Electric Fire with Remote

[Andrew Millne]

I have an infra-red remote controlled fire I was hoping to bring under Idratek control. The problem is it only has a power toggle button rather than distinct on and off buttons. I've emailed the manufacturer on the slim chance that the fire will respond to separate on and off commands but I don't hold out much hope of even getting a response.

My next thought would be a current sensing device somewhere conveniently on the same circuit as the fire looking for the current change shortly after the IR signal was sent. This could then be fed back into Cortex to confirm the change of state.

Would this be possible or can anybody suggest an alternative? It would be very difficult to get any additional wiring to the location of the fire but access to elsewhere on the circuit is still possible.

[Gumby]

I'm being extra careful to read your posts properly now...

What happens if you can control the power circuit to the heater with something like an SRH? You could apply power when needed, heater presumably starts up in "off" mode, and then you just need to send the toggle code once to switch on. Cut power again to turn off.

Yes, it an IR emitter + an SRH, rather than just an emitter, but probably easier than measuring the current.

[chris_j_hunter]

presumably the fire generates heat, so perhaps a temperature sensor could be used for feedback ... so, relay + IR transmitter + temperature sensor, in whatever module(s) can give them in a practical way for your situation ? Maybe you could by-pass the in-built IR-remote functionality, and save on the IR emitter part (the remote could continue to do its bit via an Idratek IR receiver, if still desired) ?