TV over insert?

[doo dah man]

Hi. I'm new to this forum, so if this has been covered, sorry to be clogging up the forum. I'm considering buying the Hampton HI300 insert and I'd like to know what people think about mounting a plasma TV on the wall above it. I've had custom home theater installers tell me it is no problem, but they had only dealt with open fireplaces. If anything, I'd think an insert would be better than an open fireplace. I've also had the Hampton dealer come out and he thinks it would be fine, but he is also the one trying to make the sale.

As for specs, my hearth has a standard size ledge, and, of course, the fireplace comes out from the wall a little bit. I am rebuilding the fireplace surround and need to put on a new mantle - which I'd like to do about halfway up the wall - so I was thinking that a wider mantle, combined with a blower on the insert, might keep intense direct heat off the TV.

I've never had an insert, so I don't know what kind of heat I'm dealing with.

Also, how loud is a blower?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Many thanks!

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Inserts produce alot of heat. Plasma tv's produce alot of heat. Heat+Electronis=bad news. I would plan differently if it were my tv, not to mention the viewing angle will stink.

 

[wtyamamoto]

Heat degrades all forms of flat panel tvs - lcd or plasma. They do sell heatshields for above fireplace installations and they work quite well. The problem is almost everyone I know who has done an over the fireplace install, eventually take it down.

Not necessarily because of the heat, but because it puts the tv at a viewing angle that becomes very uncomfortable for long-term viewing. It looks cool, but like MSG says, the angle stinks.

 

[elkimmeg]

By the time the tv in that location is time and heat tested the newest and latest screen will be replacing your cooked one if it last that long.

I feel If I were spending that kind of money for plasma I shure would not put it in a location where it could be at risk We all know heat kill electronics like you computers

Biggest problem with computers is heat dissipation. I know my walls behind my stove absorbs heat from my wood stove. It heats that flue all the way out the roof and
warm to touch on the second floor

 

[cbrodsky]

I went through the same debate myself about 3 years ago. We realized while our house was being built that the living room was going to be smaller than we wanted, and a fireplace+hearth would be hard to work out with an entertainment center as well. Given how expensive per SF a house runs in this area, didn't really want to tack on another two feet to make room. So after we moved in, I knocked out the dummy wall where the fireplace would have gone to do a built in entertainment center with plasma mounted above it. We have the bottom of ours about three feet off the floor - this has been fine, but I wouldn't go much higher. In this process, I debated going with a zero-clearance fireplace, but I concluded that even with a flush hearth on the floor, it would push things up too high to make the TV comfortable by the time I accounted for the fireplace surround. And that is with the non-existent heat output of a zero clearance. I am not sure how one could possibly make it work with a woodstove or insert short of using an elaborate shielding system that would have to stick out from the wall further than the TV, and likely just push the TV even higher.

It was all for the best - last year I found another spot to put in a woodstove which never would have been workable in the living room. I'm SO glad I didn't waste any money on a ZC fireplace in the process.

-Colin

ps - we went with a Panasonic 42" plasma via mail-order - highly recommended. Super reliable - never a problem. At the time, the local big box stores were selling them for $1800 more than mail order. (these days difference is maybe a few hundred) Shipping was more than offset by sales tax. And it was a great solution to avoid taking up a ton of floorspace.