To place new TV in alcove or over mantelpiece?

galwayguy85

Tryng to weight up the options to buy my folks a HD TV for the christmas.

Currently have an ages old 22 inch 4:3 TV tucked away in the corner.

Debating wheater to get a 32 inch HD TV and hope that it will fit in the corner OR to get a larger set (40 or 42 inches) and put it above the mantelpiece?

It is just slightly over a metre from the ground to the top of the mantlepiece.

Would this be too high to put the TV for comfortable viewing? Also would lighting the fire over the winter put at risk the TV over the mantlepiece?

I have attached a pic of my living room also.



Thanks for your feed back folks!

Access

Hi galwayguy,

The alcove on the left looks like it wouldn't accommodate a 32 inch tv on a stand without having to have it half way out towards you on the sitting room floor beyond the fireplace.

I did the same for my parents and in my sis house as well, a 32 inch tv to be honest would look lost (too small) over the mantel, your pic shows roughly the same layout as my parents sitting room.

Basically i went to my local DID, picked out the 32 and 40 inch tellys that i want to buy and measured both tvs height and width. i went home, with a few empty boxes from my local shop and cut out the measurements on flat cardboard of the 32 and 40 inch tv and placed them up on the chimney breast above the mantel to see how big they would look.

Like i say, the 32 looked lost, but the 40 was just about right for their chimney breast. (a 42 inch or bigger would just look too much IMHO)

Heat isnt an issue from the fireplace as there is a large lip on the fireplace mantel, in your pic there seems to be large lip on the mantel too so you are fine there as it would shield the mounted tv from the heat of the fire.

You would have to get the cables "chased" though. This involves having to cut a channel to put in a run of narrow ducting to place cables into (power/coax/HDMI etc) and then this would be skimmed over with plaster again and repainted. (it looks better then hanging cables) its messy but well worth it in the end. Factor in about 50 to 80 euro for a lad to do that.

The tv mounted on the mantel would take about a month or so to get used to as your tv in the pic is very low on that stand, and its the best thing since sliced bread having their tv mount above the mantel now according to my own dad!

Maybe since it is a christmas present for your folks, just buy the tv, no stand or wall bracket and discuss with them what they would like to do and you could do it after christmas then.

Good luck with it.

galwayguy85

Thanks for that, Access. Your advice will go a long way.

Access

No prob... let us know how you get on.

ceegee

Stupid question - Does having an open fire blazing under the TV not get distracting?

galwayguy85

It will really only be burning over the Christmas holidays, I'd reckon. A burning fire was never an issue when the telly was positioned to the left of the fireplace... as it still is now.

galwayguy85

Yeah Access, i think a 32 inch TV would be a dead loss in either circumstance... too big to be put in the corner and too small to go above the fireplace.

Can you suggest a good 40 inch TV as well?

Access

Not really, just go for what you can afford, make sure it is a saorview set.

Samsung are great though... never had a problem personally... and most will play movies files off a usb stick plugged into the usb port on the side of them! happy days.

Good luck with it.