plasma screen above a fire

[john.-h123]

is it possible to mount a plasma screen above a fire, the wall is empty at the moment but soon it will have a pioneer pdp-436XDE but the wife wants a fire? under the screen does anyone know if its possible.

 

[kev777]

quite a few people here have done it, just make sure the temp doesn't get to hot where the plasma is being mounted. Personally I'd mount it elsewhere as my Pio 506 get's quite hot as it is. Just make sure you know what kind of wall it's going on, i.e. brick/themrolite etc, but I guess if it's near a fire it'll all be brick anyway!

 

[RobbieTT]

A lot of people have a plasma over a fire, but it may reduce its life.

Open fires produce a layer of soot and chemical residue that sticks to the insides of modern electronics. This has an insulating property, as well as any direct damage that it may do, it may make the unit more sensitive to heat damage than it would at new.

Obviously heat is the main concern. If the electronics are trying to shed heat but the ambient temperature is higher than the component, it's going to fail at some point.

With all this considered, I helped a friend mount his plasma over his very nice fire. We did all the sensible things - large mantle piece etc, and tested the temp of the wall. The wall only got slightly warm and never hot. So up it went...

Cue fire on, cue plasma on. First thing that was noticed were circles of slight shadow effect on white or light backgrounds. They went away when the fire had not been lit for a day. Next time we felt the back of the plasma and it was a little too warm but nothing drastic. However, the metal mounting bracket was red hot in places.

The large metal bolts were so hot that they caused a slight distortion of the plastic around the mounting holes on the plasma. Although the wall was cool, the bricks underneath were very hot. Oops.

Despite the damage to the case, the plasma still works today, although it did not go back over the fire.

 

[dodgyd]

Just to balance the experiences of Robbie, we had the opportunity to actually build our fireplace with Plasma installation in mind. Consequently, I made sure there was plenty of brick between the intended plasma position and the chimney cavity, I also made sure there was a cavity above the fire but out of site of the room to act as a capture area for heat rather than allow it to spill out and wash over the plasma (you'll have to use your imagination for that one ). Finally, we selected a fire that was more likely to emit radiated heat than convected heat (convected heat is your enemy here, it will wash right over the plasma to the ceiling when it will then circulate around the room). I've seen installations over radiators which are actually more risky IMHO.

Anyway, just so you can see what I'm on about. The first picture shows the fireplace under construction and the second shows the completed effect. FWIW, I've taken measurements to prove the screen gets no hotter with and without fire. As the fire is also sealed (it's a gas fire), there is no soot problem. Do your planning and you'll be fine.

Good luck

 

[RobbieTT]

Excellent post dodgyd. Very nice installation too!

 

[RobbieTT]

Dodgyd, have you considered investing in a serious do-it-all remote? I think I count five, perhaps six if that is not a phone on the chair/sofa!!

 

[dodgyd]

Dodgyd, have you considered investing in a serious do-it-all remote? I think I count five, perhaps six if that is not a phone on the chair/sofa!!

Too flippin' right I have, I've got my eye on the Harmony 885. I did't buy it straight away on purpose as I knew SWMBO would have no trouble 'authorising' the additional outlay once she saw the remotes scattered all over the place
Dave.

 

[john.-h123]

i have the same situation , i have built an extension and am now wiring it up before plastering all with the plasma in mind but the wife wants a fire, we have no chimny and the internal wall is thermolite blocks, so we have looked around and seen fires with a balanced flue that can go on any outside wall, from your replies i can see my problems will be warming up of the blocks but my main enemy will be the convected heat. thanks for replies now know what to check when we see a fire she likes....

 

[kev777]

if it's going on thermolite make sure you use the correct fixings, which are usually resin and bolts or fischer fixings (see one of my previous theads)

 

[pwb1969]

Really useful stuff there. However, I'm confused as to radiant v convected heat. I too have been recommended to go for a balanced flue, since it will go straight out of the back of the wall without going up the chimney and thereby causing heat to go to the back of the plasma. What I was told with radiant heat is that it will go straight up from the fire, theeby going over the plasma. Convected heat is pushed further out from the fron tof the fire and thereby doesn't go striaght up and over the plasma. Is this not correct?