TVs over fireplaces

[Dobela]

We will be moving to a home with a fireplace. The entire wall is brick (like 12 ft wide) with the fireplace insert right in the middle. The person we are buying the house from is leaving behind a huge sectional that takes up much of the room (we asked for it). Right now we have a huge 50ish inch TV that dh won about 7 years ago. It is not the skinny type by any means and takes at least 2 people to lift and carry it. It is in a beautiful but huge wooden cabinet. We really don't want to move them if we don't have to. One, they will be cramped in a corner of the already crowded room with the sectional. Two, they are so stinking heavy.

 

I was discussing buying a TV to put over the fireplace insert like on the TV shows. You know those new, fancy ones that are skinny. Dh is interested but is afraid that the heat from the fireplace insert will damage the TV somehow.

 

Has anyone had experience with this? FWIW, if we move our current TV it will be near the insert as well.

[Parrothead]

I could not bring myself to try it over the mantle of a working pellet stove. Electronics need a cool environment to keep them from burning up. Hence the fan in the computer tower.

 

ETA: When I say working, I'm talking about a stove that is the only heat source for the house. The thing puts out all day every day. If I was further south, I'd consider it.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Parrothead

[Kim in Appalachia]

she has a gas fireplace with a flat screen above it. She does use the fireplace during the winter. She has had it for almost 2 years. It has not been a problem.

 

HTH

[Pamela H in Texas]

There are now entertainment centers with fireplaces in them. Though it's fake, it still puts out heat. I think there is probably enough air around it that it doesn't matter.

 

ETA: our furniture guy highly suggests NOT getting the plasma as the color inserts that have to be replaced are quite pricey. I do think it is possible that the heat would cause those to run out slightly faster.

[Ali in OR]

It would be the height of the t.v. that would bother me. I want it more at eye-level from a sitting position (not that we watch much). Our mantel is pretty high--maybe 5'. The center of the picture we have over it 6'-7' off the floor.

[Caroline]

My sister has a tv over her wood burning fireplace. Heat hasn't been a problem. She has had it for six years or so. I think it is a little high for watching , but it works for her family.

[Dobela]

I could not bring myself to try it over the mantle of a working pellet stove. Electronics need a cool environment to keep them from burning up. Hence the fan in the computer tower.

 

ETA: When I say working, I'm talking about a stove that is the only heat source for the house. The thing puts out all day every day. If I was further south, I'd consider it.

We plan on using ours at least semi regularly to help with heating bills, even though we are in the south, during our cold months. The rest of the heat is electric and we expect that to be a high bill this year.

 

Thanks for the thoughts. It gives me more to think about.

[Dobela]

It would be the height of the t.v. that would bother me. I want it more at eye-level from a sitting position (not that we watch much). Our mantel is pretty high--maybe 5'. The center of the picture we have over it 6'-7' off the floor.

I hadn't thought of that aspect. Hmmm. Maybe if we do this we need to consider placing the TV in the corner... Then there is question about the DVD, game consoles...

[Caroline]

I hadn't thought of that aspect. Hmmm. Maybe if we do this we need to consider placing the TV in the corner... Then there is question about the DVD, game consoles...

 

My sister has all of this stuff in a corner of the room in a cabinet. The house was wired so this set up would work. Somehow the connections are all hidden and in the walls. This stuff was done when they were building the house.

[hsbaby]

Ours is over our gas fireplace. We haven't had any problems, though we don't use the fireplace all that much. We love it because the kids can't touch it with their dirty hands:) and it frees up so much floor space. DH made shelves in the coat closet to hold all of our stuff....the Xbox, DVD, cable box, etc. He had to do all the wiring so it was hidden, but we love it! We haven't had an issue with the height of the TV.

[happi duck]

It would be the height of the t.v. that would bother me. I want it more at eye-level from a sitting position (not that we watch much). Our mantel is pretty high--maybe 5'. The center of the picture we have over it 6'-7' off the floor.

 

:iagree: I think the height of the tv would be uncomfortable for viewing.

[simka2]

Mine sits on a 5' mantle above a wood burning fireplace. We don't have a problem with the height or the heat :001_smile:. If you mount it you can angle it down which might help with the height issue. We love haveing it on the mantle!!!

[Pamela H in Texas]

Part of the issue with the height would be how big the tv is and how big the room is. For example, we have a 60 inch (we're renting furniture temporarily) on top of a fireplace center. That puts the middle of it about 5 feet. That generally is a little high, imo, but the room is large enough that we can sit far enough away that it's not really an issue. However, when i'm sitting at the closest seat (closest end of the couch), I do notice a color (or something) change I don't like. For example, I prefer being the 4th player (rather than 2nd) on MarioKart because of it.

[5kidsforME]

Mine sits on a 5' mantle above a wood burning fireplace. We don't have a problem with the height or the heat :001_smile:. If you mount it you can angle it down which might help with the height issue. We love haveing it on the mantle!!!

 

:iagree: We actually have it above the mantle about 5 inches. In the beginning it was weird but now we wouldn't change it. When we had a Wii it was awesome!

[MamaT]

Mine sits on a 5' mantle above a wood burning fireplace. We don't have a problem with the height or the heat :001_smile:. If you mount it you can angle it down which might help with the height issue. We love haveing it on the mantle!!!

 

Me too, and we do have ours at a slight angle.

[Wheres Toto]

Our television sits on the mantle above our wood burning fireplace along with our phone, BlueRay player and satellite box (a big plus - it keeps all the buttons out of reach of the children). Sounds like yours is similar to ours - a stone fireplace that takes up the whole wall. Our room isn't that big so we need to utilize any space we can.

 

I haven't found it uncomfortable to watch and our couch is only about 10 feet away from the fireplace.

[Nature]

Our TV is over our fireplace and now we don’t use the fireplace anymore. :( The TV becomes very hot. It hasn’t ruined it, but I don’t want to risk ruining it. Unfortunately, that is the only place for the TV in that room.

[Ellie]

We spent a long weekend with some friends whose TV is above the fireplace. Hated it. It was way too high for comfortable viewing. I will never, ever do that.

[RoughCollie]

We spent a long weekend with some friends whose TV is above the fireplace. Hated it. It was way too high for comfortable viewing. I will never, ever do that.

 

:iagree: The seating has to be placed further away from the wall for comfortable viewing, and it has not been at any of the homes I've visited.

[QueenCat]

Ours is in an insert over the fireplace. No problems with it getting too hot from a fire (gas logs). No problems with the height and viewing. That will vary with room size.

[Spy Car]

It would be the height of the t.v. that would bother me. I want it more at eye-level from a sitting position (not that we watch much). Our mantel is pretty high--maybe 5'. The center of the picture we have over it 6'-7' off the floor.

 

:iagree:

 

Many (most) people with flat-screens place them wy too high.

 

Bill

[FeFe]

We have ours above the mantel and it hasn't had any problems. We discussed this with the installer first and I forgot how he eased our minds but he did.

 

As far as the height, I think it depends on the placement of your couches. Our family room is fairly large. You don't really have to hold your neck a certain way to view the TV.

 

It hasn't been a problem for us and we love the fact that there are no fingerprints to worry about. And the space that it frees up. We have two focal points - the fireplace and huge windows that look out over the lake. If we had put the TV anywhere else it would have been awkward from a decorator standpoint - not that it matters too much!

[Trish]

It would be the height of the t.v. that would bother me. I want it more at eye-level from a sitting position (not that we watch much). Our mantel is pretty high--maybe 5'. The center of the picture we have over it 6'-7' off the floor.

 

I agree this could turn out to be a big issue. You DON'T want to have to tilt your head up to watch TV!