On Jan 21, 10:14*am, wrote:
Hi Folks,

I'm building a home and am thinking about adding a 110v outlet and low
voltage (cable, ethernet, hdmi) box to our fireplace mantel. *This
would give us the option of placing a television above the fireplace
and a place to plug in our Christmas decorations, digital picture
frames, etc.

Is this something that is done with any regularity? *I'm considering
either a flush brushed brass outlet or something recessed.

Thanks for any input.

Bob

Hi Bob,

I built a house from the ground up and have a TV over the fireplace.
In NY state the fire code enforces the use of steel studs behind the
drywall above a fire place. Steel stud framing has different holding
strenghts for fasteners. A 50 inch TV with a mounting plate will be
about 90 lbs. I made the mistake in not reinforcing the wall hence
could not mount an articulated mount when the time came. So the first
trick is to reinforce the area for the TV mount plate. You need
something like a sheet of steel to comply with fire codes. If your
fire code does not require this then I would
recommend 3/4 inch plywood, a large sheet over the whole area. Stick
this sheet of steel / plywood behind your drywall and attach well to
stud framing.

Electrical connection wise you will need above the mantel where your
TV will be:

1) Power socket. I also replaced the standard power socket with a
surge protected one.
2) Cable TV coax home run to your cable feed in the basement /
attic.
3) Set of cables:
HDMI x2 sets,
Component RGB Video + LR Audio, 5 leads, x2 sets,
S-Video + LR Audio, 3 leads, x1 set
Video + LR Audio, 3 leads, x2 sets

These cables you need to thread from your TV to a place where you are
going to stack your DVD players etc. Note you need these cables long
to move them where they need to be and have some slack. You are
looking at like 20-20 feet cables. Also these cables are bulky. I put
in them in before the drywall. Over the cable ends place small jiffy
bags to keep paint and dust off the connectors when the painters and
dry wall crews come through.

A good place for all these outlets is just above there the mount plate
will be. You want to position them so that the TV when mounted will
hide all of them. You want them above the mount plate because (1) they
will dangle down, and hence if the position in the wall is higher up,
you can keep the wires from showing below your TV and (2) you have
more space between the TV back and the wall above the mount plate
because you will angle / tilt your TV down.

4) At your position where your DVD player will be, you need to add
Cable TV Coax, CAT 5 or 5, Power. Note that I have a cable TV coax
above the fireplace *AND* where the DVD recorder is. Most modern TV's
now have QAM tuners which will give you HD TV without the need for a
Cable Box. So one coax feed for the TV and One Coax feed for your DVD
recorder area.

A good place which I got all my cables from is Pacific Cable:

http://www.pacificcable.com/

The cables can be obtained LONG, and also work very well. All this
Monster stuff sold at Circuit City and best Buy is over priced. If you
really want moster cables, the best place to buy is Home Depot. There
the prices for Monster HDMI and all other cables are the same as any
other cable, i.e. as it should be, monster cables offer zero advantage
over a good. I think my total cable cost was about $US 350 for all the
cables. Note for the lenghts your require, I think Monster cables do
not make 20-30 feet lengths.

I had all these cables just pop out the wall without a plate or
socket, just used a ordinary 120v power box without the socket and
face plate and a hole. Note that you cannot see this once your TV is
in place anyway.

Hope this is useful.

All the best, Mike.