Projector Over Fireplace?

Question

I'm getting ready to move into my condo and I'm still trying to figure out how to setup the television in the room. The condo is very open with Cathedral Ceilings. The television is going to go downstairs below the loft in a room roughly 12x9 (so the distance to where it would projected is roughly 9ft and I would build a shelf on the wall).

I'm hoping to put the television over the fireplace. However, there are no electrical or cable feeds over there. Rather paying a lot of money to have them run over there, I was thinking about just using a projector. I don't watch a lot of tv so I thought this would be a good solution.

Good idea? Bad? How many lumens should I get? Looking to stay under $1k. I'm also not sure how bright the room can be. It's going to be projected on to the wall opposite of where the light comes in but I'm not sure if that will help. The room is naturally bright because there are two 10ft of glass on both sides of the fireplace.

Answer 1

If you don't watch alot of TV to begin with, an projector is overkill.  get extensions and run them along or behind the baseboards, or under carpet.

Answer 2

Robert,

  Projectors are good solutions. I'm concerned with the amount of light you will need given the amount of ambient sunlight. For reference a 2200 lumen projector is presentable under room lighting. But sunlight is very tough to address. I'd consider room darkening shades and keep your image Size to a minimum. The larger the image the less bright it will appear.

As far as getting cables from point to point. I can think of a couple of solutions. 1) Consider surface mount conduit. It's basically a wire chase with adhesive backing. You can stick it to a wall and run cables through it. In areas that require a better looking solution, I have used a piece or oak or nice wood. Channel out a strip of the wood and run your wires through it. You can then attach the strip of wood to the wall and it looks great!  2) There are many manufactures who are making devices that allow you to send HDTV and PC signals over CAT 5 cable. Cat 5 is allot easier to run and conceal then HDMI or component cables

check out  www.kramerelectronics.com

   Lastly, A DLP projector will serve you better then LCD because of it' much higher contrast rating. You will need all the contrast help you can get.

Answer 3

Agree with ansel.

Also, if you only want to pay $1k for your projector, you're going to need really good control over the ambient light in the room.

It's not that hard to run wires through your fireplace. What you see is the outside of a large open cavety. The actual flue is a metal pipe in the center. You can cut a small hole on the side of the fireplace and another behind your TV location. You can trim your holes with a drywall ring $4.00 and an open decora cover plate $1.99 on each end.

If you're not comfortable with that, try a handyman instead of a lisensed contractor. It's a very small job.