We are moving soon and in the family room the most ideal place for the TV is over the fire place. I have never wall mounted a TV before and I have heard some people say it can be done and some say not to. It is an electric fire place. When mounting I also struggle with what do you do with the wires and the DVD player and cable box? So would you wall mount it, and what do you do with the cable box and other hook ups?
No I wouldn't, simply for aesthetic reasons. I would put a pretty mirror or artwork there and mount the tv over a media credenza to store the cable box, movies and such. The wiring goes into the wall, so best to have a professional do it.
Our TV is mounted above the fireplace. Full wood burning if that matters. It is a 60 something inch so it sits just above the speakers so no one can really see the wires. I have a tower that sits next to the fireplace that holds the cable box, surround, xbox, whatever else is on it. All the speaker wires go into the wall behind that. You can't see anything. I think it looks good and the fireplace doesn't effect it at all. Not sure why but even with a roaring fire the TV is no warmer than when there isn't a fire.
Just throwing this out there my husband is a control system programmer/installer, he has the equipment to check and no heat hits that TV.
To do it "right" it IS a big deal...the wires have to go into the wall so it doesn't look tacky with cords coming down & around. But yes, they can be wall mounted.
I might not hang a tv over a heat source like that though--gotta wonder if it would ruin the tv, right?
Heat rises. The heat from the fireplace will damage your TV unless you've got a great mantle, and great insulation behind the TV.
Empiracle test; put a thermometer on the mantle and cranknupbthe fire. If it rises any level quickly, or 5-10 plus degrees in a half an hour, your TV will fry in 6mo or less. If it only nudges a couple degrees OR DROPS (happens with air currents and great mantles, the mantle creates a heat shield and directs the heat outward, creating a 'rain shadow' type effect... Then you're good to go
Personally, I would not mount a tv over a fireplace period. The angle I have to tilt my head at to watch it causes me a neck ache.
I've seen it done with drywall put over the brick and the wires go behind the wall. My guess is that you won't have to worry about heat. Especially if you have control over how hot the fire gets and don't have to worry about smoke. I'd be more worried about doing that over a wood burning fireplace.
to hide the wires they make a hole in the wall behind the tv and drop the cablesand then make another hole where you need them to go to . i tell you that we had ours over the fireplace and i hated it. ater looking at a certain degree up for a certain period of time my neck would hurt and i would get a headache and it would just be awkward. so i suggest trying to stare at a spot above the mantel for a good 15 minutes and see how you feel after that beore deciding to mount it. make sure you sit the way you normally would to watch tv.
I'm not sure everyone realizes electric fireplaces are just for show and give off no heat. Well, unless you have that option. We can turn the heat on if we want to.
Way back when my oldest was about a year old, I used to watch HGTV. I remember seeing many wall mounted tv's over the fireplace. They looked very nice, but I did always wander what it would be like to sit down and actually watch a movie at that angle. I'm so used to the tv being 2 or 3 feet off the ground, not 5 or 9.
Maybe you could watch some HGTV in your spare time! Just kidding!!! Good luck with the move.
I personally hate the way a tv looks over a fireplace. Thats the last place I would ever put one. I think it detracts from the look of the fireplace. Its also really bad looking in pictures at Christmas time with the stockings hung up. Just my opinion. (o:
Definitely have a professional do the install. We didn't mount it, but we did have a TV is a cut out over a gas fireplace and had no problems. We put the cable box right next to the TV in the cutout. Our friends mounted their TV over their fireplace and had all the electronics in a shelf next to the fireplace and had them professionally wired behind everything so you didn't see them.
