For some time I have been thinking about creating a set of .NET classes that abstracted out interactions with home automation devices, the ControlThink guys have since done a pretty good job with their Z-Wave SDK but I think its a practical necessity to be able to interact with devices based on many different protocols and having a set of abstract base classes for each device type with implementations of those base classes for each device class (like we did with System.Security.Cryptography in the .NET Framework) would be a nice way to accomplish this.
I figured I would start small and hook a couple of devices up, I started with my fireplace (gas, electric ignition) and its fan so it would be controllable via Z-Wave (and my Harmony 890); with that in mind I ordered a pair of the Leviton 15A Z-Wave switches (one for my fan and one for the ignition on the fireplace).
Hooking up the fan was a breeze, I had to hook up the neutral (which surprised me since Z-Wave is RF based) but turns out the ignition on gas fireplaces are actually millivolt based, thus my switches are incapable of controlling the fireplace; there are two reasons for this:
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These switches require 120v power to operate, and only the low voltage wiring is present.
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These effectively bridge the incoming 120v signal to the load on the switch when toggled, thus if I were to just run the 120v over to this location and hook it up I would at best kill the ignition as its not expecting 120v input or at worse blow up my house.
When I had this realization I started looking for a switch designed for this scenario unfortunately I could not find one, this leaves me with a few options when it comes to finishing this wiring project:
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Find and purchase a single pole, single throw (SPST) power relay with a 120v coil and spring return, run 120v power to the switch location wire the coil in as the load, wire the millivolt into the load on the power relay.
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I can see if (with some help from a EE friend) if I can modify the 15A switch to suite my needs without the addition of a external power relay (#1).
I really wanted to finish this project off this weekend so I headed over to North Coast Electric and then Platt Electric to see if I could get the SPST relay I would need for that approach and both indicated they would need to order it so I decided to sleep on it and place a order this next week.
In the mean time can you think of any other solutions?