Thank you very much.
So, just to clarify, due to the engineering of the remotec it is operating in parallel with the low voltage wall switch. Thus you have control of the FP via a wave and with the manual switch.
Close, but not exactly parallelâŠ
Itâs more like the low voltage switch can tell the remotec relay what to do. For example, if the relay loses power, you canât flip the low voltage switch and have that turn on the relay and turn on the fireplace.
But otherwise, yes⊠the low voltage switch does still work. The only caveat there is it can get âhalf-wayâ out of sync with the relay. Some may consider this a problem and you can rectify it various ways (replacing the existing switch with a momentary push button and re-configuring how the remotec works), but for me this isnât a problem at all.
Hereâs what I mean by âhalf wayâ out of sync:
State: Switch off - Relay off - Fireplace off
Now I use SmartThings to turn on the fireplaceâŠ
State: Switch off - Relay on - Fireplace on
Obviously this doesnât physically flip the switch⊠itâs still in the off position, but the fire place is on. To manually turn off the fire place at this point I need to flip ON the switchâŠ
State: Switch on - Relay on - Fireplace on
âŠand then flip off the switch.
State: Switch off - Relay off - Fireplace off
Likewise, if I used the switch to turn on the fire place:
State: Switch on - Relay on - Fireplace on
But then turned it off via SmartThings:
State: Switch on - Relay off - Fireplace off
The switch is halfway out of sync. To turn the fireplace back on with the switch I need to flip the switch offâŠ
State: Switch off - Relay off - Fireplace off
âŠand then back on:
State: Switch on - Relay on - Fireplace on
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Yes, works exactly like every other three way switch in your house, so the paradigm is not new, however I find it annoying, which is why I replaced every toggle switch in my house with push buttonsâŠ
Iâm ok with it being out of sync⊠The problem that really blows my ocd. Out of the water is when a multi gang switch box has that one switch that is different than the othersâŠ
⊠That just goes against the laws of nature.
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The ZFM80 is awesome. I took out my old fireplace switch that just completed a low voltage circuit. Wired that to the ZFM80 and then ran power to the location to power the ZFM80. Awesome. Now I have a cute push button switch that turns the fire on and off. Works great. The only downside is that the ZFM80 is about the size of a decor wall plate, but not quite. Its a little bigger so you have to dremel out a wall plate opening to make it fit.
Also looking to connect my fireplace up, I am in Europe so the selection of relays is a little different here
It currently uses an RF remote control to a powered control box, this can take 4 AA batteries or comes with a supplied AC adapter that I currently use, so I have a socket to use for something that is accessible and also hidden.
My questions are:
- What might be my relay options, Wemo maker appears to be one of the only global option? And therefore 230/240V possible
- Any advice on the yellow, green, orange connection points for the relay? Happy to use an electrician but would also like to know for myself too before engaging, link below
fibaro makes a UK spec zwave relay switch that would work.
Your fireplace controllerâs way more advanced than the typical dumb lot of them that we have over here.
Iâm sure itâs possible to control it via a relay, however no actual schematic (only a functional one) is contained in that document, so a call to the company, or some sleuthing with a multi meter is likely in order.
Thanks Mike, some things worry me a bit about the the fibaro, one it being z-wave and I am currently on v1 hub. I do have 3 v2 hubs though. But with z-wave not being the same the world over I see as a big reason for it not being the main standard globally in the future. But saying that it is another option, assuming the wemo maker would also work. I have a couple of wemo devices already.
Yes the connection points I will try giving the fireplace people a call, I only had it installed a year ago. Where the orange line is will just have a combination of connectors Iâm sure. The only thing that does worry me about it is from the remote it requires a 5 second hold of 2 buttons to start. The 2 button part is fine, the 5 second hold may not be so easy?
Not sure why youâre making a distinction between the v1, v2 hubs and zwave.
If youâre concerned about local (off line) control, the list of devices that are capable of running local hasnât been published to my knowledge. And Iâd bet the wemo maker isnât one, nor likely to be one.
So routing your fireplace control through the wemo, through IFTTT, through ST already requires cloud access.
So from that perspective there isnât any advantage between hub v1 and v2.
A solution thatâs less likely to fail, simply by virtue of having less cloud dependencies would be a device zwave or zigbee, thatâs directly paired to your hub.
Your V2 hubs support EU zwave now, that wonât change, and as long as a device continues to work, thereâs little need to change it out.
So Iâm not understanding the issue using the Fibaro relayâŠ
Also when you call the fireplace guy, just ask them how to control the fireplace with a simple wall mounted on/off toggle switch. If you start going all HA, zigbee, wemo, zwave on them, theyâll probably just hang up on youâŠ
Sorry should have explained, my v1 will be US zwaveâŠ
And yes will keep it to the basics for the fireplace people! Will try them tmw.
