Possibly a stupid question, but : Mounting TV above fireplace?

[Reverend Scapegoat]

I may be moving to a house this year, the lounge of which has a large marble hearth right where the TV should be! ;)

What I'm wondering is has anyone else mounted a TV above a fireplace / on a chimney breast with any success? Or did your house burn down?

Also, there's a small gas fire in the fireplace right now... but the marble fireplace is quite large and I'm pretty sure it blocks most of the heat that would rise vertically. Certainly, there have been digital photo frames, vases of flowers, clocks and paintings above the fire in the past with no ill effects...

Is there any chance whatsoever that I'd be able to mount the TV above the mantel and keep the fire for occasional use?


You may commence flaming now.
Thank you :)

[Kryten]

A couple of possible issues spring to mind. One would be can you successfully get the bracket secured to the wall without damaging the chimney behind? Also would the viewing level be too high and if the fire was on would the flame distract your viewing?

[Reverend Scapegoat]

I consider the first issue to be more of a problem than the second, since if it's distracting, we can turn it off :)

I'm more wondering if a plasma TV will be liable to take damage where a digital photo frame will not, from rising heat and the like... Hence my hope that someone has successfuly tried it before!

[George Mucus]

Well we did exactly that ourselves but the gas fire didn't ignite when we tried it after moving in in April (this was before we mounted the plasma), so don't know what the actual effect of the heat would be. I did install a shelf between to reflect the heat back down away from the plasma. If we do get it fixed I'll be very careful about testing whether or not it causes the plasma to get hot. This is definately something worth worrying about but the marble fireplace may be sufficient to prevent this in your case.

Thankfully the living room has been warm enough so far this winter to do without the gas fire so may never be a problem.

I do have to say that we both find the plasma to be too high up to be properly comfortable though. But then what's a bit of neck ache when it looks so good?

[jester]

I think that Plasmas/LCD over the mantlepiece look great in style mags etc but I would bet they would be a pain to actually live with.

[Dishy]

Best thing to do is take temperature readings at various points on the wall where you will be mounting the screen. With the main CH on and gas fire on max if the temperature gets anywhere near to the maximum tolerance of the screen then I would say no, if not you should be able to with no ill effects.

[HenryKrinkle]

Hmmmm, no idea about the ill effects of the rising heat, but can I just ask you...why would you want to site your TV so high up on the wall? It'll be about the same height as a mirror I suspect, would you ever have considered putting an 'old' CRT on a stand that high up? As said before, it'll probably look great when you walk into the room, all sleek and spacious, but put the thing on and slump down on your hopefully comfy sofa and be prepared for ongoing neck pains!! Ideally, IMHO the TV should be at eye level to the seated viewer to bring maximum comfort to the art of goggle-box gawping ;)

...if you're spending a fair wedge on a flatscreen at least make sure watching it brings pleasure rather than pain!!

[Reverend Scapegoat]

One word...
Children :)

Our current setup has the bottom edge of the screen about 51" off the ground, a height chosen simply because of how the woodwork was behind the plasterboard. Whilst I would like it a little lower, it's a good height to avoid small fingerprints - those being the main reason we wall-mounted in the first place.

The problem with the potential new setup is that we're stuck with the TV either slightly higher than ideal again, or in a corner, or on the narrow wall opposite the window.
So we're all either looking slightly up or slightly off to one side whatever we do.

[fishybob]

I've mounted my 37" LCD about that height above my fireplace which contains a wood burning stove. the fixing was not a problem as it is a solid brick chimney breast, and temperature is fine as i have quite a decent sized wooden mantle piece which deflects most of the heat.
The viewing angle was weird at first but after a couple of days you get used to it. No stiff necks or eyestrain to report. also makes for a much nicer surround sound setup as our chimney is in the centre of the wall.
So all in all i'd say check the temperature, maybe just by feeling the area with your hand and using your common sense. then ensure that you can fix your tv securely without compromising the chimney. apart from that i'd recommend it.
while on the subject of chimney breast mounting, has anyone got this setup with a Nintendo Wii? I have a done a little research and found that the fire seriously messes with the wiimotes IR camera, so a fireguard would be neccesary for me, but will it work happily at that sort of height. maybe another consideration for those thinking about wanging your telly on the chimney breast.

[Reverend Scapegoat]

Thanks for the testimonial :) Good to know it can be done!

And yeah, the Wii sensors pick up any IR source. You don't even need the sensor bar on the telly - You can use two candles instead if you're a tree-hugging hippy ;)