Safety of a smart switch on a fireplace

Question

Would it be unsafe or considered "bad practice" to replace a gas fireplace switch with an IoT enabled smart switch?

I would like to think there would be no issue, but, I want to make sure that it's not going to break any fire safety codes in my house. However, it would nice from a home automation perspective to turn it on as necessary, utilizing other sensors.

Answer 1

There is no 'standard practice' for this sort of application to date. Simple, insecure, remote electrical switching is accepted practice - provided the switch hardware complies with the normal electrical safety regulations.

Any gas-powered device ought to be designed to be safe in unattended operation, with blow-out detection, etc. so there should not be any additional complication from an insecure access path.

Your biggest challenge is likely to be regulatory, considering the manufacturing and installation aspects of the switch hardware.

Unless you disclose this installation to your insurer, you will be providing them an excuse to decline a claim if the worst happens.

Answer 2

In my opinion, "smart switches" are a natural progression of the current switch. I assume when switch-activated fireplaces first arrived people wondered "is it safe to have a fire that is activated via a mere flip of a switch?"

Use common sense, and treat the smart switch with the same care as you would your current switch.

Lastly, I cannot speak to your question regarding fire codes. However, my guess is there is no current legislation banning this activity.

Answer 3

As with all smart devices it completely depends on their security level. As such you have to evaluate the security level of the specific smart switch to determine its safety level.

If the smart switch is adequately secured one could reasonably consider it a better solution because you are able to disable your fireplace from without the confines of your own home.

Lastly as Joel also mentions local legal regulations have to be considered, but likely most places don't have such regulations as of yet.

Answer 4

A little late. I installed one such switch on one of my gas fireplaces in 2017 using Fibaro Home Automation.

There was no such regulation in New Zealand. Conditions may vary in other countries. But there are regulations about converting one over for automation.

I wanted to do the same to the other gas fireplace which only had a wall switch for the fan. I enquired about converting this. Although the supplier had a kit to do this, he was not allowed to do it because it was for a different model / brand.