Thanks again
Just tagging on here. I automated my gas fireplace in the bedroom today. Went (mostly) really smoothly. Used the Remotec ZFM-80 (as have others). Wired it up using an old electric cord. It took a few attempts to get it to join, but I found out later I was having a bad ST day and some other devices were misbehaving as well, so that might explain it. Anyway, ended up using a minimote to include it and got 'er done.
My particular fireplace has a remote control receiver thatâs basically a battery box, with an rf receiver and a physical switch all in oneâŠall stored under the frame of the fireplace. The battery box is wired to the control board that controls the fireplace. I cut the leads between the battery/remote box and the control board, then wired the board to the control poles on the Remotec relay and the battery/remote box to the exterior switch poles on the Remotec. Everything worked pretty much as expected at that point.
I wanted some more control (safety) on the switch, so I used Mike_Maxwellâs Remotec device type from the library to give me control of the in-dwelling z-wave parameters (specifically parameter 2) for the relay, which allows you to set a max-on time for the relay. I screwed around with trying to read the code (of which I am very poorly versed) but was eventually able to figure it out. Because really all you have to do is load and publish the device type, then assign it to the relay, then check the preference and, voila, control of parameter 2! Mike was able to clear up my confusion through a couple messagesâŠthanks Mike!
Lastly, I set up a rule through Smart Rules to turn on the fire when we trigger our Going to Bed routine, providing the temp in the bedroom is cooler than 67 degrees, and then turning off the fire 20 minutes later.
So tonight, when we go to bed, we find a warm room that controls itself and a local safety in place, just in case gremlins find their way into the ST hub 
Overall, it was cheap, easy and (pretty) straight forward to get a solid (so far) result! Good day!
Ohh⊠this is good info. Thanks for sharing that. I may have to look at doing this myself as Iâd like to have that added safety too. Well⊠Iâm not so much worried about safety as wasted energy. I donât think even leaving the fireplace on 24/7 would be a safety issue personally*, but I donât want to heat the den unnecessarily.
Thanks for the tip on the device type code.
- Please note that this is my opinion only!! Use your fireplace at your own risk. Donât sue me, SmartThings, or your second cousin Lou if your fireplace burns down your house. Well, unless your second cousin Lou installed the fireplace for you and did a poor job of it. I never trusted cousin Lou. Why you had him install your fireplace Iâll never understand. Heâs a plumber for goodness sakes! What does he know about fireplaces?
I need some advise to hook up my gas fireplace. Iâm really concerned about fire safety.
I have a low voltage switch which controls a flame and a standard line switch to control the blower. I have access to a power line.
Particular requirements:
- Must work if ST is down!
- Fireplace switch must never be out of sync with the physical switch.
- Master switch to control both the fire and the blower.
Iâm considering the following setup:
Remotec ZFM-80 relay to control the low voltage switch
Aeon appliance module to control the blower
GE Z-wave switch to serve as the master
Aeon Minimote to associate GE switch with relay and appliance module
How well would that work. Whatâs the actual method to associate the devices. I do want all 3 pieces to be connected to ST, but the master switch must remain working no matter what.
TIA.
The ZFM can get out of sync when an external switch is used. I use a enerwave wall controller to activate the fireplace (and if I had a blower, there would be a button for that as well), but a linear auxiliary switch works nicely and can be paired directly to the zfm-80 for extra reliability. Same with a minimote.
Is your blower one speed or several? You might consider a dual relay to get a second speed.
A nice feature of the zfm for fireplace applications is its fail safe to off mode â can be programmed to internally turn off the dry contact after two hours.
Thatâs why I want to use an extra âstatelessâ z-wave switch thatâs paired directly to ZFM. I happened to have a GE switch, would it work?
I think it could run at different speeds, but on/off is fine for me.
I will definitely be using this feature. This setup must absolutely work during a ST outage. Remote control is just a bonus.
I used a ge relay switch for awhile and it wasnât fully reliable for two reasons.
First, the smartthings app big switch or whatever it is now sometimes just stops working. Second, because itâs a relay and had state, it could be out of sync.
The linear auxiliary switch can pair directly to the zfm via the minimote and operate with total reliability.
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I meant to say that the physical state of switch must not be out of sync with the state of fireplace. When I press âoffâ fire should definitely turn off and the look of the toggle switch must not be deceiving.
I will look into linear auxiliary switch.
My fireplace has a low-voltage wall switch for turning it on and off. The switch is part of a double where the other turns the light in the living room on/off. Reading this thread I think I can replace the switch for the fireplace with the ZFM80 power it from the second switch and then attach the wires for the fireplace as the external switch on the ZFM80. Does that sound right?
My current switches below (fireplace low voltage on the right):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9vCwV5wIEiuTnY1bTJzbHU2dmc
Yes. However, Iâd replace the rocker on/off switch with a momentary rocket switch to prevent out of sync issues.
Now Iâm confused again. Doesnât the ZFM80 replace the rocker switch? I press the button on that unit to turn the fireplace on/off or control that button with my app?