Ok, please be easy on me. I’am totally new to home automation. I have a 4,000 sqft home with 5 eeros plugged into cat 6 cable through out the house. I have 3 qolsys panels through out the house. I have two nest thermostats, ring doorbell, firefighter module, co2 sensor, entire house has Phillips hue lights. Three automated door locks. Security cameras are hard wired. My issue, I want an automated light switch to control the gas fire place. It is currently wired with a normal on off light switch. I want to be able to control the light switch with harmony. Was told I need to get a smarter things hub to make that work. My question is with everything I have. I know it’s all pieced together. Is there a simpler way to control a light switch or would smarter things make everything work better together. I have a few other z wave pieces that I got from alarm.com. Thanks
If you want to migrate to ST, you’re going to have to do a lot of work to pull everything in. That being said, I don’t know about the firefighting module or the door locks or security camera (without knowing a bunch more detail) but the rest would integrate to ST just fine. The big question is, what else are you going to want to do in the future? There are solutions out there that wouldn’t require you to get a ST hub to control your fireplace without all the work of ST. But, all the things you already have are going to take a LOT of work to get to work in ST. It wouldn’t be plug and play.
In addition to the important issues that @Ryan780 brings up, in most places in the US it is illegal to add a gas fireplace Control of any kind, including a phone app, that would allow you to turn on the fireplace unit from more than about 20 feet away. So that includes any use of SmartThings. You might know you never intend to turn on the fireplace while you are 10 miles away at the office, but just the fact that you could is a violation. (Which can also void your homeowners insurance.)
So the first thing you need to do is check with your local township to make sure it’s legal to add your fireplace Switch to an automated system.
It may depend on the exact model. Some of the High end fireplace units count as inwall furnaces. These typically have their own thermostats and cost five to ten thousand dollars each, as well as requiring yearly inspections. If you do have one of these models, you will probably have more options under the fire safety code.
Next is the issue of system reliability. Check the forum and you will find multiple reports of lights turning on by themselves or garage doors opening unexpectedly. While these events are rare, they can happen, so if out of sight Control of your fireplace is legal for your unit, you will probably still want to add a device with a manual shutoff timer, not just a switch.
So you may be able to do it, but there is some research to do first.
Provided it’s legal in your area to do so, you could just add in a lutron caseta switch, and pair a remote switch for it. If you don’t get a caseta smart bridge, it’s not internet or app enabled: Just a switch, with a remote control.
The better option is probably to get a remote control for your fireplace, and leave the switch as is.
https://www.fireplaceremotecontrols.com/fireplace-remotes.html
If you choose to move forward after reading JD’s warnings, the first thing you need to do is figure out if it’s 120V or low voltage hooked to your wall switch.
My house came with a RF remote to electronically controll the fireplace and I have something similar for my fire pit in the backyard (that was installed during landscaping).
I am in SoCal so I rarely use the fireplace hence I never automated it. During my landscaping process…we had an insane level of inspections and permits from the city and association but they were fine with my fire pit control mechanism.
I installed a Z-Wave Water Valve on my fire sprinkler system that is probably against code but I don’t have any automation that shuts off the supply. Hence, if I am not home and my sprinklers go off. I can visually check my cameras and smoke detectors status before remotely shutting off my water supply.
I had these sprinklers leak before…thus the intergration with smartthings. But of course…I haven’t tested this in a few months so I hope it all works
Handheld remotes are allowed in most areas providing they have a short range. The problem with adding something to a home automation system is if it allows you to activate it when you are away from home. Even if you never intend to do this, then it generally becomes a code violation.
Thank you so much for all your reply. All of you have helped me tremendously. I think I’m going to just leave it alone and work on all the other automation in the house.
Thanks,
Tank