Do it yourself

Quote: GenoDRPh

And change the batteries every once to two months? No thank you. Either hard wired and hard powered with an adapter, or leave the status quo. Unless of course, the power company wants to rewire my house for free.

A review of this one says the batteries last up to a year. If that was true I wouldn't have a problem changing two AA batteries every six months or so.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Emerson-Sensi-7-day-Programmable-Wi-Fi-Smart-Thermostat-No-C-Wire-Required-for-Most-Systems-ST55/301231478

Quote: DRich

A review of this one says the batteries last up to a year. If that was true I wouldn't have a problem changing two AA batteries every six months or so.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Emerson-Sensi-7-day-Programmable-Wi-Fi-Smart-Thermostat-No-C-Wire-Required-for-Most-Systems-ST55/301231478

For my system-1 stage oil heat only-will not work. Hard wired, a power adapter or a dumb thermostat. Those are my options.

Quote: GenoDRPh

For my system-1 stage oil heat only-will not work. Hard wired, a power adapter or a dumb thermostat. Those are my options.

I am the first to admit that I don't know much about them I had not even heard of a c-wire until your post.

So for years, my basement plumbing has been...strange. Whenever I do a load of laundry, he work sink backs up and the water drains into the shower pan of the adjacent half-bath. If I use the shower, the water drains into the work sink and overflows the shower pan. Not being a drain specialist or a plumber I figured it was just something to do with how the drain and vent pipes were installed and just adjusted my habits to compensate. Then a couple of weeks ago, while installing new shutoff valves and water hoses to the clothes washer, I discovered that a copper drain pipe, which was only about 2 feet off the ground level was sealed shut with a jerry-rigged concoction of plastic wrap, duct tap and cap from a laundry detergent bottle. My older brother must've done it years ago, not knowing how to fix the drainage problem-just plug the hole and water will eventually go down.Problem is there is no where for air to enter and vent. As a consequence the water would back up wherever it could and drain VERY slowly. The nearby toilet and sink were unaffected, connect directly to the nearby stack pipe main drain. So, I got to work.

First problem is how to vent it so air can get in. I could attach to the stack pipe, which means cutting into a 4 inch cast iron pipe in a basement and running PVC to a connector. No thank you. So I decided to extend the copper pipe to sit above the flood level of all the attached fixtures and attach an air admittance valve. This valve is always closed to prevent sewer gases from entering, but opens when water is draining to allow draining and equalized pressure. I had some 1 1/2" PVC pipe, so I needed a coupling, the AAV and some PVC primer/glue. The coupling needed to be a special type because while the inner diameter of the the PVC and copper are both 1 1/2", the outer diameters are different. I also wanted to avoid soldering/sweating copper, mostly because I can't find my torch and didn't feel like buying another one and copper fittings and tubing is somewhat pricey at the moment.

Long story short, the coupling sealed the junction between the copper pipe and PVC pipe, the AAV screwed on nice and tight and now the water drains nice and fast. $55 in parts and supplies, coupled with the tools and PVC I already had saved me a $1,000 plumber's bill. That's how much it would've cost to connect to the cast iron stack pipe, in parts and labor.