I am looking for hardware to control my fireplace. I’m hoping there is an igniter and valve that can be controlled so I can turn on the fire and control how high the flame is.
Has anyone found hardware for this before I try to modify something?
I feel that if you have to ask then you should not be doing this.
It is illegal to modify gas appliances in most countries, for good reason.
There is great potential for this appliance to murder you silently in your sleep if you have tinkered with the many safety checks in place.
Agreed.
At least where I live, these devices follow NFPA code under one of two classes and therefore either:
Fireplace : Can be controllable through line of sight (IR) ONLY
Furnace : can be fully automatic
Thats why a fully automatic gas fireplace in the states (anywhere that follows NFPA anyway) cost a fortune because they have to pass muster as a ‘furnace.’
Furnaces have thermostats, flame detection for gas/oil or other fuel, pilots or automatic pilot-less ignition systems with failsafe, gas detection and overheat/fire detection cutoffs. Etc, etc.
Even if your municipality doesn’t follow NFPA… Your insurance company will want said device to be something UL listed.
Basically, If your house burns down and they trace it back to an automated gas fireplace that doesnt have UL listing, good luck getting a claim paid.
This one’s rarely a good idea to diy… Well unless you’re developing a product and plan to do all those things above… Then. Interesting…
Most gas fireplaces have a switch that you can control on/off with. My fireplaces are controlled by a switch, have direct vent, a pilot, a glass cover and were installed as part of the original construction. I have automated mine with a shelly. I cannot control the amount of gas as it is either on or off. I would discourage modifying the fireplace to control gas flow but adding a switch with shelly or even a thermostat is fine in my opinion. You are only replacing a switch with another switch. You can buy Shellies that are UL approved and substituting an automated for a manual switch is what we do all the time. I have an automation to prevent freezing in the house should the power go off. Temperature is by battery controlled device.
I am not looking to modify any hardware and get around any local codes. There are multiple products that do this and are up to code. But they are back order till the winter.