Hello cdegs,

Let’s clear the air about fireplaces, TV’s, uncomfortable viewing heights, and heat. I know there are a lot of bloggers, homeowners and even custom installation companies saying that you shouldn't mount TV's above fireplaces. Let's take a step back and consider what we all know.

People often place pictures, mementos, and even flowers on their mantles,. This morning I saw a fireplace mantle with candles of various sizes on the Houzz website. People also hang mirrors and framed pictures above fireplaces with or without mantles. Many fireplaces just have drywall above. No worry about heat, right?

As the owner of a high end custom home theater design, integration, installation, and service company for 34 years, I have a great deal of experience mounting TV’s above fireplaces. After all, that’s the way the seating faces in most homes. I have seldom seen people actually using their fireplaces, let along lighting fires while watching TV. Besides, when TV's are mounted on walls other than the fireplace wall, the reflection of the fire on the TV screen is very disruptive.

Fireplaces are designed to draw heat and smoke up the chimney and not into the room. A smaller portion of the heat from a fireplace radiates forward into the room (not a terribly efficient way to heat a room). You won't find much heat concentrated on the wall above the fireplace, but rather forward some distance. By the way, if your fireplace is sending smoke into the room, it is also sending toxic carbon dioxide and carcinogenetic ash your way. Have a professional examine it at once.

There is, however, a reason home theater designers will discourage their clients from fireplace-mounted TV’s. I did that myself when I was still running my installation company. It’s because of the viewing angle, not because of heat concerns. TV’s mounted over fireplaces are usually much too high for comfortable viewing. It’s not supposed to hurt to watch television – certainly not when all of us spend way too much of our free time parked in front of it.

What’s changed in the past year that’s dramatically solved this problem is the availability of television mounts that lower the TV. If the ideal mounting position is too high for comfortable viewing, there are three companies manufacturing mounts that can move your TV down to a comfortable viewing height. One is manual, with capacities up to 110 lbs, one is motorized, with a drop of 13”, and the last is also motorized, designed for TV’s up to 90”, with a capacity of 190 lbs. With these mounts, you would not be using your fireplace because, among other things, your TV would block the fire. And in this case, that’s a good thing.

To directly answer your question about the ideal distance to mount a TV above a fireplace, where there is no mantle, I’ve mounted TV's one or two feet above the firebox with no issues. Where there is a mantle, you can mount the TV anywhere it looks balanced to you. In either case you can investigate a manual or motorized fireplace TV mount that will bring it down to a comfortable viewing position.

And to put your mind at ease about the heat issue, try lighting a fire and placing your hand where you would like to mount your TV to determine if there is any heat present. A little bit of warmth is OK. I’ve never heard of a TV failing from excessive heat in a house in the desert, where the temperature is often above 100 degrees. Use your own common sense considering above the fireplace TV mounting and don’t just accept conventional wisdom that’s inaccurate.

ComfortVu makes some excellent points in his reply to your question. To add to this, you should consider the aesthetic impact of a TV hanging on a chimney; it makes a statement that you may or may not intend to make. At comfort suggests, there are now many, many possibilities for concealing a TV to lessen the visual impact when you aren't watching it. For example, look at products from www.futureautomation.com and http://www.inca-tvlifts.com/. Both of these reputable manufacturers offer custom and off-the-shelf solutions.

Opus has offered viable alternatives for concealment of the TV; however, if that's not your objective, but instead want to avoid neck strain and poor sight lines when placing the TV over a fireplace, you could consider the ComfortVu, Future Automation, or Dynamic mounts.

Thank you very much for all the insight!