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

Do what everyone else does with these thermostats - put in new batteries when
Daylight Saving time rolls around. Why get all worked up about something that
is your own responsibility? You can get control systems that are fail-safe and
fool proof, but unless you have a seven figure income they may be priced beyond
your budget. Odds are your batteries had gone way beyond their stated effective
life, so if you tend to be forgetful, get the highest quality replacements on
the market.
Maybe a warning tag on your furnace filter compartment would be helpful for
next year. HTH

Joe

Lighten up and change your thermostat's battery once a year.

How would a power outage affect you , No Heat right, So get an automatic
backup generator, And if you are on vacation and your furnace breaks
down , then what. I guess you shouldnt go on vacation in winter unless
someone can check on your house. But they sell freeze alarms that will
call a # if it gets below 42, and dont forget the smoke alarm batteries

Ignoramus28269 wrote in news:bs9qob
:

Recently, one day before we had to go on vacation, our house
thermostat quietly stopped telling the furnace to turn on and quietly
displayed a LOW BATTERY warning. We noticed it because it started
getting cold. A change of battery took care of it.

I am mad as hell. What if such a thing happened while we were on
vacation? The house would freeze! (we are in northern IL) And then
pipes would burst!

So.

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.

There are thermostats that are "power stealing". They get their power
from the furnace. Honeywell T8600, for example:

http://content.honeywell.com/yourhom...tats/T8600.htm

It also looks like they have a T8601 that can be wired directly to an AC
power source. There may also be other options out there.

Changing the batteries regularly is probably a less expensive and just as
reliable option.


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

You're going to need an automatic standby generator and a reliable fuel
source (or one amazing UPS and a huge bank of batteries). The generators
start at around $3000 + installation and go up from there.

Doug

"Joe Bobst" wrote in message
...
Maybe a warning tag on your furnace filter compartment would be helpful
for
next year. HTH
Joe

Oh ****!!

You mean there is a filter, to be changed??

LOL


--
kjpro
_-~-__-~-__-~-__-~-__-~-__-~-__-~-__-~-__-~-__-~-__-~-_

( kjpro @ starband . net ) remove spaces to e-mail

Want it done yesterday? Or done right today, to save money tomorrow!!

_________________________ __

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.

It's always a good idea to have someone check up on your house while
away. We have someone water the plants and feed the fish once a
week. A quick check covers a host of emergency situations. Having
trusted neighbors makes a good place to live.


On 23 Dec 2003 16:33:15 GMT, Ignoramus28269
wrote:

Recently, one day before we had to go on vacation, our house
thermostat quietly stopped telling the furnace to turn on and quietly
displayed a LOW BATTERY warning. We noticed it because it started
getting cold. A change of battery took care of it.

I am mad as hell. What if such a thing happened while we were on
vacation? The house would freeze! (we are in northern IL) And then
pipes would burst!

So.

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.

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

Any ideas will be appreciated.

i

On 23-Dec-2003, Phisherman wrote:

It's always a good idea to have someone check up on your house while
away. We have someone water the plants and feed the fish once a
week. A quick check covers a host of emergency situations.

Read the fine print in your insurance too. Some policies require
periodic visits while you're away; ours requires one every 24h.

Mike

Michael Daly wrote:

On 23-Dec-2003, Phisherman wrote:

It's always a good idea to have someone check up on your house while
away. We have someone water the plants and feed the fish once a
week. A quick check covers a host of emergency situations.

Read the fine print in your insurance too. Some policies require
periodic visits while you're away; ours requires one every 24h.

Mike

I'd dump that insurance and buy something reasonable. More
reasonable insurance isn't sold for your area? Then, there
are probably all sorts of idiotic regulations and I would
move to a state that has a least some intelligent
legislators.

Work for a battery manufacturer do you. I just replaced my
thermostat battery when a problem with my furnace appeared.
The battery had no affect on the problem and was still
functioning. But it was 28 months old. Replaced the
battery in my battery operated smoke dector last week
thinking the tweet came from it. Nope it was a CO monitor I
forgot about, but left the new battery in the smoke detctor
anyway. The old battery was dated 01/24/01. The previous
battery last well over 2 years also. Several years ago I
started putting a piece of masking tape on all batteries
with the replacement date, so I would have some idea how
long they lasted. Well, know I know. Changing ever year is
a waste of time, and changing every 6 months is a waste of
resources.

