Wires in a Chimney

Question

Im looking to install an LCD TV above my fireplace which is Brick and has an insert gas fire (open flame) im wondering the best way to hide the wiring my thoughts were to drill through the wall and place wiring down chimney and through the wall at the bottom to the power point , but was wondering if there would be and heat damage to cabling (scarts etc) i was thinking i could put a thermometer behind the fire and run for a while to see exactly how much heat is going up there , it shouldnt be much as most heat should come out of front of fire and a small amount of heat and fumes up the chimney , is there any protection i could put round cables? Im not sure on the idea of channeling the wall which would be messy should things need changed out later . Gary

Answer

Hi Gary,
I assume you are talking about a normal flue within a brick chimney breast. If so, it should be possible to run the cables through heat-resistant ducting made from e.g. Polypropylene. This could be run along the side of the flue. However this will only work if the gas fire does not spread across the full width of the chimney and thus perhaps create too much heat. It would therefore be very sensible (as you suggest) first to measure the temperature where you intend to run the cable.
Good luck!