I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?

On Feb 4, 1:06 pm, andyv wrote:
I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?

strange I've only ever put 1 new set (2 in total) in ours - duff
batteries? ebay it:)

JimK

On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 05:06:41 -0800 (PST), andyv wrote:

I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?

Don't know the answer, but there must be something wrong with
'stat/battery.
My Drayton RF3 has 2x2AA batteries in (1 for 'stat, 1 for RF, I assume) and
they last for 3 - 4 years; even after that, the voltage is about 1.4 and
each of the 4 cells will run a clock for 6 - 9 months.
--
Peter.
2x4 - thick plank; 4x4 - two of 'em.

On Feb 4, 1:06*pm, andyv wrote:
I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?

bimetals are more reliable


NT

On 04/02/2010 13:06, andyv wrote:
I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?


Well, Honeywell and Sunvic models all require batteries.

Drayton have hardwired versions.

e.g.
http://www.draytoncontrols.co.uk/Dig...hermostat.aspx

Siemens do them also (such as REV24), but they're expensive.

You might also check Danfoss Randall and Myson ranges.

In article
,
andyv wrote:
I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?

Don't think you'll find a non battery one with a digital display. These
aftermarket ones have to be universal - it might have to switch mains or
low volts, and may not have a neutral available for a power supply to get
the power for the display and electronics. And, of course, the power to
the sat is removed when the system switches off at night.

The problem with yours is it's wireless. My wired programmable one had a
battery life of approx two years.

--
*Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article
,
andyv wrote:
I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?

Don't think you'll find a non battery one with a digital display. These
aftermarket ones have to be universal - it might have to switch mains or
low volts, and may not have a neutral available for a power supply to get
the power for the display and electronics. And, of course, the power to
the sat is removed when the system switches off at night.

The problem with yours is it's wireless. My wired programmable one had a
battery life of approx two years.

--
*Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Provide the name of the thermostat - I guess someone will have one the same.
As others have said, I suspect poor batteries.

In article ,
John wrote:
The problem with yours is it's wireless. My wired programmable one had
a battery life of approx two years.


Provide the name of the thermostat - I guess someone will have one the
same. As others have said, I suspect poor batteries.

Horstmann. But wired rather than wireless. A wireless one *must* use more
current. And may also use a more expensive type of battery like a PP3. AAs
give the best value.

--
*Born free - taxed to death *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The problem with yours is it's wireless. My wired programmable one had a
battery life of approx two years.

A decent wireless one should give more than 3 months battery life. My
Honeywell CM927 is still running fine on the original pair of Duracell AA's
after 2 years.

--
Mike Clarke

On Feb 4, 5:05*pm, Mike Clarke wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The problem with yours is it's wireless. My wired programmable one had a
battery life of approx two years.

A decent wireless one should give more than 3 months battery life. My
Honeywell CM927 is still running fine on the original pair of Duracell AA's
after 2 years.

--
Mike Clarke

Thanks folks. I will see how long the current Duracell batteries
last. It's annoying though that a device which has a mains supply (not
my wireless thermostat) needs a separate battery at all.

In article
,
andyv wrote:
Thanks folks. I will see how long the current Duracell batteries
last. It's annoying though that a device which has a mains supply (not
my wireless thermostat) needs a separate battery at all.

I explained that. Quite logical if you think about it.

--
*'Progress' and 'Change' are not synonyms.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Feb 4, 1:06*pm, andyv wrote:
I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?

http://www.heatmisershop.co.uk/produ...miser-PRT.html

They do a variety of models - this is the programmable one, but they
also do a cheaper plain thermostat. They also sell through their own
shop on ebay, sometimes a bit cheaper. Screwfix now do some of their
thermostats (badged as John Guest) for much more money.

You need a 3 core cable from the boiler to the stat.

Andrew

"andyv" wrote in message
...
On Feb 4, 5:05 pm, Mike Clarke wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The problem with yours is it's wireless. My wired programmable one had a
battery life of approx two years.

A decent wireless one should give more than 3 months battery life. My
Honeywell CM927 is still running fine on the original pair of Duracell
AA's
after 2 years.

--
Mike Clarke

Thanks folks. I will see how long the current Duracell batteries
last. It's annoying though that a device which has a mains supply (not
my wireless thermostat) needs a separate battery at all.

