SHOULD YOU MOUNT A TV ABOVE A FIREPLACE?

The Short Answer

Yes, it can work, but only if two things are true. The wall above the mantel has to stay cool enough for a TV when the fire is running. And the screen has to end up somewhere you can actually watch it from the couch without tipping your head back.

Plenty of homes pass the first test easily, especially where the fireplace is decorative or rarely lit. Almost none pass the second with an ordinary mount. That's the part people find out after the holes are in the wall.

The rest of this post walks through both problems, the questions that decide your answer, and the four ways to put a TV over a fireplace, from the cheapest to the one that actually fixes the height.

Problem One: The Height

Mantels are usually somewhere around 4½ to 5 feet off the floor. Leave a few inches of clearance above that and a TV over a fireplace typically ends up with its center 5 to 6 feet up.

From a couch, comfortable viewing puts the center of the screen near seated eye level, around 42 inches off the floor. So the fireplace spot is often two feet or more higher than where your eyes want it. (There's more on the numbers in how high to mount a TV.)

For a news clip, you won't notice. For a two-hour movie or a full Sunday of football, you will. The most common story we hear is a family that mounted the TV over the fireplace, then gradually stopped using that room.

Problem Two: The Heat

A working fireplace sends warm air straight up the wall, which is exactly where the TV would sit. Most TV manuals list a maximum operating temperature somewhere around 95 to 104°F. Check yours; the number is usually in the specifications section.

Testing your own wall is easy:

1. Tape a simple thermometer to the wall where the TV would go.
2. Run the fireplace the way you normally would, for an hour or so.
3. Read it. If it's past what your TV's manual allows, or the wall is too hot to keep your hand on, don't hang a TV there on an ordinary mount.

A deep mantel shelf helps a lot by pushing the rising heat away from the wall. A fireplace that's purely decorative, or one you light twice a winter, is often a non-issue. Gas and electric units vary, so check the fireplace's own manual too. Many list how far above the opening anything should go.

Four Questions That Decide It

1. How often is the fire actually lit? Never, sometimes, or every night all winter changes the heat answer completely.
2. Is there another wall that could work? If there is, it's usually the better TV wall, and the fireplace gets to stay the fireplace.
3. How far away do you sit? The further back the couch, the less steep the angle. Across a large open room, a high TV is easier to live with than in a small den.
4. What is the chimney breast made of? Brick, stone, stone veneer or drywall over framing. That decides the anchors, whether the wires can go inside, and what it costs.

Your Four Options

1. Put The TV On Another Wall

Not what anyone wants to hear from an installer, but often the right answer. It costs nothing extra, gets the screen to eye level and keeps it away from the heat. If the room genuinely has another wall, start there.

2. A Fixed Mount Above The Mantel

The simplest and cheapest. It's fine for a fireplace that's rarely lit, a room you mostly watch from far away, or a TV that's more for background than for movies. It doesn't solve the height at all.

3. A Tilting Mount Above The Mantel

Angles the screen down toward the couch. That cuts glare and makes the picture look better from below, but you're still looking up at the same height. It's a small improvement, not a fix.

4. A Pull-Down Mount

This is the option that actually solves the problem. A pull-down mount such as a MantelMount lets you draw the TV down and out, often 20 inches or more, so it sits near eye level while you watch. Push it back up and it returns flush against the wall. It also lets you bring the screen out of the rising heat when the fire is lit.

It's the most expensive of the four, and it's the one people are happiest with a year later. We're an authorized MantelMount dealer; the details are on our MantelMount installation page.

What It Costs With Us

Mount prices are MantelMount's own retail prices as of August 2026. They run sales fairly often, and we confirm the current number with your quote. We'll also confirm which model fits your TV's size and weight before you buy anything.

A tile fireplace surround adds $50 per TV if we're drilling through tile. Brick and stone cost nothing extra. Hiding the wires is priced separately; see the next section.

What About The Wires?

Nothing ruins the look of a TV over a fireplace like cables hanging down across the stone. What's possible depends on the chimney breast:

• Drywall over framing: common with gas and direct-vent fireplaces in newer homes and condos. The wires can often run inside the wall to one side, away from the flue. In-wall concealment is $60, and a hidden outlet behind the TV is $250 because it's real electrical work.
• Solid brick or stone: there's no hollow space to run cables through, and you don't want them anywhere near the flue anyway. The usual answer is a slim cable strip painted to match the wall, run down the side ($35), or routing to where the wall beside the chimney is hollow.
• Stone veneer over drywall: looks solid but isn't. The anchors have to reach the framing behind it. Worth mentioning when you book, and a photo usually settles it.

Where the cable box, streaming stick and soundbar go matters too. A soundbar can sit on the mantel or mount directly under the TV ($60). On a pull-down mount, it can only go under the TV if the mount is built to carry one. More wire options in how to hide TV wires.

So, Should You?

If the fire is rarely lit, the room is big, or the TV is mostly on in the background, a fixed or tilting mount above the mantel is a perfectly reasonable $150.

If this is where you'll watch movies and games, and the fireplace is the only wall that works, a pull-down mount is the version you won't regret.

And if there's another wall that would do, use it. The fireplace will still be the center of the room either way.

Common Questions

Is it OK to mount a TV above a fireplace?

It can be, with two conditions. The wall above the mantel has to stay cool enough for the TV when the fire is running, and the screen has to end up at a height you can actually watch from the couch. A fireplace that's never lit takes care of the first. A pull-down mount, which brings the TV down to eye level while you watch, takes care of the second.

How hot is too hot above a fireplace for a TV?

Most TV manuals list a maximum operating temperature somewhere around 95 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, so check yours. To test your wall, tape a thermometer where the TV would go, run the fireplace the way you normally would for an hour or so, and read it. If it climbs past what the manual allows, or the wall is too hot to keep your hand on, don't put the TV there without a pull-down mount that moves it out of the heat.

How high is a TV above a fireplace?

Mantels are usually somewhere around 4.5 to 5 feet off the floor, so a TV above one typically ends up with its center 5 to 6 feet up. From a couch, comfortable viewing puts the center of the screen near seated eye level, around 42 inches. That gap is why TVs above fireplaces often go unwatched.

Can you hide the wires for a TV above a fireplace?

It depends on what the chimney breast is made of. A framed chimney breast, drywall over studs, which is common with gas and direct-vent fireplaces, often lets the wires run inside the wall to one side of the flue. A solid brick or stone chimney doesn't, so the usual answer is a painted cable strip, or routing the cables down the side of the chimney breast where the wall is hollow.

How much does it cost to mount a TV above a fireplace?

With us, a standard fixed or tilting mount above a fireplace is the normal $100 installation plus $50 for the mount. A pull-down MantelMount is $350 installation for TVs under 75 inches or $500 for TVs 75 inches and over, plus the mount itself, which runs $189.95 to $649.95 at MantelMount's retail prices. A 55-inch on an MM540, for example, comes to $599.95 all in.

Not Sure Which Way To Go?

Send us the TV size and a photo of the fireplace. We'll tell you what the chimney breast is made of, which option fits, and exactly what it costs before we arrive.

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