How To Install Fireplaces Above TV & Near Televisions?
For many years the central focus of any home has always been the fireplace. The living room was traditionally seen as the central focal point of the home and the home was adequately decorated around the fireplace to create a lovely look and feel. Nowadays televisions (TV) play a dominant role in entertaining the family and have a more dominant role in the primary living space (sitting room). In the past TV’s were small in size (typically 26 inches) and were traditionally located in the corner of the room, however nowadays with the ever increasing popularity of larger screens (50 inches) televisions require a more dominant central position in your living room where everyone can get a better view.
Placing a TV above & near a working fireplace:
1. We often get asked if it is safe to fit a TV above a working fireplace and the answer is often more complex than it initially appears.
(a) Gas fireplaces often generate a large flow of air up the chimney as they are on average 60% efficient, which means 40% of the heat is lost up the chimney. Effectively this means the chimney breast gets rather hot and is unsuitable for mounting a sensitive appliance like a television if you regularly use the gas fire.
(b) Solid fuel fireplace (such as wood burning stoves or Victorian fireplaces) generate much more heat and can typically generate up to 5 KW of heat and for that reason would damage the working parts of televisions if a it was located close to the fire.
2. Electric fireplaces (such as the image shown) have a more decorative flame effect that can be and for that reason can be installed near your television. Electric fires essentially are an optical illusion and effectively can be used independently of the heat source. This means you can have the warm glow and look of a hot burning fire without the heat output that could damage your television.