What You Need To Know Before Mounting Your TV Over A Fireplace
It can be a little tricky knowing where to start if you choose to hang a tv over a fireplace without the aid of a tv installation service. A task like this comes with a few different problems along with the obvious fire safety hazard connected to it.
As an TV Installer, I’ve installed numerous TVs over fireplaces. I’ll post a couple pictures of my installations, to give a good ideal of the outcome. I’ll also attempt to answer the most ask questions I get.
Can you sit a TV on a mantle?
While sitting your newly purchase TV on your fireplace mantle seem reasonable, I wouldn’t recommend doing so. The legs portion of most flat TVs are usually wider than the depth of the mantle. I’ve also witness numerous TV fall from a mantle.
Will my TV Melt or damage over a fireplace?
The last thing you want is for your television to be affected by the heat and flames that emanate from a fireplace. Here are two steps you can take to combat this.
- We recommend always mounting TVs over fireplaces with mantles. This rule should be strongly followed with gas and wood fireplaces. When a mantle is not available move the TV higher up the wall.
- Consider your fireplace usage prior to mounting.
Flames from a gas fireplace aren’t the only problem at play here, you also need to think about the dust, soot, and ash that rises from fire. These remnants can creep their way inside your tv set and affect performance. This why a mantel is so important.
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In addition, most pro installers will organize your wires with cable ties, hooks, or channels so they don’t just dangle down haphazardly and get damaged also.
When The TV over your fireplace is too high
Ordinarily, the wall space above a fireplace tends to be a quite high relative viewing point. Neck strain can be reduced be using a tilted mount. In addition, the picture quality can potentially be distorted for some models if viewed from the wrong angle.
Over the years of installing, I’ve routinely encourage customers to purchase a Pull Down TV Mount(As seen in the picture). These mounts pull down over the fireplace for a easy viewing experience and retract up over the fireplace. You can grab these mount from Amazon. The link is below
How do I hide the wires on A Fireplace?
Most companies like Best Buy and Home Advisor will charge a fortune to hide wires on a fireplace. Typically, if you have an outlet to the left or right of the fireplace the better pricing. For those who cant find an outlet near the fireplace, this may require the TV Installer to route wires from the basement or attic. This can be a labor intensive, resulting in a higher price quote.
In closing, biggest advantage of mounting a TV over a fireplace is the amount of space that is freed up by doing this. You can now do what you want with the floor space without having a television planted there getting in your way.