Total Novice - art of the possible

[GarethBirkett]

So I am totally new to all of this but am keen to learn and like a project to be the way I learn.

I have an oil vaporising Aga, they are super simple. Essentially they have a wick that burns oil and heats the Aga. The oil flow is controlled by an electric regulator and is either high fire, or low fire. The default is low fire, but when the thermostat detects that the temperature has dropped it sends a signal to the regulator to turn to high fire, when the temperature is reached it switches back to low fire and so on maintaining the temperature range.

This is all done with a manual dial you turn up and down on the thermostat. The Aga takes hours to heat up so essentially you just leave it at the same temperature all the time.

What I would like to be able to do is remotely change the thermostat. For example, we are going away for the weekend so turn the temperature down to save oil. But when coming home don't want to wait 5 hours to be able to cook, so I want to be able to send a signal to change back to cooking temperature before travelling back and moving the dial.

I am sure this is not impossible but as a total novice also wanted a steer on where to start?

Thanks

Gareth

[skywatch]

@GarethBirkett said in Total Novice - art of the possible:

I think we need more information on what the "manual dial you turn up and down on the thermostat" is and how it works. Is it mechanical? electronic?

[Puneit Thukral]

Two thoughts come to mind depending on what you prefer

1. Remove the manual function and rely on a relay ; I would make it a binary heater with two values - ON at full heat and OFF. Then we can use a temperature sensor placed at a good location to as a feedback mechanism to turn the relay On & Off

2. You may consider putting a motor based actuator (maybe find one on Aliexpress - something like this Actuator Arm or you can DIY using a stepper motor and 3D printer.

Some images of the device you want to manipulate will be nice

Hope this helps
Cheers

[GarethBirkett]

@skywatch it is a mechanical thermostat https://www.agafixspares.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1007

[GarethBirkett]

@Puneit-Thukral https://www.agafixspares.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1007 this is the thermostat I am looking to replace/automate.

[Puneit Thukral]

@GarethBirkett Both links are not opening at my end. Could you post pictures

[bjacobse]

somehow your description is a bit misleading:
"The oil flow is controlled by an electric regulator and is either high fire, or low fire. The default is low fire, but when the thermostat detects that the temperature has dropped it sends a signal to the regulator to turn to high fire, when the temperature is reached it switches back to low fire and so on maintaining the temperature range."

you are linking to a thermostat, with a connector of 2 pins.

so the AGA must have a low fire at all times, and when the thermostat are activated (when temp is lower than set temp on the knob) it start high fire.

so basically you just need a relay that can withstand the current of the oilburner. check on the current thermostat it must state the current it can withstand, then a DS18b20 and an Ardino connected to your favorite HomeAutomation controller (domoticz, homeassistand, HomeSeer)

And then you can swith on/off from homeautomation from your phone

Just remember to create the code so you measure temperature and relay must switch OFF at a set temperature so you wont overheat the AGA and potentially burn your house down

[GarethBirkett]

Apologies if my description was misleading it wasn't on purpose I just didn't understand as I thought I did. That is a great help so seems like it is definitely possible so now I just need to get on with trying to make it work. Thank you again I really like the idea but will be on a very steep learning curve!

[bjacobse]

@GarethBirkett
no worries man, you described somehow how it functioned ;-) I just newer heard of a oil vaporizing AGA cooker/stove :-)