Whenever it needs to switch it has to transmit a radio signal to the
receiver. This takes significant power.

Is there an option to turn off the display to save battery power?

Hi,

Some of the Honeywell radio stats can be set to 80% duty cycle when
reception has been lost. Read the manual to set this.


andyv wrote:
I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

I now want to fit a non battery powered fixed thermostat. I'd prefer
one with a digital display but these all seem to have batteries. Is
there such a thing?

On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 05:06:41 -0800 (PST), andyv
wrote:

I have a weekend property which I hadn't visited much until recently.
I was alarmed to find that the central heating which I have on low
level tick over hadn't been working. It's got a wireless thermostat
and the battery had gone dead after only 3 months.

Perhaps check on the thermostat to see if there's an option for how
often it transmits? Not an expert on thermostats but quite a few
remote sensors have such an option. If its transmitting every 20 sec
it'll use a lot more power than every 5 min.

On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:46:31 +0000 (GMT) someone who may be "Dave
Plowman (News)" wrote this:-

It's annoying though that a device which has a mains supply (not
my wireless thermostat) needs a separate battery at all.

I explained that. Quite logical if you think about it.

Not in the least logical.

Some programmers are fitted with rechargeable batteries which will
keep them going for a considerable time. A thermostat could have a
similar arrangement, but it would cost a little bit of money to fit
the transformer and so on. If mains is available from time to time
then this keeps the battery charged. Otherwise fresh cells need to
be inserted.

What makes it worse is that some manufacturers, go to the naughty
step Horstmann, produce ****ty equipment which cannot be powered by
rechargeable batteries, as within a week or two the thermostat is
whining that the battery is discharged. I used to like their
equipment, but this has turned me right off them.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000...#pt3-pb3-l1g54

be inserted.

What makes it worse is that some manufacturers, go to the naughty
step Horstmann, produce ****ty equipment which cannot be powered by
rechargeable batteries, as within a week or two the thermostat is
whining that the battery is discharged. I used to like their
equipment, but this has turned me right off them.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000...#pt3-pb3-l1g54


Rechargables are 1.2 volts and most will 'self discharge' over a few weeks -
Look at Sanyo ENELOOP - these do not self discharge. I have had some in my
camera for about 6 weeks - previous rechargeables would be flat by now.

On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 21:06:21 -0000 someone who may be "John"
wrote this:-

Rechargables are 1.2 volts

I know.

and most will 'self discharge' over a few weeks

The same batteries will operate remote controls for months, so self
discharge is not as great a problem as some think.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000...#pt3-pb3-l1g54

"David Hansen" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 21:06:21 -0000 someone who may be "John"
wrote this:-

Rechargables are 1.2 volts

I know.

and most will 'self discharge' over a few weeks

The same batteries will operate remote controls for months, so self
discharge is not as great a problem as some think.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000...#pt3-pb3-l1g54

Perhaps some devices are less sensitive to a lower voltage. With remotes I
usually use alkaline batteries and these are good for about 3 years (maybe
more).

I believe rechargeables with their 1.2v are more suited to a higher
discharge device where a normal alkaline probably only gives 1.2 v anyway -
when subjected to a high load.

Incidentally - Eneloop batteries come ready charged.
http://www.eneloop.info/home/general-description.html

In article ,
David Hansen wrote:
It's annoying though that a device which has a mains supply (not
my wireless thermostat) needs a separate battery at all.

I explained that. Quite logical if you think about it.

Not in the least logical.

Some programmers are fitted with rechargeable batteries which will
keep them going for a considerable time. A thermostat could have a
similar arrangement, but it would cost a little bit of money to fit
the transformer and so on. If mains is available from time to time
then this keeps the battery charged. Otherwise fresh cells need to
be inserted.

All those add considerably to the cost and size. You then have the problem
that it will no longer work on a low volt switching circuit without first
providing a mains supply to it.

What makes it worse is that some manufacturers, go to the naughty
step Horstmann, produce ****ty equipment which cannot be powered by
rechargeable batteries, as within a week or two the thermostat is
whining that the battery is discharged. I used to like their
equipment, but this has turned me right off them.

Common with most things. Rechargeable cells have a lower voltage. Adding
an extra cell would get round this in some apps. If you designed the
device to still work at the sort of voltage a rechargeable can still give
adequate current it wouldn't warn of low batteries with alkalines.