If the guy is worried, he should change the batteries in
critical equipment before he leaves. I don't, but then I
check the date on the battery and the operation of the item.

Joe Bobst wrote:

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

Do what everyone else does with these thermostats - put in new batteries when
Daylight Saving time rolls around. Why get all worked up about something that
is your own responsibility? You can get control systems that are fail-safe and
fool proof, but unless you have a seven figure income they may be priced beyond
your budget. Odds are your batteries had gone way beyond their stated effective
life, so if you tend to be forgetful, get the highest quality replacements on
the market.
Maybe a warning tag on your furnace filter compartment would be helpful for
next year. HTH

Joe

I've had the same batteries in my 3 thermostats for 6 years with no
problem. Pretty amazing when I think about it. I know they still
work because usually once every year, the float gets stuck in the
condensation pump on one of them and that causes the safety to cut
power to the furnace and the thermostat goes on battery till I fix it
(clean out the algae). I have 3 separate HVAC systems. Wouldn't
screw around if I only had 1.



"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Work for a battery manufacturer do you. I just replaced my
thermostat battery when a problem with my furnace appeared.
The battery had no affect on the problem and was still
functioning. But it was 28 months old. Replaced the
battery in my battery operated smoke dector last week
thinking the tweet came from it. Nope it was a CO monitor I
forgot about, but left the new battery in the smoke detctor
anyway. The old battery was dated 01/24/01. The previous
battery last well over 2 years also. Several years ago I
started putting a piece of masking tape on all batteries
with the replacement date, so I would have some idea how
long they lasted. Well, know I know. Changing ever year is
a waste of time, and changing every 6 months is a waste of
resources.

If the guy is worried, he should change the batteries in
critical equipment before he leaves. I don't, but then I
check the date on the battery and the operation of the item.

Joe Bobst wrote:

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

Do what everyone else does with these thermostats - put in new
batteries when
Daylight Saving time rolls around. Why get all worked up about
something that
is your own responsibility? You can get control systems that are
fail-safe and
fool proof, but unless you have a seven figure income they may be
priced beyond
your budget. Odds are your batteries had gone way beyond their
stated effective
life, so if you tend to be forgetful, get the highest quality
replacements on
the market.
Maybe a warning tag on your furnace filter compartment would be
helpful for
next year. HTH

Joe

Wow! I thought my 34 month battery (9 V) was pretty good.

Art Begun wrote:

I've had the same batteries in my 3 thermostats for 6 years with no
problem. Pretty amazing when I think about it. I know they still
work because usually once every year, the float gets stuck in the
condensation pump on one of them and that causes the safety to cut
power to the furnace and the thermostat goes on battery till I fix it
(clean out the algae). I have 3 separate HVAC systems. Wouldn't
screw around if I only had 1.

I'm constantly amazed by the battery life of a reproduction "Regulator"
pendlum clock on my kitchen wall.

The darn thing has a regular geared clockwork mechanism timed by an honest
to G-d working pendulum The mainspring is wound up by a little 1.5v dc
motor which gets kicked on when the spring runs down. (You can hear the
motor whir for a few seconds while it's doing that.)

It's been going strong on one alkaline C cell for at least three years now.

Happy New Year,

Jeff

--
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"If you can keep smiling when things go wrong, you've thought of someone to
place the blame on."



"George E. Cawthon" wrote:

Wow! I thought my 34 month battery (9 V) was pretty good.

Art Begun wrote:

I've had the same batteries in my 3 thermostats for 6 years with no
problem. Pretty amazing when I think about it. I know they still
work because usually once every year, the float gets stuck in the
condensation pump on one of them and that causes the safety to cut
power to the furnace and the thermostat goes on battery till I fix it
(clean out the algae). I have 3 separate HVAC systems. Wouldn't
screw around if I only had 1.

Then you take the older batteries and use them in something that isn't
critical and more likely to use the remaining charge, like a radio, or a R/C
toy, etc.

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Work for a battery manufacturer do you. I just replaced my
thermostat battery when a problem with my furnace appeared.
The battery had no affect on the problem and was still
functioning. But it was 28 months old. Replaced the
battery in my battery operated smoke dector last week
thinking the tweet came from it. Nope it was a CO monitor I
forgot about, but left the new battery in the smoke detctor
anyway. The old battery was dated 01/24/01. The previous
battery last well over 2 years also. Several years ago I
started putting a piece of masking tape on all batteries
with the replacement date, so I would have some idea how
long they lasted. Well, know I know. Changing ever year is
a waste of time, and changing every 6 months is a waste of
resources.

