Assuming this device is controlled using an infrared remote control, you might be able to send commands and possibly receive status updates using the
IRremoteESP8266 library or
HeatpumpIR library, that is supported by ESPEasy in the IR builds (best use an ESP32 as that includes most/all of the protocols, in ESP8266 some are excluded for size reasons).
You might want to investigate if your brand & model is supported there.
Connecting both an IR transmitter-LED and IR receiver to an ESP should probably get you going.