What tv for a fish house

[1lessdog]

I getting the inside of my house ready and looking for a TV. What tv is the best? Im looking at a 32 to 40 inch. Do you go with LED, LCD? It will be in a cold out when not on the ice. Has anyone used the smart TV boxes and ran it off your phone to watch something like Netflix?

 

Thanks

[Princeton]

LED is way more efficient.  For mine I bought a 12 volt DC LED TV and wired it directly to my battery bank, I found the TV on Amazon.  I chose a DC TV as I can run it off of my batteries and don't have to turn on my inverter to watch TV.  But this really depends on your set up - if you are going to run a generator then a regular household TV will work just fine and is likely going to be less expensive. 

As far as programing I am using an Amazon TV stick but you could use an app on your phone assuming that you have enough bandwidth in your phones data plan.  It could really add up over the course of a few days.  

[Moon Lake Refuge]

39 minutes ago, rl_sd said:

I was in the same boat as Princeton... Figured that I needed to get a DC TV so that I didn't have to run the generator or inverter. Unfortunately, most of the DC TV's were either too small, too expensive, or had bad reviews due to longevity, picture, or sound! In the end, I ended up buying this 32" LED TV/DVD combo from Walmart. I paired it with a 60 watt inverter from Northern Tool that is 95% efficient... This TV pulls less than 3 amps DC through the inverter! It is lightweight, has good sound, and the built in DVD player is a nice feature also. The remote is a little complicated until you get the hang of it.

In regards to your second question, I run a Roku Streaming stick on this that gets internet either off of my phone or my hotspot. Pair that with a sling box and you are good to go! I also bought this mount ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/21349282) which has work very well. I have a strap that goes across the front of the TV and I also kept the foam corner pieces from the original packing and put them in during transport.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/46784933

We're also putting in a regular LED TV to run off the generator.  Going to run an inverter but only thing I heard was to run a heavy enough wire to the outlet the inverter is going in as DC has a power drop depending on distance.  What size wire did you run and at what length?

[YettiStyle]

I went with a much bigger 50" TV and I love it.  Many people look at it and say it looks ridiculous and unnecessary for an ice shack but when they sit down and Grumpy Old Men is playing, they start saying they wish they had a bigger TV.  I personally like Vizio TV's, very good quality and very reasonably priced.  Here is the one I got for my shack Vizio 50".  This is a very good model, great picture, very low power consumption, great price, and it's also a smart TV so you can use them inside your house/garage when they aren't in your shack.  They also make 24", 32", 40", and 43", and 48" in the same model. 

I have it mounted on an extending wall mount so it moves out from the wall and can tuck in the corner which is very nice.  Here is the mount TV Mount.  When you get your mount, make sure it is heavy duty. 

Here is the TV installed - I don't have any more recent pictures but please bear in mind that the shack itself is not done in this picture.  I started with just a Yetti shell and this was right after I got the TV installed, A LOT more work has been done since this picture (and a lot more work is still left..). 

[Princeton]

It is great to hear that the draw on a regular tv is so low!!   I would echo the DC tvs are more expensive and have less options out there.  My tv does not have the best audio, I would suggest to anyone to wire an output from your TV to your stereo as it really improves the sound.  At times we have a mini theater going in the fish house!! 

 

As as far as wiring an inverter you really should directly wire it to your battery with battery cables.  DC drops voltage quickly if you try to make long runs at high current.  From there run regular 14-2 Romex to your AC outlets from your AC outlet on the inverter.

[Moon Lake Refuge]

20 minutes ago, Princeton said:

It is great to hear that the draw on a regular tv is so low!!   I would echo the DC tvs are more expensive and have less options out there.  My tv does not have the best audio, I would suggest to anyone to wire an output from your TV to your stereo as it really improves the sound.  At times we have a mini theater going in the fish house!! 

 

As as far as wiring an inverter you really should directly wire it to your battery with battery cables.  DC drops voltage quickly if you try to make long runs at high current.  From there run regular 14-2 Romex to your AC outlets from your AC outlet on the inverter.

