I was wondering if anyone has put their flat panel television over the mantle of their fireplace, my parent's house has the perfect location to put the TV over the fireplace (which I plan to get them for Christmas) and I was wondering if it is safe to do so.

If it is not, I may go conventional or just flat screen and get them a pretty big unit, but I thought a 30 inch or so would be cool for the living room just hanging on the wall.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

Check out www.avsforum.com - they have a whole forum about installations, and what to avoid.

I don't think you'll have a problem with the heat from the fire, but you might find that you have to tilt the tv quite a bit to get a decent viewing angle, depending on how far from the fireplace the seats are.

 

it would look good there, but everyone would get a sore neck looking up at it, I'd think.

 

to be honest, I'd make sure that the air above the fireplace is cool enough to allow for proper cooling of the electronic components of the TV. I'm not sure about the TV you're getting but I know some of the plasma TVs have some pretty hardcore fans to cool them down. the LCD ones require less cooling (just look at the flat panel monitors out-- no cooling fans).

you might consider actually testing the spot-- light a fire in the fireplace and hang a thermometer off of a thumbtack or something. it might give away the secret a little bit (that you're planning on putting something there), but in the long run, it'd sure be a bummer if your expensive Xmas gift burned out prematurely.

$.02

 

Also how often is the fireplace used? In our old house we had one and i think in five years we lit up maybe 2 fires.

 

Thanks for all the input, it is actually a second home they have in Upstate NY, so basically its there to have fires in the fireplace and all that good stuff because there is nothing much around other than the lake and snowmobiling come wintertime.

I may just wind up getting it for them either way, I am sure they will find a place to put it, but I will do some further research before suggesting to put it over the fireplace.

 

Not exactly your situation, but I have a large cutout above my fireplace where I have a 50" DLP set. The fireplace has a mantle and as far as I can tell, there's the mantle defelcts most of the heat. It's a little warm if I put my hand underneath the mantle when the fireplace is going, but it's cool on the top. Regarding the angle / height of the TV, it is a little wierd for the first few minutes, but everyone seems to get used to it very quickly. I have the set tilted forward a few degrees.

 

I have a 42" plasma above my fireplace, in a cubby hole (large one) above it. I definitely checked for heat first. Another thing you might have to worry about is the construction of the fireplace. If it is an older house, more heat could roll up from the front of the fireplace and to where you have the TV. Just be careful to monitor the temperature before you leave the TV up there for any serious length of time.

 

I went to a few stores today and got a few BIG FAT NO's on the subject so I think its pretty much out, I looked at the DLP's and they were a great deal in comparison to the flat panels so I may do that route instead...too many choices.

 

I have a Zenith 60" plasma installed over the fireplace. The mounting bracket is tied into 2 studs -- no issue.

Your neck does hurt if you sit on the ground.