Adequate ventilation for LCD

[MDS]

I'm having a new entertainment center built but I am a bit constrained for space and tried to balance the need for ventilation for the components and the TV.

I have a maximum of 87" for the front wall because the fireplace hearth to the right sticks out a bit. Given that typical floorstanding speakers are 9-10" wide (my JBL are 10"), I made the width of the base 66 1/2" wide and the TV area under the hutch that will attach to the base is 36" tall and 50" wide.

The 46" Sharp LCD is 31 1/4" tall and 44 3/4" wide which will fit no problem with 2.5" on each side and 5"+ on top for ventilation. There will also be an 8" x 8" cut-out in the back panel for hot air to escape.

The 52" Sharp LCD is 34 5/8" tall and 50 1/8" wide. The height of the hutch would accomodate that TV with 1" on top and even though 50 1/8" is greater than 50" it would still work for the width because the hutch doesn't come all the way to the front of the base cabinet - but then no ventilation on the sides.

So any opinions on adequate ventilation if I change my mind and decide on the 52"? There would still be a path for airflow below the TV due to the pedestal it sits on and I have the big rectangular hole in the back panel too.

 

[Swerd]

I'm having a new entertainment center built but I am a bit constrained for space and tried to balance the need for ventilation for the components and the TV.

I have a maximum of 87" for the front wall because the fireplace hearth to the right sticks out a bit. Given that typical floorstanding speakers are 9-10" wide (my JBL are 10"), I made the width of the base 66 1/2" wide and the TV area under the hutch that will attach to the base is 36" tall and 50" wide.

The 46" Sharp LCD is 31 1/4" tall and 44 3/4" wide which will fit no problem with 2.5" on each side and 5"+ on top for ventilation. There will also be an 8" x 8" cut-out in the back panel for hot air to escape.

The 52" Sharp LCD is 34 5/8" tall and 50 1/8" wide. The height of the hutch would accomodate that TV with 1" on top and even though 50 1/8" is greater than 50" it would still work for the width because the hutch doesn't come all the way to the front of the base cabinet - but then no ventilation on the sides.

So any opinions on adequate ventilation if I change my mind and decide on the 52"? There would still be a path for airflow below the TV due to the pedestal it sits on and I have the big rectangular hole in the back panel too.

As long as your set up doesn't trap heat above the TV and under the top of the hutch, you should be fine. Where exactly is that 8 x 8" cut out? You might want to locate it as high as possible to give hot air under the hutch a way to escape. If this makes the cut out area visible above the TV, try using a slotted wooden vent like this. I've also seen wooden covers for floor heating vents sold at Home Depot that could work.

The 37" Sharp LCD set that I bought last winter has vents on the bottom and top of the cabinet. I don't believe there are any side vents. The 46" and 52" models may be different. Passive convection provides enough air flow to dissipate the heat the TV generates. I keep it in an enclosed 36" wide TV cabinet with flipper doors. The cabinet is deep enough for a large CRT TV.

 

[MDS]

The back cut-out is my idea of providing extra ventilation. Currently I have it as 8" x 8", 8" from the bottom, and centered left to right. I arrived at those numbers by looking at the drawings in the manual for the Sharp 46/52D82U manuals and it places the cut-out directly behind the center of the TV.

I was attempting to design it with enough space so I could go either 46 or 52 but that is the big problem. With my current dimensions of 50"w x 36"h it leaves a lot of space at the top if I go 46 and I wonder if that gap will bother your eyes. If I go with the 52, I'd have only 1" space on top and none on the sides.

So is it more important to have a good path for airflow at the top or sides? If you have a 37" in a 36" wide opening, how much space is left on the sides? If it's dimensions are similar to the 46/52 it would be about 3/4" on each side.

In my case the TV won't be totally enclosed. The screen will be flush with the sides of the hutch and that leaves a good 6" behind the TV to the back of the hutch (hutch is 13" deep) because the pedestal extends a few inches behind the screen.

I should probably just decide I'm going with the 46 and cut the dimensions down a bit so I only have 2 inches on both sides and the top. I have the opportunity to make further changes because now they inform me that there is a problem with making the opening 50" wide due to the fact that their sheets of wood are 48" wide. The grain of the wood would have to run horizontally on the back panel when everywhere else it would run vertically.