If the guy is worried, he should change the batteries in
critical equipment before he leaves. I don't, but then I
check the date on the battery and the operation of the item.

Joe Bobst wrote:

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

Do what everyone else does with these thermostats - put in new batteries
when
Daylight Saving time rolls around. Why get all worked up about something
that
is your own responsibility? You can get control systems that are
fail-safe and
fool proof, but unless you have a seven figure income they may be priced
beyond
your budget. Odds are your batteries had gone way beyond their stated
effective
life, so if you tend to be forgetful, get the highest quality
replacements on
the market.
Maybe a warning tag on your furnace filter compartment would be helpful
for
next year. HTH

Joe

Sorry that doesn't work. Do you ever check the voltage of
your batteries and know when they quit working in an
appliance? Do you even know what the voltage of a fresh
battery is? Well I do. Batteries that still work in some
of the critical appliances will not operate many other
appliances. A battery that is low but operates my smoke
alarm or thermostat backup for another several months will
die almost immediately in an R/C transmitter and won't even
start the tape in my walkman type machine.

David Babcock wrote:

Then you take the older batteries and use them in something that isn't
critical and more likely to use the remaining charge, like a radio, or a R/C
toy, etc.

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Work for a battery manufacturer do you. I just replaced my
thermostat battery when a problem with my furnace appeared.
The battery had no affect on the problem and was still
functioning. But it was 28 months old. Replaced the
battery in my battery operated smoke dector last week
thinking the tweet came from it. Nope it was a CO monitor I
forgot about, but left the new battery in the smoke detctor
anyway. The old battery was dated 01/24/01. The previous
battery last well over 2 years also. Several years ago I
started putting a piece of masking tape on all batteries
with the replacement date, so I would have some idea how
long they lasted. Well, know I know. Changing ever year is
a waste of time, and changing every 6 months is a waste of
resources.

If the guy is worried, he should change the batteries in
critical equipment before he leaves. I don't, but then I
check the date on the battery and the operation of the item.

Joe Bobst wrote:

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

Do what everyone else does with these thermostats - put in new batteries
when
Daylight Saving time rolls around. Why get all worked up about something
that
is your own responsibility? You can get control systems that are
fail-safe and
fool proof, but unless you have a seven figure income they may be priced
beyond
your budget. Odds are your batteries had gone way beyond their stated
effective
life, so if you tend to be forgetful, get the highest quality
replacements on
the market.
Maybe a warning tag on your furnace filter compartment would be helpful
for
next year. HTH

Joe

"George E. Cawthon" wrote:

Sorry that doesn't work. Do you ever check the voltage of
your batteries and know when they quit working in an
appliance? Do you even know what the voltage of a fresh
battery is? Well I do. Batteries that still work in some
of the critical appliances will not operate many other
appliances. A battery that is low but operates my smoke
alarm or thermostat backup for another several months will
die almost immediately in an R/C transmitter and won't even
start the tape in my walkman type machine.

There are plenty of things which do not have such high current
requirements. Also, my suggestion was not directed toward people who
leave the batteries in until they are low, as you suggested, it was for
people who want to change them out way before failure.

C G wrote:

"George E. Cawthon" wrote:

Sorry that doesn't work. Do you ever check the voltage of
your batteries and know when they quit working in an
appliance? Do you even know what the voltage of a fresh
battery is? Well I do. Batteries that still work in some
of the critical appliances will not operate many other
appliances. A battery that is low but operates my smoke
alarm or thermostat backup for another several months will
die almost immediately in an R/C transmitter and won't even
start the tape in my walkman type machine.

There are plenty of things which do not have such high current
requirements. Also, my suggestion was not directed toward people who
leave the batteries in until they are low, as you suggested, it was for
people who want to change them out way before failure.

Yeah, I understood your suggestion. YOU didn't understand
that I am saying that most things require a higher current
to operate properly than a smoke detector or a backup
battery for the thermostat.

It isn't really relevant, since changing batteries every 6
months is just plain paranoid. My vehicle manufacture
suggest oil changes every 5 months, the dealer says the oil
should be changed every 3 months. I suggest that if your
vehicle is similar that you not believe the dealer but have
it changed every month. Better get that gas furnace
inspected and maintained twice a year also.