Harman Absolute 63 with Nest

[jzimmem]

Hi all, I have read that it's possible to hook up a nest to an Absolute series pellet stove. My goal is to be able to turn the the heat on remotely using the nest app before I arrive to my cabin. I have used instructions using the link below, and I do get the proper resistance, open, close, etc when operating the thermostat and the relay. However connecting the Room Sensing Probe to the relay doesn't seem to work. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Nest (Gen 2) Thermostat With Gas Fireplace (or Other Millivolt System)

Nest (Gen 2) Thermostat With Gas Fireplace (or Other Millivolt System): This short tutorial will help you use your Gen 2 Nest thermostat with your gas fireplace or other millivolt type system. I found some other tutorials online but none really seemed to cover everything you'll need so here you go!

www.instructables.com

Thanks!

 

[railfanron]

The thermostat needs to be in series with the probe for the stove to work properly. Here is is a diagram. Forgive my sloppy writing. I'm running an Ecobee stat on my p43 and can start it remotely and even have it geofenced.
Ron

 

[rickwai]

Basically you are interrupting 1 leg of the room sensing probe. It just puts it in a Room sensing failure mode.

 

[jzimmem]

The thermostat needs to be in series with the probe for the stove to work properly. Here is is a diagram. Forgive my sloppy writing. I'm running an Ecobee stat on my p43 and can start it remotely and even have it geofenced.
Ron

Thank you Ron, impressive work, I see you kept the room sensing probe in the whole solution, I have just removed the probe and connected the two wires of the probe wire to the relay. Not sure if that makes a difference.

 

[jzimmem]

Basically you are interrupting 1 leg of the room sensing probe. It just puts it in a Room sensing failure mode.

Hi Minister, thanks for the reply, so yes I am in room sensing failure mode right now. I guess I am just having a problem determining how to test the solution out. I have set the P63 to Auto Sensing temp mode, If I turn I set the nest to not call for heat the P63 should go into stop burn mode correct, I can tell this is happening because the feed rate goes to zero, and this takes several minutes to complete, If I then turn the heat up and have the nest call for heat the feed rate should start back up again and start the burn mode.

Is this a correct way to test? Maybe I am not being patient enough to wait for these cycles to complete

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Follow Ron’s diagram...one wire of the probe to the stove, the other to one side of the relay and a third wire from the relay back to the stove.

 

[rickwai]

Hi Minister, thanks for the reply, so yes I am in room sensing failure mode right now. I guess I am just having a problem determining how to test the solution out. I have set the P63 to Auto Sensing temp mode, If I turn I set the nest to not call for heat the P63 should go into stop burn mode correct, I can tell this is happening because the feed rate goes to zero, and this takes several minutes to complete, If I then turn the heat up and have the nest call for heat the feed rate should start back up again and start the burn mode.

Is this a correct way to test? Maybe I am not being patient enough to wait for these cycles to complete

That is correct. Are you using a remote Harman temp sensor? When Nest calls for heat it should complete the loop and start up. I would use the stove to monitor the temp and use the Nest to basically start and stop the stove

 

[railfanron]

The Probe must remain in the circuit. And for the whole thing to work properly you must set the stove's thermostat to a setting higher than the nest is set at. Ex: Nest set at 70 Stove set at 80.
Ron

 

[rickwai]

With a cabin that you basically want to be able to start the stove remote I wouls set the stove stat at the desired temp then use the Nest to basically start the stove. Set stove to 70F Ex. and turn the nest up to 80F. That will allow the stove to regulate flame height to maintain temp as opposed to running until Nest sends it into fault and it just shuts off then restarts out of fault. If you set the stove stat up hi and let the Nest regulate it you loose the logic in the stove to reduce flame as temp gets close and dwell when it hits temp prior to shutting down. I would also get a Blink wifi cam and have it so you can see what the stove is doing.

 

[railfanron]

Rickwai if you want to do it that way forget the Nest (way to much money for just a switch). Get a wifi plug, a 12 volt 1 amp brick power supply, 12v car relay and a box to mount the relay in. Wire the brick to the coil side of the relay and the switch side in series with the probe and for about 40 bucks you have a stock Harman that can be started from anywhere there is an internet connection. I have the gas furnace in my workshop wired this way.
Ron

 

[rickwai]

Rickwai if you want to do it that way forget the Nest (way to much money for just a switch). Get a wifi plug, a 12 volt 1 amp brick power supply, 12v car relay and a box to mount the relay in. Wire the brick to the coil side of the relay and the switch side in series with the probe and for about 40 bucks you have a stock Harman that can be started from anywhere there is an internet connection. I have the gas furnace in my workshop wired this way.
Ron

Good thought. I am not that versed on what is out there. I like letting the Harman do its thing on temp control. It is pretty good at it.

 

[jzimmem]

I want to thank everyone for their feedback on this little project of mine. So just a quick update, as with any home hack I decided to redefine my problem and simplify what I am trying to do, which is just get the stove started remotely, not regulate the heat. So I found this handy inexpensive device, all in about $70, it's called a SwtichBot. It allows you to simulate a button push using an internet connection and an app. It's pretty slick and so far is working great!

The only tricky part was getting enough capacitance on the touch screen, so I added a dab of liquid electrical tape to the arm on the bot!

Here are links to what I used with some pics....

Amazon product ASIN B07TTH5TMW
Amazon product ASIN B07B4D9KVX

 

[rickwai]

Thats pretty cool! Do you have a Blink cam on it also to be able to check if the stove fired and watch the screen remote?

 

[jzimmem]

Thats pretty cool! Do you have a Blink cam on it also to be able to check if the stove fired and watch the screen remote?

Yes, I have a Kasa cam on it, but not the menu itself, just the stove so I can see if it fired up...

 

[Highridgefire]

I’m hijacking this thread because it’s hard to find many absolute 63 owners.

How do you like the stove?

 

[jzimmem]

I’m hijacking this thread because it’s hard to find many absolute 63 owners.

How do you like the stove?

Its my first pellet stove, so I don't have much to compare it to. But it's treated me very well. Its a bit pricey, but very solid and reliable. The electronics are a bit over engineered, but other than that it heats my barn retrofit home with 30 ft ceilings well.