I was considering the need to childproof our TV and bemoaning the problems of its location (the house was built in 1928, the living room just sort of faces the fireplace, there isn’t a good wall to put the TV on, etc.) So the only place we could really conveniently mount the TV to the wall is above the fireplace.
My concerns:
We have gas logs we never use. Of course, there might come a time we want to use them. Would that be a problem? I know a lot of people do the TV-over-fireplace thing, but is it bad for the TV?
Am I going to hate the viewing angle? That’s higher up than most people put their TVs.
What are you supposed to do about cords, if you do that? I guess we’d have to get a media cabinet for all our little black electronic boxes - is it going to look like crap?
The walls are plaster. Is that a problem? I assume we’d want to get professional installation; honestly, I’ve had this house ten years and still don’t know how to do things with plaster walls. (Drywall is infinitely more common in South Carolina.)
My TV is over the fireplace. (Well, technically, I have a digital projector near the back of the room and the viewing screen is over the fireplace.)
On the issue of damaging it… I’m not sure exactly, but the answer should be no. If there’s fumes coming out of your fireplace, or enough heat to damage a TV, you’ll probably have bigger problems going on than ruining your TV. I’d run the fireplace for four or five hours, then feel around the location you’ll put the TV to see if it is hot.
On the issue of the viewing angle… I actually prefer it a little high like that. Feels more like a movie theater. It’s not so high that we have neck strain or anything like that.
Yes. Flat screens are robust, except when they are the subject of heat. This according to a client who repairs them. No matter where you put them, make sure they have enough room for air to move around them, especially the back. Never mount them flush on the wall.
No. as long as you have it above the mantle with sufficient space to get cooling. If you buy a mount plate that won’t be an issue.
Maybe. How far back are you from the tv to your viewing area? Try sitting down where you normally would and look where you want the tv to go for a few minutes.
Cord keepers or run channel to hide them and paint them to match your wall. Something like this. A media cabinet doesn’t have to be ugly, shop around and you’ll find one that suits the room.
It shouldn’t be a huge issue but if you have an installer that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg it may be worthwhile to invest in one. They may also be able to fish the cabling through the wall so it’s completely invisible.
You’ll need one or two thermometers. How hot does the wall become, and how hot does the air space above the fireplace opening become? Electronic devices don’t tolerate excessive heat for very long. And they don’t do well with a constant supply of soot.
If you don’t find orange extension cords to be aesthetically pleasing, you might consider mounting an electrical outlet in the wall behind the TV, if there’s room, and it doesn’t interfere with the chimney flue. Or run a wooden, or metal channel, along the wall down to the floor. Something nice that matches the décor.
I had my TV mounted over a gas fireplace for about five years. Worked great, no problems with the TV. I did use a mounting plate and had it installed by a handyman.
In addition to the obvious heat/soot potential damage, the viewing angle is just shit. I like the screen to have 1/3 above my eye line and 2/3 below my eye line. For me that’s a comfortable viewing angle. Above the fireplace prevents that from happening.
I disagree with some of the others. I have no doubt that it will work but the viewing angle is not good unless you yearn for that sport’s bar effect and really enjoy neck pain. It may work if you don’t expect to sit in one spot and watch long shows however. My mother and stepfather have theirs mounted like that because it was trendy when they built their McMansion and large flat-screen TV’s were a new thing but I hate it whenever I visit. They have theirs mounted up really high though (like 7 1/2 feet from the floor to the bottom of the TV) and your setup may not be as extreme.
Still, the best viewing angle is right at eye level in the middle of the screen when you are sitting in the most likely place that people will watch it. TV stands or cabinets that the TV sits on top of can help you achieve that easily. I have mine sitting on a sturdy wooden cabinet with the cords carefully hidden behind it. There is nothing a toddle can use to hurt themselves in that setup. One may be able to smear peanut butter or draw on the TV itself but there is no danger to the child.
