do throw a few logs on to get cozy (she says romantic ... yeah, real romantic with my splinters :P).

Id say in a typical Canadian winter, about 20 times or so.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

can't be good for your neck...
not to mention eye strain.

measure down 1/3 of the way from the top of the viewable portion of the screen.
this imaginary line should be right at where your eye level will be when you are seated to watch it.

every time I see a TV mounted 6+ feet up on a wall I have to wonder if the owner stands up to watch

[SquirrelDip]

It's not great but it's not that bad either. Works out to less than 20 degrees total...