 

[Swerd]

So is it more important to have a good path for airflow at the top or sides? If you have a 37" in a 36" wide opening, how much space is left on the sides?

It definitely is more important to have an airflow path at the top so warm air can exit. In my situation, openings at the sides barely exist. The 37" set fits snugly in the space between the flipper doors when they are open. It's not so tight that the doors can't slide in or out, but there is very little extra room on the sides. LCD TVs generate much less heat than plasma sets, making all this not such a problem.

I didn't mention before that I have a ceiling fan in my family room. Even at its slowest speed, it helps dissipate heat from the TV and the much warmer amp and receiver that are in lower shelves in the same cabinet.

I should probably just decide I'm going with the 46 and cut the dimensions down a bit so I only have 2 inches on both sides and the top. I have the opportunity to make further changes because now they inform me that there is a problem with making the opening 50" wide due to the fact that their sheets of wood are 48" wide. The grain of the wood would have to run horizontally on the back panel when everywhere else it would run vertically.

That would simplify things wouldn't it? Just the same, I think it is worth the effort to try and squeeze in the largest screen possible. I had originally thought I could only fit a 32" set into my space. I visited a few stores with a tape measure in my pocket, and that extra leg work paid off with a larger screen that looks like it was custom made for the space. In your case, if you can fill most of that space with the TV, you may not notice which direction the grain goes on the panel behind it.

The back cut-out is my idea of providing extra ventilation. Currently I have it as 8" x 8", 8" from the bottom, and centered left to right. I arrived at those numbers by looking at the drawings in the manual for the Sharp 46/52D82U manuals and it places the cut-out directly behind the center of the TV.

I was attempting to design it with enough space so I could go either 46 or 52 but that is the big problem. With my current dimensions of 50"w x 36"h it leaves a lot of space at the top if I go 46 and I wonder if that gap will bother your eyes. If I go with the 52, I'd have only 1" space on top and none on the sides.

In my case the TV won't be totally enclosed. The screen will be flush with the sides of the hutch and that leaves a good 6" behind the TV to the back of the hutch (hutch is 13" deep) because the pedestal extends a few inches behind the screen.

As I've said above, instead of centering the opening, you should think about moving the opening closer to the top of the space. You may be better off with two openings, one closer to the bottom for cable access, and another near the top, as wide as possible, for hot air escape.

I hope your cabinet plans work out well. It sounds real good so far. Sometimes it gets difficult to visualize things before they are there in three dimensions. Don't forget to make a space for your center channel speaker !

Whatever way you end up building the cabinet, you are going to love your new Sharp HDTV, whether it is 46" or 52".

 

[MDS]

Don't forget to make a space for your center channel speaker !

That was the whole reason for this exercise. I was going to just mount a shelf on the wall but that is a hassle because it can't be very deep if it is a floating shelf. So I decided to go back to the 'wall unit' approach. I'm going with a two piece, base + hutch, on the theory that if I ever did want a bigger TV I could just have another hutch built rather than replacing the whole thing.

I have a similar rectangular cut-out near the top for the compartment that will hold the receiver. I suppose I could move the cut-out behind the TV up a bit higher towards the top as long as it will be covered by the TV.

It's a pain trying to take into account all the dimensions of what I have and what I want to buy soon but I couldn't find any wall units at furniture stores that would work. They are either too wide for my space or don't have a compartment wide enough for a center channel. When are these 'av furniture' companies going to wake up and realize that people need a space for a speaker and not a useless compartment to place a vase of flowers.

Thanks for the help, Swerd. I need to decide what I want in the next few days. I could just be like most people and buy something and then worry about whether things will fit later.

 

[Swerd]

I could just be like most people and buy something and then worry about whether things will fit later.

When I first bought HT gear about 7 years ago, my wife extracted the promise that I could get what I want if we also get one of those nice wall systems with a cabinet to put the TV in. Well that "nice wall system" ended up costing more than the new receiver, center & surround speakers, DVD player, and TV!

It has a light cherry finish and I actually like it a lot. It has plenty of storage space for books, records, and CD/DVDs. The only problem was that 7 years ago I never imagined getting a large flat panel TV. So the doored cabinet was large for a CRT TV for that time, but now I wish it was bigger. So you never get things perfect.

I have made several large cutouts in the rear panels of this cabinet to make more openings for passive air flow and cable access. Don't be afraid to put a sabre saw to use in the future if you think you need it.