# Conduit for TV hidden in fireplace - how?  What size?



## samhoff2 (Sep 9, 2011)

We are having a fireplace put in our house (an RSF Delta 2).  It is in place and much of the framing is in, however it has not been sheet rocked yet.  While we do not plan on having a TV above the mantle, in the future someone might want one, so I am wanting to put a conduit in (likely PVC pipe?) going from the floor up to eye level.  Questions:
PVC ok?  (It is a zero clearance stove).
What size PVC?
How to hide the open/top end from sight? (behind a loose rock in our facade?)
Other thoughts/ideas are also welcome.

Thanks!

Sam


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## nate379 (Sep 9, 2011)

Run coax to where the outlet will be, put in a box and terminate coax there.  Put a face plate cover over and hang a picture or something over if you don't want to see the cover.  I'm not following what you are trying to do with PVC?


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## begreen (Sep 9, 2011)

samhoff2 said:
			
		

> We are having a fireplace put in our house (an RSF Delta 2).  It is in place and much of the framing is in, however it has not been sheet rocked yet.  While we do not plan on having a TV above the mantle, in the future someone might want one, so I am wanting to put a conduit in (likely PVC pipe?) going from the floor up to eye level.  Questions:
> PVC ok?  (It is a zero clearance stove).
> What size PVC?
> How to hide the open/top end from sight? (behind a loose rock in our facade?)
> ...



If the wire is properly routed in the stud space, I would think regular romex would be fine for the power. However, if the concern is about future connectivity, then a large conduit may be a good solution so that you can pull power, hdmi and ethernet cables.


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## northernontario (Sep 9, 2011)

I get what you're trying to do... 

In the mantle area, you need a box with a blank faceplate to cover it.  From the box, run the PVC electrical conduit down to where you need it... use long-radius elbows (not sharp 90Â° corners) to make any turns.  You can also bend PVC conduit if you heat it carefully with a heat gun... takes a very small amount of practice, and just don't rush.  

Not sure where you want to terminate the other end of the conduit... either through the floor in the basement, or in a closet, or possibly near the electrical panel.  

In the mantle, you'll want to put the box/faceplate somwhere it can be hidden... either by a picture/painting hung over it, or by putting the box on the side of the mantle out of sight.  

For clearances... just consider where things are located... try to stay away from chimney/stove/sources of heat.  If you're outside the clearances listed for the stove and chimney pipe, then you're good.  

Be sure to size the conduit to allow enough space for wire... possibly run seperate conduit for 120v wiring and another for data (cable, HDMI, etc).  Again, larger conduit is always better if you have to run cabling.  Be sure to add a string/fish in the conduit for easy retrieval of wires later on.


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## Milton Findley (Sep 9, 2011)

The guys who built my fireplace back in the 50's were planning ahead and they wired outlets, and switched outlets using 10 guage wire both above and below the mantle.  All of the wiring is on one side, and it does not cross the hot parts.  They must have been able to foresee my prediliction for 5 hp vacuum cleaners.


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## DAKSY (Sep 9, 2011)

Run 1-1/2 ID PVC. With an ID that large you'll have no problem getting your cable/wires thru. 
Separate the Romex from the Cat 5 or Cable or speaker wires to prevent house current 
interference with your entertainment system.
To get a string thru to pull the wires, tie enough of it to a small Ziploc sandwich baggie, partially inflated. 
Insert the sandwich bag into one end of the conduit & attach your shop vac to the other end.
The suction will pull the baggie thru WITH the string & you'll be all set to tie your wires/cables
to the end of it & pull em thru to where you need em...


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## tfdchief (Sep 9, 2011)

Separate conduits would be required for power and communication cables.  As BG and others have said, why not go ahead and run the romex for the power and terminate it in an electrical box with a blank cover.  The conduit (again, terminate in an electrical box) could then be for whatever communications cables might be needed in the future.


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## My Oslo heats my home (Sep 10, 2011)

Not sure what kind of TV your adding to the mix here but I'll say this, I just put a 40" LCD in my back room ( a second unit ) and the first thing the owners manual talks about is keeping the unit away from any heat source (incl wood stoves and fireplaces). My backup woodstove is about 10 ft away. Since I don't burn in my backup very often I'm going to just be careful with it.


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## greythorn3 (Sep 11, 2011)

NATE379 said:
			
		

> Run coax to where the outlet will be, put in a box and terminate coax there.  Put a face plate cover over and hang a picture or something over if you don't want to see the cover.  I'm not following what you are trying to do with PVC?




I would run conduit so they could pull whatever wires they want thru it later.


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## mhrischuk (Sep 11, 2011)

DAKSY said:
			
		

> Run 1-1/2 ID PVC. With an ID that large you'll have no problem getting your cable/wires thru.
> Separate the Romex from the Cat 5 or Cable or speaker wires to prevent house current
> interference with your entertainment system.
> To get a string thru to pull the wires, tie enough of it to a small Ziploc sandwich baggie, partially inflated.
> ...



I just learned a new trick. Thanks!


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## nate379 (Sep 13, 2011)

Why nout just run the wires and terminate them in a junction box?  I don't get why you'd need to pull wires through?

My friend has his Plasma TV over his fireplace.  Burns the fireplace most of the winter to heat the house, TV is still fine after 4 or 5 years.


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## bubba3228 (Sep 13, 2011)

The nice thing about running conduit and setting a box is that you can change what conductors are installed as technology may change. You have the wall open now is the time to plan for the future applications. Good Idea. I agree 1-1/2 pvc would be fine. Might be tricky to adapt to a residential style box. 1" would be easier to use with a 4-11/16 bracket box with 1" knock outs and correct sized sheetrock or mud ring to attach the fininsh device to.


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## fbelec (Sep 13, 2011)

what ever you decide, the code is to have electrical power in a different pipe. they are not allowed in the same pipe. run a romex up there and leave a 2 to 3 foot coil wrapped around a nail. from there the other side can be either hanging below or boxed or run over to the circuit panel leave 2 feet there and mark what and where the other end is (future tv at fireplace) on the romex with a sharpie or permanent marker do the same with a 1 inch pvc pipe. do not put more than 4 90 degree bends in that pipe. and leave a string in the pipe taped to the pipe outside and your done. make sure you mark the pipe in the basement for future. if you decide to do a tv later, the outlet box is usually behind the tv so when the hole is cut you just reach in and pull thru. no need to pull in a coax now because things are changing all the time. some of these systems out now don't need coax they need a network cat 5 cable or a usb type connection.


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## gpcollen1 (Sep 13, 2011)

Exactly, separate conduits for power and electronic cables.  In addition, you generally don't want to run them parallel to one another so you may have to run them up different ways or through different bays.


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