Hello community. I’m hoping someone with coding skills out there could help me, and a number of other people as well. When trying to set up a gas fireplace control, the two common methods appear to be either the Remotec ZFM-80 (currently unavailable ANYWHERE), or the Fortrezz mimolite relay (which i grabbed, because the Remotec is unavailable!).
What I learned after getting the device and really digging into the project is that the mimolite option wasn’t fully baked yet. Since the Remotec isn’t an option, I think the community would benefit from having this second option working, but I completely lack the skills to complete it… so I am crossing my fingers someone here could help.
After talking to fortrezz customer support, we believe that the proper way to deal with this is thus:
Put the mimolite into “latched” mode via the jumper (this part is easy). Connect it to the fireplace controller with the “normally open” contacts (also very easy). The next step is providing some sort of “manual” input to also control the relay (by manual, I mean a physical button). I don’t want to use a rocker on/off switch because if you turn the fireplace ON with the rocker and then OFF with the app, the switch is obviously in the wrong position. Instead, we surmised that the best way to handle this is to use a momentary switch connected to the SIG1 input of the mimolite, and to write a smartapp…
Quote from Fortrezz support: “You definitely can create your own SmartApp to do this, or check the community website for a similar application… the concept would go something like this. Store the status of the relay in a variable, and every time the input gets triggered by a momentary switch, invert this variable. So this way you can turn on/off from SmartThings and from the momentary switch/button”
And right there is the problem… I have no coding skills. Zip. Honestly, not even sure why my wife stays with me… 
At best, I can look at existing code and tweak a line or two if I have instructions. But in my mind, I’m assuming a smart individual would be able to grab some existing mimolite smartapp that someone made for a garage door opener or something, make some tweaks to it, and then be able to share it with the community. Then we would have a fully-baked second option to the rarely-available Remotec ZFM-80 solution.
Is there anyone able to be a community hero and assist with this?
Since there are so many jurisdictions in the United States where it is illegal to put a gas-powered fireplace on any remote that can operate out of sight (which would include any smartthings application, since even though you yourself may never intend to turn it on while you’re at the office 10 miles away, just the fact that you can is a safety violation under these codes), I would think most coders would be concerned about their own liabilities if they create this kind of code for someone else.
Fortrezz handles their own liability by including the following:
Install unit in accordance with electrical codes and regulations.
Meaning if your local township says you can’t use it to operate a gas fireplace, Fortrezz agrees that you shouldn’t.
The biggest advantage of the remotec was that it had a built in safety timer that would operate even if the SmartThings cloud was not available. You might still be violating the local safety code, but at least there would be some safety features. I don’t believe the Mimolite has a similar independent timer option, but I may be wrong.
Anyway, because of the many local jurisdictions which would not allow this kind of operation, I just don’t think there’s enough demand for a coder to create a general solution.
If you can provide a letter from your Township saying that it would be legal where you live, there might be someone who would be willing to help you, but I imagine they wouldn’t want the code widely distributed anyway because of the number of people who might try to use it where it wasn’t legal.
Just an observation. 
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well, the ZFM-80, despite having an auto-shutoff, is still illegal in most jurisdictions. So not sure the legality comment is appropriate here, because both options are equally allowed or not allowed, despite having auto-shutoff capability or not. Every person doing either option is making a judgment call on their own. I would actually like to do the ZFM-80 option anyway, but it just doesn’t exist anywhere. It makes me wonder if it will no longer be offered, in which case the community is left with only the mimolite as the only viable option. May as well try to make it as good as possible?
As for coder liability, I don’t believe there is any (could be wrong). I believe it usually lies with the person who makes the decision to use something, not with the person who created it (hence guys that write emulation software aren’t liable for players who use pirated ROMs and get sued).