TV in kitchen - regs?

[Bert Coules]

I've searched around for the answer to this but haven't found it as yet: is there any regulation concerning placing a small wall-mounted 12V TV set in a kitchen?

I have a blank area above a draining board, partly protected from splashes and steam by a 6" deep shelf which runs the length of that wall. It seems like the obvious place to mount a smallish TV, say 17" or so. There are specially-designed water- and steam-proof sets intended for bathrooms but would one of them be overkill for a kitchen? Is there any reason why I shouldn't use a conventional set?

Many thanks.

[Tim Watts]

Might be OK as there is not really that much steam emitted from a sink, other than when you drain boiling water into it. Try dumping a pan of water down the sink and see where the steam cloud goes.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I've had two kitchens with TVS so far. Mount high up LCDs beat CRTs for safety .

[Bert Coules]

Tim,

Thanks for that. There's an extractor fan very close by, so steam shouldn't really be a serious problem. And if I don't need to pay extra for a specialist waterproof set, that's a pleasant bonus.

Bert

[Bert Coules]

Thanks. A small-screen LCD or similar set, perhaps slightly recessed into the wall and with a shelf beneath, ought to be pretty safe, I think.

Bert

[The Natural Philosopher]

Listening to one on a wall bracket right now. 20" or so.

Its above a kettle. Samsung. hasn't missed a beat. Best way to do cooking is watching some crap like NCIS...

I SHOULD have got a smart one so I could watch stored videos on the server, too..

[Bert Coules]

Thanks again.

The whole smart TV/central server/whole house distribution area is something I'm trying to get into. I've been looking for a straightforward guide, online or off.

Bert

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well what I did was pretty simple.

I ran up minidlna on a linux server I have - I admit I ended up compiling from source and hacking it a little, but if you are happy to accept its default behaviour that's not needed.

I told it where the videos are.

And that's it. Any TV style client on the home network can 'see' it, and as its a network drive as well, so can any PC that has that drive mounted.

IF you are going that route I strongly suggest you use an old PC and install shitloads of disk, and Linux. Then remove screen and keyboard and let it gurgle.

Basically you will need NFS server for linux clients, SAMBA for PC and MAC clients and minidlna for TVs and I think Xboxen..

If your TV aint smart, a DVD player that is, is peanuts.

If you keep a screen and keyboard on the server you can use that to strip DVDS and edit recordings, and if you install a TV dongle, you can record off air onto it as well.

Add second drive and some scripts and you can backup automatically every night, and of course it becomes a handy place for the family to share data on as well.

Build your own NAS is a very good DIY project using a scrap XP style PC.

You don't need speed fast video or a lot of RAM 1GB is plenty. Just a reliable MB with ethernet, and as much disk as you can afford.

And a Linux installation disk. TBH for a server debian is good enough, But I went all mint.

Happy to help anyone through the issues.

And there are half a dozen other people here just as good at linux.

Would make a good wiki article maybe.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd look for one with an external power supply. That converts 240v to the low volts for the set, and have that out of the danger area. I'd not really like the possibility of someone operating a mains switch with wet hands while touching a good ground like a metal sink.

Or site it so high it can't be touched at all.

I have an LV in my kitchen that has such a power supply - but it's not sited where you could touch it while working at the sink anyway.

[Bill Wright]

It's continuous or near continuous steam that causes the problem. If the steam is of short duration it won't do any harm.

Bill

[Bert Coules]

Thanks for that. I can't imagine there being any particularly continuous steam: the kitchen doesn't get that sort of use.

Bert

[Bert Coules]

Thanks for that: it's a good point, though there are already plenty of mains-operated appliances in the kitchen and (so far) I've been wary enough not to switch any of them on or off while my hands were wet.

Bert

[Bert Coules]

Apart from material I've downloaded, all my audio and video collection is on old-fashioned CDs and DVDs (and audio cassettes, VHS tapes and reel-to-reel tapes). I've considered copying it all onto hard disks but it's a somewhat daunting thought and in truth I like having the individual items on my shelves. I ought to do it for the older and more fragile stuff though.

Away from TV, I'd like to set up a system which would essentially have the same effect as putting a DAB radio into every room (which of course I could do, but I'm interested in alternatives): from some centralised source I'd like to be able to select a channel and control the volume in each room. The source would only ever have to provide one channel at a time, though I'd like to be able to play it in more than one room simultaneously if I wanted.

What would be the simplest way to achieve that?

Thanks.

Bert

[Bert Coules]

I didn't explain that very well.

I'd like to be able to walk into any room and select what I hear and the volume I hear it at from a control (wall mounted, maybe?) in that room.

There would ideally be a single centralised source which fed a signal to every room.

Bert

[Brian Gaff]

I'd imagine it depends on whether you make a lot of splashes and steam in that area. To me I've never liked mains powered radios and tvs in kitchens, but to be fair none of my friends have ever electrocuted themselves or damaged the equipment. If you do do this though you might want to see if that area does get damp at any time before deciding and route all cables well away from the sink.

Back in the day we used to have an old 13 inch trinitron set and it was often used in a bathroom. One day when the push buttons broke I had need to get inside and was amazed that the main chassis had spots of rust and pealing plating on it, so obviously condensation did it no good at all, but it never actually went wrong in a major way even then. Brian

[spuorgelgoog]

Steam and grease will be deposited in the path to the extractor fan.

Main hazard is dropping the remote into the washing up. :-)

Personally I have installed 4 x data points and a sat point in the kitchen-to-be.

Owain

[Bert Coules]

Thanks, Owen,

I did look at specialised bathroom TVs: on one model, a particular selling point was that the remote is not only waterproof, it floats.

Bert

[Bert Coules]

Brian that's very reassuring. And even if the conditions did eventually affect the set, with the money saved by not buying a special water- and steam-proof telly I could probably replace a conventional set several times if I ever had to...

Bert

[The Natural Philosopher]

The CDs and DVDS rip very fast, though they may need format converting to MP3/MP4.

My pragmatic advice there would be 'if you want to watch it, rip it' and then its done for good and you can keep the oroigianls as backupop

Tapes - that's a BIG job. can really only be done in real time. Replace with CD/DVD wherever possible

I am not sure.

If you have a DTV adapter for a PC you can use freeview radio channels, and there is supposed to be some sort of LAN broadcast protocol but I never used it. Easer to simply have the PCs tuned to whatever radio station is wanted over the internet.

Hmm there are several audio over IP options, but I have not played with any of them. So cannot really offer any useful advice

is probably a good place to start.

VLC can read a Digital terrestrial TC or DAB dingle under linux IIRC. and can act as a LAN server and other VLC instances can pick up the audio/video stream and reproduce it locally.

Raspberry Pis can run VLC too.

I think I once got this working, but it didnt do what *I* was after. Which was essentially DLNA serving.

[tabbypurr]

No

Splashes, steam, water vapour. And 240v is a no-no if too close to water.

NT