We need pictures but I will say floating shelves are never my choice unless I have really beautiful things to display on them I never like TV above a FP unless it is the ONLY place for it

This is like asking what shoes should i wear with this dress...without showing us your dress!...PICTURES REALLY HELP!

We mostly watch tv in a reclining position.. so a little higher mount works for that...

I have NO problem with TV's over a fireplace. However, they should be sized so that do not look gigantic in relation to the firebox.

Our TV is mounted with this: https://www.dynamicmounting.com/product/down-and-out-manual-mount/

We pull the TV down whenever we watch it.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your responses. Our house is under construction, but below is a rendering of how the fireplace and adjacent cabinet space would look, and I would be putting a 55 inch TV up there. The bottom of the fireplace would be 10 inches off the ground, the height of the glass fireplace is 19 inches, from the top of the fireplace to the bottom of the mantel is 14 inches, and the mantel itself is about 4 inches tall. I imagine we would want another 4 or so inch gap from the top of the mantel to the bottom of the TV, which brings the total height from the floor to the bottom of the TV to 51 inches and the top of the TV would be 78 inches off the ground with the middle viewing height at ~65 inches. The mantel is made of metal. I do like the mounting device suggested by @mononhemeter, which could help solve the problem. At the same time, it would be ideal to not have to pull the TV down every time I want to watch it, and the mount is expensive!

If I didn't put the TV over the fireplace, I would remove the floating shelves and put the TV on top of the cabinet space, and then change the mantel to wood (wood mantel would have the be 20 inches above the top of the fireplace vs. 14 inches for metal). The cabinet is 35 inches tall, and assuming roughly a 4 inch gap between the top of the cabinet and bottom of the mantel, the bottom of the TV would start at 39 inches and the top would be at 66 inches with the middle viewing level at 53 inches.

Basically, we're looking at 1 foot of difference height between the 2 options.

Here's a snapshot of the fireplace for our same floor plan, although the design elements are a little different (this image doesn't include cabinetry, does include a ledge below the fireplace that we won't have, etc) but it does demonstrate the width of the spaces.

Thanks!

Also, below is an image of a different floor plan but the same builder/designer. We will have very similar colors. The main difference will be that we'll have white cabinets/shelves and we'll have another ~2 foot space on the other side of the shelving area.

These charts may help you figure out whats best for your space and TV size.

Don't do it.

Hi Drew Geiger ,

Common question. In addition to viewing angle, heat should also be a consideration. Putting the tv off to the side may be your best option.

If you need additional help for options, please check out my video below & fee free to hit me up on my profile.

Thanks,

-frank

Build Beautiful Homes

There are many on this forum who hate TV's over fireplaces and think that the angle needs to be perfect for viewing. I think your situation is perfectly fine. Your fireplace is low and the TV won't be that high. I have my TV higher than yours will be, and have no problem viewing. In addition, I hate having to put it off to the side as I feel it makes a room feel unbalanced with two focal points fighting each other.

Here we go again! The tv and fireplace dilemma! This must be # 999! Your house ; put it were you want. My question is... do you really need the fireplace 😳

I agree with Design girl btw; I hate seeing a side slung tv! So distracting and it always looks like an afterthought. Just don’t make your tv wider than your fireplace! Equally distracting!

Thanks to everyone for their feedback. We had a meeting with our designer today and they framed our fireplace wider than the original plan, making the cabinet area too small to accommodate the TV...so basically they've made the decision for us - we are putting the TV above the fireplace. That said, thanks for the link to the mount, which I think will come in super handy.

Make sure you leave room for a sound bar if that will be part of your set up. I would lower TV. With electric fireplace, there is typically no code requirements as there is for wood burning fireplaces. So you have more flexibility. Check with your builder. Not sure where you are located but something to check on.

I thought I'd update everyone on the direction I went for the TV above the fireplace. I ended up getting a Mantel Mount, where I can pull the TV down from the wall. I ended up getting a 65 inch Sony TV and a Bose 500 sound bar. It was a bit of a complicated installation and I had to get a professional to do it. He wasn't able to install the sound bar because I didn't have the proper sound bar mount, so I spent about 5 hours myself trying to figure it out and finally was successful. Overall, I'm happy with the result and glad to have a set up that allows for watching at eye level if desired. It's also nice having it up at times for viewing from the kitchen.

Here's a photo of it in the up position.

And here it is in the down position.