This section includes products for Venting Plasma and LCD TVs & home theater and display Projector Enclosures. Properly venting TVs & Projectors is essential especially when they are recessed in the wall or installed in cabinetry where the natural airflow around the components may be inadequate. Projectors mounted in enclosures are especially susceptible to heat accumulation and heat related failures. Proper ventilation will ensure that the TVs function properly and protects against premature failures due to immediately and prolonged exposure to heat.

     Quick Reference To Cooling & Venting TVs & Projectors

The good and the bad part about cooling TVs and projectors with limited airflow is that there is typically a very very limited amount of airspace that we are dealing with. This is why there is a problem with heat but it is also how cooling solutions can be fairly easily implemented to increase the airflow necessary to protect the equipment. The other good part about limited airspace (very few cubic feet of airspace) is that relatively few CFMs of airflow is needed.

Best Practices. The best and quickest way, without duplicating too much information between these sections, is to treat any installations in cabinetry, this can be projectors or TVs, is to refer to the Cabinet Venting section. The product applications will be similar but do consider that there will be a lot of heat in a relatively confined space so you need to efficiently move the air out and away from the equipment. Due to their size and depth, primarily consider the Slim Vents for not very demanding situations or the HiFlo Lite in very demanding situations. The HiFlo Basic can be used in very very demanding situations such as CRT projectors in an enclosure. Also consider using multiple units as well. In other words, you may want 2 or 4 Slim Vents in a Projector Enclosure to ‘flood’ the enclosure with cool air.

For TVs that are recessed in a wall or enclosure, the Universal Cooler is usually the best solution. Because of the angle of the Universal Cooler, it can be installed behind the TV and draw air from behind the TV and push it up, over, and out the front of the TV even if there is a minimal gap at the top of the TV. For clearances when designing recessed boxes though, we recommend at least ½” around a TV, preferably 1” or more though.

Pre-Construction Planning. If planning for cooling TVs or Projectors during the construction of the home, here are some recommendations. For projector enclosures, consider roughing in a collector box for the HiFlo Lite or HiFlo Basic system (see Wall & Ceiling Ducting). This may also apply if equipment will be installed in cabinetry or a closet. For Recessed TVs, collector boxes can also be used but it may be difficult to make them fit. Perhaps the most important consideration though is how to power the units. We recommend running a two conductor (18 or 20/2 wire) from the TV area to the equipment (audio head end). This way you can power the fans from the equipment and usually you will want to turn the fans on and off with the equipment using a switched outlet. Another option is to still locate the power supply with the equipment but then install a basic controller at the TV location which will turn the fans on and off based on the temperature.