Good to know.  Don't mean to Hijack the thread but is there any advantage or disadvantage to running your inverter while generator is running?  Is it better to run off straight AC from the generator for charging purposes to the battery or does that not matter?

[YettiStyle]

Actually, running your inverter while your generator is running is a disadvantage.  Inverters are inherently inefficient at turning DC into AC so you will be wasting energy.  If your generator is running it would be more wise to run your TV off the generator, not the inverter. 

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Just now, YettiStyle said:

Actually, running your inverter while your generator is running is a disadvantage.  Inverters are inherently inefficient at turning DC into AC so you will be wasting energy.  If your generator is running it would be more wise to run your TV off the generator, not the inverter. 

That's what I was thinking.  Will wire a dual outlet then, one straight from the generator and one from the inverter.

[YettiStyle]

Moon Lake - I don't know if you know this or not but just run both wires to your outlet box.  Use a regular dual outlet receptacle and connect one circuit (inverter or generator) to the top set of screws and connect the second circuit to the bottom set of screws.  The most important part here is to break the tab so that the two circuits/outlets are no longer connected.  Also, make sure your inverter is in a semi-convenient place so it is easy to turn it on/off when your generator is running or you are only using batteries. 

Edited February 10, 2016 by YettiStyle

[Moon Lake Refuge]

44 minutes ago, rl_sd said:

Yeah.... Oddly enough, it was my post that you heard that from LOL. I would run 10 or 12 gauge.

knew it came from somewhere!

48 minutes ago, YettiStyle said:

Moon Lake - I don't know if you know this or not but just run both wires to your outlet box.  Use a regular dual outlet receptacle and connect one circuit (inverter or generator) to the top set of screws and connect the second circuit to the bottom set of screws.  The most important part here is to break the tab so that the two circuits/outlets are no longer connected.  Also, make sure your inverter is in a semi-convenient place so it is easy to turn it on/off when your generator is running or you are only using batteries. 

Seen it done, but with a DVD player or came console I think I'm just going to throw in a two gang box so that I'll have two working outlets to deal with at any given time.  Inverter will be sitting under the dinette so I can just reach under and flip it off.  Could also look into just wiring a switch to it also I suppose.

Edit-- More I think on it I suppose I could do it that way and just put outlet expanders on there also.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Moon Lake Refuge

[landscaper]

Yettistyle,

I do like your 50" Vizio TV in your fish house!!   Might have to upgrade mine!

[YettiStyle]

10 hours ago, landscaper said:

Yettistyle,

I do like your 50" Vizio TV in your fish house!!   Might have to upgrade mine!

Next step is adding a 32" under the 50" to display the underwater camera.  Can't imagine anything better than watching Grumpy Old Men on a 50" while watching a school of jumbo perch on a 32" with a nice frosty drink in hand.  Almost defeats the fishing experience but I've decided that most of the time I'm spending in this shack I'm just "camping" on the ice and catching fish is just a bonus.  So far I've been spoiled with great fishing and have only had 1 day where we didn't catch our limit of walleyes (going to knock on a BIG piece of wood after that statement). 

Just make sure you have enough to support the weight.  The TV only weighs 27 lbs but the leverage when it fully extends out the 14" with the wall mount puts a great deal of torque on the fasteners and the wall itself.  I actually built my wall out of 2x4's just for this reason and the TV is attached using four 3/8"x2" lag bolts. 

You are also going to want to make sure you immobilize it when you are moving the shack.  As you can see in my picture below I built two little shelves that the TV backs into when pushed back against the wall.  The shelves are the exact same depth as the TV when it is pushed all the way back.  I then used some beefy 1-1/2" eye bolts and use two ratchet straps to tighten everything down.  The straps don't touch the TV (if they do it's only the outside bezel and the straps are soft enough they don't scratch anything) but the shelves prevent the TV from bouncing up and down and the straps basically prevent it from extending out. Literally takes 2 seconds to push the TV in and quickly tighten down 2 straps and it's good to go (bought some straps for only for this so never have to adjust the length).