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Home Decorating

Question for those with TVs over Fireplace

sarschlos_remodeler

15 years ago

For those of you who have mounted TVs over your fireplace, where do you store your components -- Tivo, receiver, DVD player, and TV acoutrements (wii, remotes, DVDs)?

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Comments (7)

robin2007
15 years ago
We have our TV mounted over the fireplace (love it like that, by the way!). We have a remote sensor installed and wired to our front closet. That closet is where all of our components are....vcr/dvd, dish, video games, etc. Everything is controlled by the remote.
It was super easy to install the sensor, but we did it as the house was being built, so we were able to wire it all before the drywall went up. Could still be done going through the attic though.
We bought our sensor from smarthome (dot) com.

Here is a link to my blog where I have posted our house pictures. If you scroll about 1/2 way down the page to the post called "Some House Pictures", the 5th picture down shows the tv and the front closet in the same shot. That is the closet where all of our "stuff" is at.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blog with House Pictures
robin2007
15 years ago
OK, I uploaded the picture to photobucket and now I can post it here....
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Ah, come on now, you don't like the sports-bar look?! You simply need to select a location for the equipment, whether viewable or hidden, that has AC power and where you can fish the A/V cables through the wall back up to the television. You then install an IR repeater, or also sometimes called an extender, which consists of an IR receiver, small interface box, power supply, and IR emitters. The IR receiver is typically placed discretely near, or just behind, the television and the emitters are placed in front of the equipment. The interface box/power supply are also connected at the equipment end. The wiring for the IR receiver is fished along the same path as the A/V cables. Now when watching television, and you inherently point the remote at the television to change channels, the IR signal is transmitted over the wiring, through the interface box, and to the emitters, and you have full control of your cable box, DVD player, etc. Neat, clean, and sweet!
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Please don't do it. Is not optimal (there's a chimney behind the TV, for god's sake!) and typically is too high for comfortable TV watching. If you just want oohs and aahs in the living room when folks look at your sleek TV mounted above the fireplace by all means go for it. But it's just not comfortable for hours of TV watching, and your neck will thank you for it! If you have the space put the TV in the corner. The only reason (of course, this is only my opinion) to put a TV over the fireplace is if you have no space anywhere else in the room to put it.
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I have one over a fireplace, and I love it. the rest of that wall is windows, so it was the only spot. My fireplace is gas, and there are clear guidlines about the clearence from combustibles and the like. There are heat concerns. It's commonly stated that you can't have the TV on when the temp there is 95 degrees. Easy for me to monitor, I just keep the fireplace remote there, sometimes programed to turn off the fire when the area hits that. If the fireplace is woodburning, controling the heat could be a problem and you might simply have to turn the tv off sometimes. I suspect that the 95 is a purely random number, though. Lots of homes get that hot, and we haven't heard many reports in the media about flat screens failing from it. To me, watching the fire or watching the tv are different activities that I rarely want to do at the same time. I love having the fire on for conversation, reading, playing a game, and those are times I'd rather have the TV off anyway. We do burn the fire to take the chill off the room on movie nights, but at a pretty low level. As to veiwing angle: it's about 5 ft above the floor, and the seating is about 12 feet back. It seems a little odd if you are used to a conventional set just inches off the floor, but you quickly adapt. It isn't at all uncomfortable for me or any of my family [so far as anyone has ever mentioned], and the kids and dogs don't block the screen everytime they walk by. Overall, I think its a good solution for many rooms. Just be sure to plan for power and signal up there: you don't want a lot of visible wires.
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sarschlos_remodeler
Original Author
15 years ago
Nice set up, robin. Does having the TV so high bother your necks? We're lay on the sofa folks here.

Anybody who doesn't have a nearby closet have ideas for where to store components with an over-fireplace TV set up?
robin2007
15 years ago
It doesn't at all. We even lay on the floor to watch it.

The closet doesn't need to be nearby at all. You can put it in a completely different room if you'd like. Just wanted to throw that out there.

Do you have room for shelving on either side of the fireplace? I would only be concerned about the heat if the equipment is down low near the fireplace. The mantle really stops a lot of the heat from going to the TV.
namabafo
15 years ago
our components are in our office next door. we had the whole thing wired when had the FR gutted.

and for 3 years I've been trying to like it, but I pretty much hate having the tv over the fireplace. I'm only comfortable watching it if I am 20+ away in the kitchen--then I can't really see it! lol I don't think our bracket tilts as much as robin's though. we have it at max angle--but it doesn't tilt that much.

that said--I also can't stand looking up at a screen in the movies theater, either--I love stadium seating where I can sit way up--so I am level or looking down at the screen.

ymmv!
laurience
15 years ago
I have my t.v. mounted over fireplace and am having same problem with storing pvr box. All kinds of wires that I need to hide too. I do love the t.v. over the fireplace though..
Valerie Noronha
15 years ago
sarschlos: Would there be room to put the TV to the right of the fireplace instead of above? I think it is very challenging to have a room with both a fireplace and large screen TV as well as good seating where everyone has a view of the TV unless it's a really big room. I would definitely think out a solution for this room taking all of the above into account before proceeding with the FP remodel--esp. if there is not a separate family room in the house.

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