Pellet stove thermostat

We have a pellet stove in enclosed bricked area in the basement family room.

It uses a standard mercury thermostat to turn on/off the pellet stove which is wired to the back of the stove and the thermostat is mounted next to the stove because it inside a bricked enclosed area which make it hard to wire the thermostat to the other side of the room unless we run the wire exposed along the brick wall and ceiling across the room.

I been looking to see if there was even a "switch remote" thermostat and to my surprising that it does exist.

A switch would be connected behind the pellet stove to the terminals for the thermostat and its run on battery or power adapter. The remote thermostat is like a remote control which have a wall mount that can be mounted on wall across the room with no wires. It's normally used to start gas fireplace but from what I been reading that it is also used on pellet stove or any stove using a standard off/on thermostat.

Now I am trying to find one with a zwave or zigbeee or even a wifi that will work with HE. I spend most of the night looking on the net but no luck so far. There are hundred of "wired" ones but none I could find that have a receiver to connect to the wood stove.

Here an example of a thermostat with a receiver to control the fireplace/pellet stove - https://www.amazon.com/Durablow-TR1003-Fireplace-Control-Thermostat/dp/B01N422YKD/

Is there one like this with a radio that can be controller and monitored by HE?

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Is there a wired version that you could add a dry-contact relay to? Zooz makes a good one :slight_smile:

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Wired version?

The stove does have a terminal where our current wired thermostat is connected to using furnace wiring but it running along the brick wall since we can't bury it inside so it stick out like a sore thumb plus the thermostat sit close to the stove meaning we have to set temp higher than the temp we want on other side of the room.

We are going to replace the wired thermostat by taking if off the stove and hook up a receiver box in it place and the remote control which is a thermostat will be mounted on other side of the room on a wall in a holder.

But we were wondering it there was one out there that come in zwave or zigbee version before buying it.

Just get an ecobee with a remote sensor, and set it to only use the remote sensor for temp readings. Put the remote sensor on the far end of the room. You can also set it to use the average between the sensor on the thermostat and the remote sensor.

Actually, how about this...

https://www.amazon.com/Qubino-110-230V-Thermostat-External-Temperature/dp/B079J2HZ3Z/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=qubino+temperature+sensor&qid=1583358351&sprefix=qubin&sr=8-3

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There not really a place to mount ecobee near the stove.. It's inclosed inside the brick area.

Both side and rear are all bricked so it will still show visible wiring. We still want to be able to control it without using a hub if needed.

A zwave relay switch will work if there was a remote control thermostats that can control it directly without depending on a hub.

But there’s an existing thermostat you still want to use right? You could have this close the same contacts, so either could control it

We want to get rid of the existing thermostat it sticking out like a sore thumb.

We would like to replace it a receiver hidden behind the stove which is linked to a remote control thermostat and to the hub.

I see. Maybe check out using that remote you linked to with a Bond hub. They support fireplaces so they might support that one. Then there’s a community integration for Bond

There is a wifi version .. but no remote thermostat which still require a hub/temp sensor to control it. :confused:

https://www.amazon.com/Durablow-Fireplace-Compatible-Programmable-SH3001/dp/B07DDCL8P5

Can you just drill a hole in the mortar of the bricks? A concrete bit will make short work of that.

As for using something else other than HVAC controls for this (like a Z-wave relay), I would probably not personally do it. What if it turns on in the summer unattended and someone has stacked flammable stuff nearby, or what if it fails to turn on in the winter when it's cold and you end up with frozen pipes? I like the idea of DIY HVAC control, but there's a lot that needs to be thought about from a safety and reliability standpoint.

How hot does it get on the floor directly behind the pellet stove all the way back against the wall? If it's not hot, you could just put the main ecobee on the floor which might mostly keep the wire out of sight, and then have it use the remote temp sensor.

Do you have a pic of the stove and thermostat area?

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I will try remember to take a picture of the stove tonight when I get home from work.

The brick wall is like a foot wide on each side and we would still see a wire going from the stove to the wall to get to the other side of the brick wall then there concrete house foundation wall which I have to run up to reach to the ceiling so the wire will be exposed running toward to ceiling since it can't be buried inside of it. Next I would have to destroy a sheetrock to run the wire all the way to the opposite side of the room to mount the thermostat and patch it all up however we will see wires exposed from stove through the brick wall up to the ceiling before it's hidden.

I do not want any type of DIY HVAC control for sure that why I am trying to find an actual thermostat with receiver that is designed for this very purpose but would be nice if there was one which could be linked to a hub as an optional feature if you know what I mean.

The thermostat would need to do is close a switch contact to start pellet stove and open to stop the pellet stove.

A thermostat could be placed behind the stove or on the floor but isn't ecobee is one of them high end thermostat that would be an overkill for an on/off function for a pellet stove?

Is there a lower end zwave or thermostat with it own zwave relay switch which is can control without depending on a hub which I can use relay switch on the off/on function for the stove?

Here the picture, it in basement and you can see the thermostat with wire next to it

If I decided to go ahead and try hide the wires the best I can running it over to the other side of the room, what wired thermostat should I get for it then? It a standard open / close thermostat so I don't need anything fancy or built in programmable one.

Is there a simple zwave or zigbee thermostats with a temp display and up/down temp button? I don't need the "cool" or "fan on" since it not an A/C unit either.

Zigbee. About as simple as they get.

https://www.amazon.com/Sinopé-TH1400ZB-Voltage-Thermostat-Heating/dp/B07TVF88JB/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?keywords=sinope+thermostat&qid=1583376978&sprefix=sinope&sr=8-9

I saw that one during my search. I was hoping a simple one in the 30-40 dollars range. :confused:

Centralite Peal. But some don’t like them. I think I would personally spend the extra for a reliable and trouble free device. Their switches are nice. Not quite in my design style but it was extremely well-made and performed perfectly over the month that I tested it.

I’ve never tried the thermostat, but @mike.maxwell said all their devices were well made. They sent a bunch of their products to him to write the drivers. Others have had praise for them too. I have not heard anything bad in other words, as opposed to the other choices out there. They make devices for Control4 and they’re basically the same except the modified Zigbee radio for them. So that kind of gives you an idea of the quality and audience they serve.

Or, the Vivint CT-200. You can get them for $20-$50 on eBay :slight_smile: They’re Z-zwave, and pretty darn simple.

I saw that while ago and I was thinking about it. HE will be able to pair to the Vivint?