Ignoramus28269 wrote:

My question is, are there replacement thermostats that are more
reliable than that POS. Perhaps a thermostat with a solar battery
built in (like my watch), or some such thing.

The old round reliable one?

I want my house to be more proofed for things like temporary power
outages, etc, in case we are not around.

You could set a standard thermostat, at a lower temp, so that it would
only kick on in the event the main one failed.