# Smart thermostat with freestanding gas stove



## bridgerman (Dec 7, 2020)

Hi Folks,

Bridgerman here.  I invented the ThermGuard product and I now have another product that may be of interest to this group.  

I purchased a vacation cabin that has a freestanding gas stove.  It is a standing pilot unit that simply has an ON/OFF switch.  I wanted to monitor the temperature inside and be able to heat with gas since the main heat is electric baseboard.  I invented a small device that will connect to the millivolt gas valve and allow me to operate the stove remotely (1.5 hours away) and monitor the internal temperature using a Nest thermostat.  I just received a patent on the product.  It is called +wire.  

I plug in a 24VAC wall transformer at the stove and using only two wires in the thermostat wiring, I can provide a 24VAC signal, a common signal, to the thermostat (to operate and send/receive wifi signals) and the stove gets a 24VAC heat signal from the thermostat.  I convert the 24VAC heat signal into a dry relay closure for the millivolt signal from the thermopile that powers the gas valve.

There are other products on the market that will let you add a common wire for a smart thermostat but they don't work with a millivolt gas valve.  These products also require at least 3 wires in the thermostat wire bundle and most homes, if they have thermostats on a millivolt system only have two wires.  The millivolt stoves also do not produce the 24VAC that the smart thermostats require.

Bottom line: If you want to add a smart thermostat to a 2-wire appliance such as a freestanding stove, or even a boiler, there is now a product on the market that will work for you.  I also use the product to pre-heat the cabin when I am on my way up.  I keep the temperature low while I am away, and make the cabin toasty before I arrive.

I'm thinking $50 for the product with maybe an extra $20 if you need the transformer.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Bridgerman


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## CasinovaRock23 (Feb 3, 2022)

I'd be interested! We have a stove like that in our guest house, ~500 feet away from our main house.  I'm actually trouble shooting it now (just posted a thread about it) but once I have those issues solved something like this would be really nice to have.


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