LCD install above fireplace

Re: LCD install above fireplace

I think fireplace mounting has a "cool" factor for some, but in practice not so good for two reasons. 1) The heat from the fire (assuming you use the fireplace) is a bad thing for anything electronic. Secondly, a TV should be mounted at eye level from your prime seating location. Mounting a TV above the fireplace would usually be much above eye level, which will cause neck strain.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

Mounting TV's above fireplaces is for magazine ads, not real life practical use.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

I agree... its about the worst place you could mount your TV, second to maybe the cealing.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

I don't know, I'd say it depends on usage / seating arrangement / a whole host of other factors. There could be compelling reasons to want to do this.

I have a direct-vent gas fireplace in my house -- i.e. it has a concentric ventilation system, one tube pulling in fresh outside air for combustion, one exhausting back to the outside. The fire itself is sealed off from the room, so its heat is radiant only. For a fireplace like that, I'd say go for it.

It sounds like yours is a bit different, though. If your fire is also sealed off from the room, that should mean radiant heat through the glass only (if the fireplace were open to the room, I'd be concerned about convection sending hot air rolling up the wall and to the TV). So you might be OK in that regard.
But if your fireplace exhausts through a traditional brick chimney, as opposed to a direct vent, I am really not sure how hot things will get in/on the wall above the mantle... that may be cause for concern.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

Understand, sometimes you have no choice. Home designers never consider the real important things when designing a house; home theatre!

A couple other thoughts.

1. Again, I would make sure that you will not have neck strain/pain if the TV is mounted above your fireplace. I know in my house, above the fireplace would be way to high for comfortable viewing unless I was standing.
2. If you are going to have a separate surround audio system, will there be places to mount speakers?
3. I would think that placement of wiring (AC, antenna, speakers, etc.) would be a problem also.

Good luck with your new system!

Re: LCD install above fireplace

I have an electronic fireplace and had the tv mounted just above it. It looks great! I don't know about mounting one above a real fireplace though.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

Heat is not the reason it's not a good idea.


Yes, you do have a choice. Don't buy that home. When we had our home built 4 years ago, that was one of the main features in our evaluations- No fireplace in the middle of the wall.

Besides, home theater has nothing to do with the living room. I've yet to see a builder that puts a fireplace in the home theater.


Yep, they look great. That's why they're always in magazines that way. But there's no way I'm going to watch 2-6 hours of movies with my head angled up like that. Your eyes should be 1/3 - 1/2 way up the screen. Now, if you have recliners and you're ALWAYS reclined, it can reduce that issue, but it doesn't illiminate it.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

Seriously man, forget about that place. Unless you have an unusually short fireplace the TV gets to sit too high. You'll love it at first but then you will not enjoy using it. As Kevin Stewart mentioned, recliners help a lot but it is still not comfortable.

Regarding the heat issue, if you get no hot air flowing up the wall and heating the plasma, if the wall behind the TV doesn't get past warm, then technically there is probably no problem. Of course you should also make sure the wall can sustain the weight. I've read about a case when the mount got pulled from the wall by the weight of a 60" plasma. The wall was of course very thin and anything but sturdy.

Anyway, I would personally think twice about installing a TV there. Maybe you can post a photo of the room. We could try to come up with suggestions/ideas.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

Yes, I agree with your first point, but it is difficult to find non-custom homes that do not really mess-up HT system planning. When we built our house 12 years ago we never could find a house design with the correct floor plan for our HT system. So when we finally did decide on a plan that was close we still had to move the fireplace from one wall to another so we could get a clean 21' of wall space.

I do not agree with your second point though, we (and I assume many folks) do not have a separate HT room. We do not want to go to another room to watch TV so it was important that the living room be designed for HT at least as close as possible.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

Well, you're opening up a big can of worms there and I don't really want to get into it, but I'll just say the following:

Correct, most folks do not have a home theater. I also agree that it's important that the living room be designed well. No matter how well it's designed, however, it's not a home theater. It will still be a living room. It might be better than most home theaters (in terms of equipment) and it might have home theater equipment, but it's not a home theater. A home theater is not just equipment. If you take all of the equipment out of a home theater and ask someone what to call the room, they would still say "it's a home theater". If you take all the equipment out of your living room, would people still call it a home theater? They wouldn't in mine. It also doesn't mean one is better than the other. They just have different purposes. A home theater is solely designed/built for movie/tv watching (and a few other things like listening to music). A living room with nice equipment is intended for many things (conversation, kids playing, communication between other rooms, tv/movies, etc.). Just like a media room is also different (usually multi-functional: bar, pool table, big screen, etc.). They all have different functionality and they can all be great spaces. They're just not the same thing.

