When we shared our DIY Fireplace project, the most frequently asked question we got was, “but where are all the cords?!”.
By using a mix of planning and magical modern electrical engineering, we were able to conceal all of our TV cords safely inside our fireplace AND still get a strong enough internet signal to actually be able to watch TV.
Safety first
The amount of space you have around your fireplace insert matters! The good news is that most electric fireplaces do not require more than a couple inches around it to safely operate.
I’m not an expert, but the folks at Modern Blaze are and they wrote some great guidelines here.
For more information on how we built the fireplace, check out this post!
So…what’s going on in there?
Spoiler: It’s not cordless! But the cord is hidden incredibly well. It’s hard to explain with only words, so I drew a color coded map of which cords are going where. The first thing we did was figure out where to put a hole in our wall to snake the TV cord through. We got a Frame TV, and the cord comes out the bottom, so our hole sits at the center bottom edge of the TV.
One Connect Box
The Frame TV has a thing called a One Connect Box. It’s basically the brains of the TV. Having those parts outside of the TV is what makes the TV so slim. We placed our One Connect Box on a shelf created by the framing of the fireplace. If you don’t have a Frame TV, ignore this step and move on to the TV cord !
The TV cord connects your TV to an extension cord.
Extension Cord
The extension cord doesn’t have to be anything fancy. The main reason we had to get an extension cord in here is to plug it in to the Powerline Ethernet Adapter. If you have two outlets near by, you can skip this step!
Powerline Ethernet Adapter
This little device expands your home network over your existing electrical circuit. It’s a two piece system, and all you have to do is plug one in to an outlet and ethernet cable near your router, and the other goes directly into another outlet. Then you plug in the ethernet port in your One Connect Box (or other Smart TV equvilant) for a seriously good internet connection even if you’re router is on the other side of the house!
Fireplace
The last cord you’re seeing comes from the fireplace. It very simply plugs into an outlet. Most electric fireplace inserts plug into standard household power outlets. If yours is different, please hire a licensed electrician to get this set up for you!