My Horstmann programmable batteries lasted over 2 years which I found
acceptable. Rechargeables might well fail not long after this - so don't
really give a true advantage. Since the mains would be removed when the
system shuts down at night (unless you re-wire things) they would be
cycling at least once a day. And 600 cycles is more than many
rechargeables can manage.

--
*Who are these kids and why are they calling me Mom?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
David Hansen wrote:
On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 21:06:21 -0000 someone who may be "John"
wrote this:-

Rechargables are 1.2 volts

I know.

and most will 'self discharge' over a few weeks

The same batteries will operate remote controls for months, so self
discharge is not as great a problem as some think.

Battery operated stats have some form of self latching relay. So that it
only takes current when changing state. This requires a highish current at
the correct voltage, compared to the microprocessor. No such thing in a
remote control.

--
*Okay, who stopped the payment on my reality check? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

It happens that John formulated :
Is there an option to turn off the display to save battery power?

No need to - the current draw for the displays is insignificantly low.
Consider how long your LCD watch runs for on a tiny button cell.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
. uk...
It happens that John formulated :
Is there an option to turn off the display to save battery power?

No need to - the current draw for the displays is insignificantly low.
Consider how long your LCD watch runs for on a tiny button cell.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk


Of course.

On Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:19:40 +0000 (GMT) someone who may be "Dave
Plowman (News)" wrote this:-

Some programmers are fitted with rechargeable batteries which will
keep them going for a considerable time. A thermostat could have a
similar arrangement, but it would cost a little bit of money to fit
the transformer and so on. If mains is available from time to time
then this keeps the battery charged. Otherwise fresh cells need to
be inserted.

All those add considerably to the cost and size.

It would add to both. I don't believe it would add considerably to
either.

You then have the problem
that it will no longer work on a low volt switching circuit without first
providing a mains supply to it.

Untrue. One simply puts in fresh cells.

If you designed the
device to still work at the sort of voltage a rechargeable can still give
adequate current it wouldn't warn of low batteries with alkalines.

Is that a particular problem?

My Horstmann programmable batteries lasted over 2 years which I found
acceptable. Rechargeables might well fail not long after this - so don't
really give a true advantage. Since the mains would be removed when the
system shuts down at night (unless you re-wire things) they would be
cycling at least once a day. And 600 cycles is more than many
rechargeables can manage.

You appear to be confusing what one might call deep cycles, where
the cell is largely discharged, with slight discharges. With NiCad
cells and deep discharges your point would have some validity.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000...#pt3-pb3-l1g54

In article ,
David Hansen wrote:
On Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:19:40 +0000 (GMT) someone who may be "Dave
Plowman (News)" wrote this:-

Some programmers are fitted with rechargeable batteries which will
keep them going for a considerable time. A thermostat could have a
similar arrangement, but it would cost a little bit of money to fit
the transformer and so on. If mains is available from time to time
then this keeps the battery charged. Otherwise fresh cells need to
be inserted.

All those add considerably to the cost and size.

It would add to both. I don't believe it would add considerably to
either.

You then have the problem that it will no longer work on a low volt
switching circuit without first providing a mains supply to it.

Untrue. One simply puts in fresh cells.

So no longer has the rechargeable feature you desire?

If you designed the device to still work at the sort of voltage a
rechargeable can still give adequate current it wouldn't warn of low
batteries with alkalines.

Is that a particular problem?

Yes. A low battery warning tells you to do something before the system
fails.

My Horstmann programmable batteries lasted over 2 years which I found
acceptable. Rechargeables might well fail not long after this - so don't
really give a true advantage. Since the mains would be removed when the
system shuts down at night (unless you re-wire things) they would be
cycling at least once a day. And 600 cycles is more than many
rechargeables can manage.

You appear to be confusing what one might call deep cycles, where
the cell is largely discharged, with slight discharges. With NiCad
cells and deep discharges your point would have some validity.

On a programmer, the backup battery is permanently on float. It only is
needed when the mains fail. If converting an old mains stat - where there
is a neutral for the heater coil - to a modern one which has your battery
charged via the mains, it will often have to run for the majority of the
day without mains. And a maker would use a very much smaller battery. The
backup ones in a programmer only last a few days rather than the year plus
the alkalines last in a programmable stat.

--
*Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.