Central Air deals and other new home stuff

Why?

It's a "media-ready wall" and it is above the fireplace. Friends of ours have another model that is almost identical and they have the TV over the fireplace. I am not sure if they paid for the media ready wall or just did it themselves. Haven't heard any complaints from them. They've been in their place nearly 5 years.

We opted for no mantle or fireplace surround; will do our own later (still no mantle). Tilting bracket, for sure. Fully articulating one upstairs (in case we move furniture around or get a stationary bike or elliptical).

I don't know what the issue is with hanging it over the fireplace. There's even brackets available that let the TV slide lower when you want to watch it, down over the fireplace if you so desire ($$$$).

As for cables, wall-mounts, etc, www.monoprice.com is your friend, along with Amazon. I see 20' HDMI cables for $10.99 USD on Monoprice right now.

It's all about physical comfort. You don't want to hang your tv above eye level, it will cause neck strain and its best to look at the picture head on. If you are reclining then your eye level will go above 90 degrees and in that case it may make sense

Most times when you're sitting down to watch TV, you're slightly reclined anyway making it pretty much a non-issue.

It's widely known that having a TV above the fireplace is the worst location. It is not a non-issue for a lot of people. Eye level is always the best for a TV.

Ev wrote:It's widely known that having a TV above the fireplace is the worst location. It is not a non-issue for a lot of people. Eye level is always the best for a TV.

I'm not really arguing with you. Yes, it is not ideal to have the TV above the fireplace if you're observing A/V nerd rules. Most brackets for your TV in this scenario will allow your TV to be tilted downwards, or better yet, actually swing the TV lower, in front of the fireplace, when desired like this:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=109&cp_id=10828&cs_id=1082821&p_id=15618&seq=1&format=2

Also, as I said, when you're sitting down on a couch, recliner, whatever, your head is normally tilted back a bit, to allow easier viewing if the TV is above eye level. Every situation is different. Walter isn't an idiot and I'm sure will consider this.

I figured monoprice for the cables, didn't think about the brackets. Saw brackets today at Walmart, full motion for upstairs and tilting one for family room, total $200. Maybe I could do better at monoprice.

Kids typically watch TV reclining anyway, so high placement actually better. However when they game, they typically sit up. Hmm.

Still don't think I'd want to lower it over the FP. It can get quite warm even just from the pilot. Also I've got a soundbar to hang below.

Sitting here waiting for the AC installer to come by. Temperature inside has reached 24 (just checked, it's now up to 24.5 since I sat down), but I don't feel at all uncomfortable.

This home comes equipped with a basic HRV unit. It's meant to exchange inside air with outside, without losing heat during the winter (heat is transferred from the indoor air to the outdoor air). In the summer, while you can't transfer "cold", it still held because it removes humidity.

Now, we haven't had rain for a while, so that may be playing into it, but I have it on the lowest setting now. Of this keeps up through August I should be saving a chunk of change in energy costs.