Flat screen LCD over fireplace

14 years ago

We are considering hanging our new 55" flatscreen LCD over the fireplace in the family room and want to see what other people who have a similar setup have to say. Do you like it? Is it uncomfortable? Note that we are mostly semi-reclining when viewing TV (natural body tilt!). We will be buying a sectional sofa, where the parallel to TV sofa part will be 15 feet away from the TV. The top of the TV will be one feet below the ceiling (I have 9 feet ceiling height).

I know that many people are completely against this, but I want to hear from people who have this setup.

Thanks.

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Comments (7)

cesaly
14 years ago
I know a few high-end AV guys. They all say don't put an LCD flat screen over a fireplace because heat affects performance and longevity. Didn't ask about the soot.
shelleyrenae
14 years ago
we've had 48" LCD flat screen on our fireplace mantle of our woodburning fireplace for several years. So far, we've had no issues at all and absolutely love it our den is about 18' x 20'. We never thought to consult anyone about it, just went to Best Buy and bought the t.v...they only had one that's base would fit on the mantle..no complaints or problems here.
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As far as putting a tv over the fireplace, I won't go into details becuase there is already a discussion on this forum on this topic, just be aware there are issues with it. If you are looking at 42" to 50" I'd definitely go plasma over LCD. LCD's "sweet spot" are really 37" and smaller. Although LCD's now are availabe above 40", the price difference in this range between LCD and plasma is not material. Plasma TV's produce superior black levels than LCD's, do not have a limited viewing angle like LCD, and process quick movement faster than LCD. What repair issues??? For some reason people like to perpetuate myths about plasma TV's. Current generation plasma TV's have a half-life of 60,000 hours. That's watching 8 hours a day every day for 20.5 years. "Burn-in" is no longer an issue with modern plasma's - you just have to be a little careful what you watch in the first 100 hours. The gas in the plasma is sealed just like their is gas sealed inside your old tube TV - it won't leak and doesn't need to be recharged. If you're worried, opt for an extended warranty. Panasonic and Pioneer are recognized as the two best brands for plasma with Panasonic being considerably cheaper and therefore harder to get (especially with their 9th generation panels just coming out).
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Just bumping up this topic hoping to get some installation help. We will probably be hanging our Sharp Aquos 46" over our gasd fireplace. Thanks!
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I needed to mount a TV above the fireplace because it was really the only place in the room it could be viewed by everyone and not in the way. The mantel of our fireplace is rather high (almost 6 feet) which would put the center of the TV well above a comfortable viewing angle. I spent months searching for a TV mount that could lower the TV to a decent height. I quickly discovered that anything motorized would cost several times what I paid for the TV. Beyond that, there were 2 options: Omnimount or Down and Out by Dynamic Mounting (http://www.dynamicmounting.com/index.php). The Omnimount is cheaper ($200-$300 vs. $400-$500) but an inferior product for my purposes. The Down and Out mount is much thinner (protrudes ~4 inches from the wall) and can lower the TV much farther (~30 inches!). I should also say that I have engineering degrees and tend to do all my own work. I thought about making my own mount but was a bit surprised at both the cost and level of difficulty. The Down and Out was fairly simple to mount on the wall and works VERY well.
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Just saw your post regarding your fireplace mount. There's a lot of variables when mounting over a fireplace: wood, pellet, or in your case, gas - zero clearance insert or real brick built fireplace - then LCD or plasma (plasma generally has cooling fans w/filters that don't like smoke & dust) - smoke is attracted to the screen - temperature rising up to the TV (which usually in most cases is not as bad as you'd think) - height of the TV which should be at eye level at the center of the screen or worse case, bottom of the screen (but then that also depends on how much TV you watch) and yes a tilt mount helps with higher mounts. Next, is on a finished brick fireplace you don't know where studs are or what's behind them - any installations that I've done I have always gone through the mortar into the stud or header, as opposed to damaging the brick which is difficult to repair if the mount is taken down. And, the big next, is installing an electrical outlet behind the TV and then finding a way to route the A/V cables to the equipment - running across the brick really doesn't create the "Photoshop look" people see in magazines! I have done some installations where a remodel was being done and they could open up a wall so you could see inside where you want to mount and figure out a cable route (keep it expandable) and outlet installation. Having said all that it can be done but I have also have had customers who wanted me to take down an installation somebody else did over their fireplace. I won't do a fireplace installation unless I am very comfortable about the installation, the customer understands everything, and then it will often be much more expensive than mounting on a standard wall. So, just be sure about what you want and make sure whoever does it, does it all to code... you wouldn't believe some of the stuff I seen such as AC power cords being fed down walls, etc..
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dshuler99
14 years ago
I've got a 42" plasma above my fireplace. At first, I didn't enjoy looking upward at the TV, but I kept it there because the position makes viewing from my dining area possible. Now, the upward viewing angle is not bothersome.
yogeeta
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for all your replies. We are mostly going to go with this idea. Our mantle is pretty high, so we tried getting estimates to lower it (cut out a portion of the surround), but it seems pretty expensive to do that and since this is a brand new house, we are not sure if we want to start breaking things.
toomuchremodeling
14 years ago
We put our LCD above the fireplace five years ago and it is a total non-issue. We did have a mantle which acted as a bit of a break for the heat.

We also used a mount that tilted down a bit, which was nice. No one ever complained.
fandlil
14 years ago
Since your house is new, you should check the specs of your fireplace and look specifically at the CLEARANCES. These numbers refer to the distance around the firebox that needs to have only noncombustible material, like marble, slate, metal, etc. If your mantel is wood and your fireplace was installed properly, you can be sure that placing something above the mantel will not be a fire hazard. But heat rises and therefore the wall above the firebox will be warmer than, say, another wall in the room. There is therefore a risk that the extra heat will shorten the life of the TV.
beccap
14 years ago
We have a Samsung flat screen LCD and in very fine print it is stated that the warranty is void if hung over a heat source.

Flat screen LCD over fireplace

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cesaly

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Flat screen LCD over fireplace

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