Help narrowing down my options for remote dial control

I have a heating system that is controlled by turning a mechanical dial. I already have HA running dealing with security cameras. Imputing temperature is not difficult… but turning a dial… soo many options, but I would prefer to stick to WiFi and not add any dongles for Zigbe/wave or ESPHome etc.
I identified two routes for making this work:
a) Use a servo motor + Arduino and some janktastic way to plug everything in to control the valve.
b) Get some cheepo radiator valve controller with ofc some janktastic attachment method. (However I need to NOT have any temp sensors… the dial is close to the furnace… it will register like 40 C)
I am bit overwhelmed… by share volume of options. Can you point me to some good google keywords/guides/tutorials? If you had a similar project any pointers/HW recomendation?