TV Installation Above Wood Burning Stove

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mattyc94

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I have a bit of a dilemma which I'm hoping some members can help shed some light on. Our lounge, while a good size room, only really lends itself to mounting a TV above the wood burning stove. Worth noting that this is a block wall not stud.

From a bit of research I see concerns of heat, viewing angle and building regulations. The viewing angle while not ideal we can live with. Heat and building regs I am hoping can partly be addressed with a non-combustible mantle.

Key measurements:

Recess for Stove - 820mm x 960mm
Top of stove to top of insert - 430mm
Flu pipe diameter - 135mm

Questions

  1. Can the bottom of the mantle sit flush with the top of the recess?
  2. Is there a minimum depth and height the mantle should be?
  3. How far should the TV be above the mantle?
  4. Has anyone seen any evidence of a TV being effected by heat/smoke/suit in a similar setup to what I am suggesting?

I have added some images and (terrible) mock-ups of what I am hoping to achieve. The HETAS diagram is for a combustible mantle (non-combustible mantle distance is 1.5 x diameter of vitreous/flue pipe).

Existing Fireplace.jpg Recess with stove.png Real life Mock Up.png Mock Up with Approx Dimensions.png wood-burning-recess-requirements-hetas-combustible.jpg

Open to all suggestions/criticisms. Trying to make an informed decision as possible. Thanks in advance.
 
Unless someone here straddles the boundaries, then I would have thought that the folk in the heating/building sub forums are better equipped to answer questions 1 and 2.

From a tech point of view, there really isn't a direct answer to Q3 because local conditions will vary so much. TVs will work okay up to a room temp of 40 degrees. The speaker sound from most ultra thin modern tellies is fairly parp, so you might want to think about leaving adequate space for some kind of soundbar to beef up the audio.

Q4: LCD/LED TV panels are not sealed. Over time, the internal air currents inside the TV will circulate and deposit fine dust in between the layers between the backlight and LCD matrix (the bit that makes the picture), and between the matrix and any surface protective layer. After a couple of years in an average living room you can start to see some variation in the brightness of the screen when displaying a uniform light coloured background image. It looks a bit like a dirty window.

Putting the TV over a heat source that chucks out this same kind of fine dust will speed up that degradation.

Where the room layout is fixed, and you've already got the fire and the TV point set up, then there's really not a lot that can be done to change this. Either don't spend a lot on a high-end LED TV, or go for something with a sealed panel. That means spending top Dollar on an OLED next time.
 
@Lucid very helpful thanks for that. The wall above the stove doesn't actually seem to get too hot. I need to get a thermometer taped on and a good 4-5 hours burning to test.

I actually have an OLED TV to go up. Are they sealed panels?
 
I would never mount a TV above a stove. Heat and modern electronics don’t go together.
Then there is the very valid point that a TV above a stove is just too high for comfortable viewing. You’ll get a crick in the neck.
 
@winston1 The TV will be used for occassional use in the 'good room' so crick in the neck won't really be an issue. Our living room has the TV mounted at eye level on a non-chimney breast wall as used daily.

Heat and modern electrics - I completely get the argument. I would love to see some evidence of TV's being destroyed/life shortened from mounting above a stove. From trawling the forums I see lots of people saying what you have said but I've yet to come accross anyone posting pictures/accounts of it happening. I'm not saying that it's not true of course. Perhaps lots of people embarassed that their TV is broken due to going against others advice.

Trying to make as informed a decision as possible.
 
where are you planning to run the cables?

i assume you dont want to surface mount them as they'll look rubbish.

the cables will be required to be inserted in a heat proof/fire resistant sleeve.

as for the TV you will need something underneath it to reflect the heat away, so your mantle piece idea would be good, it will require a heat reflective coating underneath.

the chimney breast will only ever get luke warm at best.

no problem with mounting the telly there if you wish providing the relevant precautions are taken.
 
The only cables that will be exposed are the power and ethernet to the TV. We chased the wall for Electric and ethernet to the sockets (see pic in first post).

Heat proof/fire resistant sleeve - will look into this.
Heat reflective coating - will take a look at this as well.
 
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Sure is. It was installed early November. The picture in my first post is how everything sits right now.
 
If thats the case if the tv could be mounted with an air gap behind and as suggested , mantle protruding out under to deflect the air flow then I cant see a problem
 
The other thing you may like to consider would be a stove top heat fan , I have a £17 Aldi version of a much more expensive Ecofan, which has been faultless but only available a couple of times a year.
With your stove in a deep recess like that, it does move the hot air away into the room
 
I love wood burners and open fires, but have ditched them now as I also love home cinema. I'd either put the TV in the corner and make do with that, or ditch the wood burner. I wouldn't want a TV above a fire, smoke, dust and heat will probably affect the TV eventually, and as mentioned, there is the problem of where everything else goes, assuming you have sat boxes, bluray, consoles, amp, speakers etc.
 
lostinthelight said:
The other thing you may like to consider would be a stove top heat fan , I have a £17 Aldi version of a much more expensive Ecofan, which has been faultless but only available a couple of times a year.
With your stove in a deep recess like that, it does move the hot air away into the room
Click to expand...

Yep little VonHaus fan on top already.

jonbey said:
I love wood burners and open fires, but have ditched them now as I also love home cinema. I'd either put the TV in the corner and make do with that, or ditch the wood burner. I wouldn't want a TV above a fire, smoke, dust and heat will probably affect the TV eventually, and as mentioned, there is the problem of where everything else goes, assuming you have sat boxes, bluray, consoles, amp, speakers etc.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to have any boxes up there. A soundbar will be about the height of it.
 
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