As far as going to another room to watch TV, I rarely do that. I watch TV in the living room (70" display, 5.1 sound), but I watch movies in the HT (126" display, 7.1 sound).

Before I built my current house, I had a wonderful living room set-up (still do, actually). But it was never a home theater. It was home theater equipment in my living room (and still is).

If I put a toilet in my kitchen, it's still not a bathroom. it's a kitchen with a toilet.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

Actually, the tv is not that high up. The fireplace is small and the tv is at the exact height that the installers normally place it at. I don't have to strain my neck to watch..it is at eye level.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

I think most fireplaces are higher than that. I just checked mine and my chin is about the same level as the top of the mantle (I am 6'0"). That would place the bottom of a TV at least 6' above the floor. I guess it all depends on each individual's situation.

Re: LCD install above fireplace

[quote=Kevin Stewart]Well, you're opening up a big can of worms there and I don't really want to get into it, but I'll just say the following: [quote]

I understand your point; I wish I had a separate dedicated HT room sometimes, but I could never justify the costs of having two viewing rooms with the electronics to support them. I think the trend is going towards dedicated HT rooms mainly because of the designs of current homes, but I believe it will be a long time before it is typical of most. In our case, the living room is large by most standards (5500-6000 cubic feet) so we have the room for anything we want. (It is a good thing it is a large room; it would look like speaker city otherwise. )

Hello,

I too am considering putting a 52" LCD tv above the fireplace in the home we have just purchased. We have a finished basement now but the new house does not have one. So we decided to put the HT in the family room. The problem is in this room there is really no where else to put the tv unless it goes in the corner of the room. The fireplace is directy in the middle of the only wall where a tv could go. Could a 52" tv be mounted in the corner of a room?

Also, I need a professional service to install the tv and wire the room for surround sound. I have heard bad things about the 'geek squad'. Does anyone have any recommendations? We are in Burlington, Ontario. Thanks.

 I know this is an older thread, but why start a new one?  Anyway, I'm moving into a new condo soon that has a couple choices for TV placement, either above the 4' high fireplace, or along the wall to the right (where the current owner has his projection TV).  The living room is small, so by placing the TV above the fireplace, I would free up an extra wall for more seating, and I think it would give the place a more roomy feel for things other than watching TV/Movies.  I'm just not sure how fatiguing that height would be for extended periods.  I think it would be OK if the TV were angled down and I was slightly reclined.  Anyway, here's a diagram - if I put it along the red colored wall, it would just mean less room for seating, and it makes the room feel a bit crowded with a couch and a love seat there, but I really want to b able to seat more than 3 people in the living area!  Please ignore the couch color, it was just something that was about the right size!



I'll render up a pic of how it would look on my current stand later.

I was faced with the same problem as my fireplace was the ideal and only reasonable place to put my 52" LCD in a 14'x22' room.  I was fortunate that I had a short fireplace which I did not use and no built in mantle.  I was able to mount my TV so that the bottom of the TV is about 32" off the floor (This is only a 1" or 2" higher than most standard 27" height TV stands.  This arrangement has worked well for me but I would not want my TV any higher than is currently is.  Putting it above the standard 4' high mantle would make for very unsatisfactory viewing angle and lots of stiff necks unless you watched TV in a fully reclined position.

My brother in law had the same problem with a raised hearth.  He put the 52" LCD in directly in front of the fireplace and purchased one of those fireplace DVD's with a selection of different fires and sounds.

I've had my TV over the fire place for over a year now..I literally had no other place to put it! My fireplace has a wood fired insert in it which I heat our house with during the winter, I have yet to have an Issue, in the end you have to do what works best for you! Not everyone lives in the "perfect house"! Some day when I am able, I will build a home and have a dedicated home theater, and I will not have a TV mounted over a fireplace. Until then, it is what I have to work with!

I may be relly late to this thread but I would like to insert my 0.02. I have a 42" flat screen hanging over my fireplace and it is working just fine. given i do not use my fireplace often. My wife would like to use it but since it is gas and my heating system is gas also I do not see the need for the fire. However the placemen t depends on your seating arrangement. my family room is 16 x 22 and the fireplace is on the 22ft wall which gives me no choice with seating arrangement. Because of the distance (16ft across from the fp) the height is not an issue and there is no neck strain and it is even better when we are laying on the couch.