Over the fireplace is where people who don’t particularly value watching TV put their TVs. That is not necessarily a bad thing; there are more important things in life than TV, after all, and if you like the room better that way, it’s certainly positive that it’s a net benefit. (Though, I don’t actually like it from a room design point of view either, but that’s obviously much more YMMV.)
I should mention that TV watching is pretty much our primary entertainment. Quality TV and movies is what we do instead of going to bars or what have you. (I mean, we do other stuff too, we go to, like, parks and brewery tours and stuff. But when we’re at home on the couch we enjoy quality TV.)
I don’t understand mounting your TV on a wall at all. When flatscreens first became affordable they were mounted like that, well, just because for the first time you physically could. And because every futuristic sci-fi movie showed flatscreens mounted that way. But I quickly discovered that it is an incredibly unergonomic location, it’s simply too high (unless you watch TV while standing up*!*) A TV screen needs to be at ‘sitting-on-the-couch-eye-level’, which is about chest-high. Which is too low to mount on the wall (without it looking really stupid anyway!)
Cable company would probably charge an arm and a leg to come out and set this up. Much better to find a local handyman who has wall-mounted TVs over fireplaces before.
We had ours mounted above a gas fireplace, found a local guy whose whole business is installing flatscreens, on every kind of wall imaginable. Cost around $130 which included the cost of the mounting plate/hardware and extra-long cable, all of which he sourced and brought with him. Would’ve been cheaper if we’d already had hardware and cable.
Our guy said most TV wall installations can be done so that there is a minimum of cable visible, unless there’s some special circumstance of a location relative to its proximity to outlets, internet feed, etc. This includes ALL cords and cables, even if you have multiple “boxes” like game consoles, Tivo, whatever. In our case we only have the TV and one small cable box. The mount he sourced has a shelf directly beneath the TV to hold this box. If you have multiple peripherals, you can simply obtain a mount that has the right number of shelves for them. The cords/cables should be showing minimally once it’s mounted if your installer knows their stuff. For us the only thing visible is the few inches of cord from the box up to the back of the TV. All cables are threaded through the wall. Nothing “hangs down” and nothing looks unsightly around the TV itself. Very clean effect overall! Angle’s great for us, too.
Sorry for such a long post, but just letting you know there are lots of people whose only job is installing TVs and if you do a little diligence online (yelp, Emily’s List, whatever) you will be able to find someone local who will be much much cheaper than the cable company, I feel pretty sure.
I agree. I bought a wooden cabinet that is only 4" wider than my 46" TV on each side and only about 14" deep. It is perfect. It has compartments that hold a subwoofer in the middle and dual compartments on the far sides that hide the rest of my sound system and all DVD’s with space to spare. It has holes drilled in the back to feed the wires out of sight. There is no technician necessary and it holds the TV at the perfect height on a very stable platform.
A flat screen TV mounted on the wall is way too 2004 for my taste and it never worked that well for most purposes. Just buy a cabinet sized correctly that provides an attractive and solid base for the TV and has room for other components below (you need some type of supplemental speakers). You can move it when you want and don’t have to worry about where to store other components like you do if you insist on mounting one straight on a wall.
Eye-level at 1/3 of screen height from the top of the screen is the generally recommended positioning for a screen.
If the TV is going to be used for extended viewing like a full movie or a few episodes, you probably do not want to be looking up that whole time. It’s uncomfortable.
Agree. I hate the high mounted TV, especially in a home. It’s personal preference, obviously, but if you’re watching a movie or a game or anything for a couple hours, it gets uncomfortable.
I live in an old house too, and opted to put the tv in the little alcove at the end of the room, rather than above the fireplace . . . and arrange the furniture accordingly. Then . . . rather than mount the tv on the wall or place it on a cabinet, I hired a professional installer and had him suspend the tv from the ceiling, with adjustable cable. I played around with the height until I was happy with one.
The old plaster ceiling can hold quite a heavy weight.
