Dropsafe

by Alec Muffett

My thermostat requires genuine alkaline AA batteries…

I flatly refuse to move to any kind of IoT solution for core household infrastructure, and so far the devices and RF protocols that I use have survived the death of at least two major online thermostat offerings. I’ve had the same system in place since ~2008 and the only thing that I have done since has been to upgrade the controller to another compatible one with more widgets.

The latter is a bit of a pain to use but it works okay, has a reasonable LCD display and runs off 2x Duracell because it needs a slightly higher voltage and different power curve then can be supplied by typical rechargeable batteries.

Thus my only fear is that at some point I may have to get yet another controller, because surely somebody is going eventually to ban disposable batteries?

If so I may hack the RF protocol and start driving it from a Raspberry Pi + SDR; but it still won’t need the internet to operate.

⊞

Comments

3 responses to “My thermostat requires genuine alkaline AA batteries…”

  1. Prufrax

    You can get rechargeable lithium cells in AA format that supply the slightly higher voltage of non-rechargeable alkalines, so you may be able to carry on a bit longer past the end of disposable batteries…

    Reply
  2. Jander

    You might find that rtl433 SDR already supports your thermostat’s protocol. I use an SDR to receive my Oregon Scientific sensors. I used to have it decode my Prologue ones too but they ate batteries and were a bit flaky, so I’ve moved to ZigBee for them.

    Everything runs on an rPi3 with HomeAssistant in a docker container. The few WiFi-enabled devices I have run Tasmota and hook in via MQTT on that same Pi. I also have a MQTT-to-433MHz bridge that can control things if I need.

    Reply
  3. Simon Farnsworth

    First, there’s products like https://www.amazon.co.uk/EBL-3300mWh-Lithium-Rechargeable-Capacity/dp/B0C1G7DRYY/ out there – stable voltage (unlike rechargeables) because they have an internal buck regulator from 3V to 4V cell voltage down to 1.5V output.

    Secondly, the only battery type that’s been close to being banned so far is lead-acid; and the battery industry responded to that by recycling virtually all parts of the battery, which ended the reasoning behind the proposed ban. I could easily see the same happening with alkaline AA cells

    Finally, if all else fails, you can buy battery eliminators from places like https://batteryeliminatorstore.com/ – these are battery shaped devices that fit into your device, and have flying leads for connecting to external power (you could 3D print such a thing, too). Then, you’re only limited by your ability to get some form of power to the device – 230V mains and a PSU, 14.4V LiFePO4 battery and a buck converter, whatever is most reasonable.

    Reply

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