Hi there,

Since September we have been running a Vaillant VRC430f Weather
compensator*, it all works very well apart from one thing; it seems to
drain batteries for fun.

The batteries only last a few months before the unit displays a warning,
then the backlight won't come on and then then you can't use the unit at
all but it will continue working in accordance with the last settings. I
haven't let it go further than this. In 7 months, we have used replaced
the 4 x AA batteries, twice. The batteries I am currently using are
Duracell Procell**

Can anyone suggest some better batteries? The manual states that
rechargeable batteries are not suitable although it doesn't say why and
apparently good quality alkaline batteries should last 1.5 years! The
unit was simply set up with a small amount of tweaking in the first few
weeks but after that it is simply left alone (the display turns it self
off completely if it isn't tampered with), the only time it is actually
used is when the heating is required earlier. I have no clue why it's
using batteries so quickly.

*
http://www.vaillant.co.uk/homeowners...-vrc-430f.html

**
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Duracell-Pro.../dp/B000KHDXLG

Cheers

--
David