Fireplace TVs

We get a lot of calls to mount TVs over the fireplace.

From a design perspective, this makes a lot of sense. It pulls the room together, giving it one focal point, instead of two. It also saves a lot of space in the room, and it makes furniture placement a lot easier - you don't have to lay out the furniture to be able to see both the fireplace and the TV at the same time!

Overall, we really like the look of putting the TV over the fireplace - in fact, one of the key ads in our ad campaign shows a wonderfull view of a modern living room with the TV over the fireplace.

While fireplaces are an excellent place to put the TV, they can also be a bit more difficult than standard on-wall installations. For example, the fireplace front may be made out of brick or stone, or there may be a mantle right where we need to put the TV. And usually, builders don't put electrical outlets and cable raceways where we need them. Since one of the advantages of locating the TV over the fireplace is a nice, clean look, it's important to have a way to hide both the video wiring and the power cables.

While these installations can take us a bit longer, we have several partners that we work with to help move the electricity, remove or remount the mantle, and ensure a clean-looking installation. While they're in there, we usually ask them to put in a path for us to run the cables - then our job takes less time. Finally, we come in and mount the TV and speakers, install the source equipment, and calibrate the whole thing.

Incidentally, we also have the electrician put in a surge-suppression outlet. That helps protect your investment from transient power spikes and other power issues.

People also ask about the heat and soot from the fireplace - does it reduce the life of the TV? The answer is, a little bit, but not by much. The important thing is to make sure you keep the screen clean - the soot will very slowly create a thin film on the screen. This can take many years, depending on how often you use your TV, so don't worry that it will make your TV go bad in weeks or months! The other point to note is that you should limit the amount of time you burn a fire while the TV is on. This is because the additional heat from the fire, combined with the heat generated by the TV electronics, can shorten the life of your TV. Again, it's not a huge impact, as most TVs are designed to operate at room temperatures of over 100 degrees. Since the heat from the fireplace dissipates as it rises, you're not likely to exceed the operating temperatures - you will simply be running the TV at the top of its designed range.

I hope this answers some of your questions about putting the TV over the fireplace. Feel free to drop us a line here or by email if you have questions or comments!

Thanks -
Rob