I have owned two houses (not at the same time) and have experience with the older thermostatic coil thermostats. My first had contacts exposed to the air and the second one used a small bulb of mercury. The bi-metallic elements in both lasted forever. The exposed contacts were not as reliable as the mercury switch. Once in a great while, a speck of debris would get between the contacts and prevent circuit closure. (This is a low voltage circuit, about 24 volts and powered from the bell transformer.) The mercury switch did not have such problem and has been the most reliable by far. I owned the first house 13 years and the second house 39 years have never replaced either thermostat. The only maintence I do on my present mercury swith thermostat is to pull the cover off and inspect for dust bunnies - it does collect and assortment of household dust over time. I blow these out by mouth or by a breeze from hair dryer (with heat turned off). One has to use care when blowing by mouth to avoid spittle on the parts. I will not be so lucky if I ever get a programmable thermostat since these have electronic parts and a circuit board. These are susceptible to voltage transients and aging. Some day, I may replace the furnace with a high efficiency model and that will involve electronic controls both for the furnace and the thermostat circuit. I am not looking forward to that since we do get a number of power line lightening strikes every year. My old gas furnace has been reliable. In all this time, I have replaced very few faucets, and merely did standard maintenance such as replace stem tip washers, repack gland nuts, and on newer faucets, replaced the "O"-ring seal on the end of the stem. Two years ago, I did replace a set of kitchen faucets because the diverter valve for the rinse hose had been ruined with some heavy handed tool work (by me). The bath tub/shower valve had to be replaced. That was broken trying to remove the cartridge after having been in place for 15 years. A had a plumber friend replace this for me since it involved cutting and soldering copper plumbing.

We've had our AC on, on and off, for ages because we've been in the upper 80s and even the lower 90s a lot. My Yankee-raised hubby can't stand being hot so I spend half my time freezing. Still, being freezing cold probably is better than burning up. The heat index outside peaked at 95 degrees here this afternoon, which explains why I was so miserably hot working in the garden. I stuck it out and finished as much of my To Do list as I could, and then I came inside to a freezing cold house! When he is at work all day, I do not keep the house cold like that.

at the link below.. it says: The heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. https://www.weather.gov/ama/heatindex plants dont feel ... and they dont have a human body ... i get what you are asking.. but perhaps heat index is not the right combination of words .. and why you do see it referenced ... in my ground freeze MI ... we can get to 100 in july and august .. and the humidity can be killer ... and that usually isnt the issue ... many things depend on night temps... and humidity ... as far as diseases etc ... a recovery period for the onslaught of the day... and an incubator for bad stuff ... molds.. mildews.. etc .. ken

I agree that your Laura Harwood seedling looks good. Laura Harwood did not like my climate so she didn't stay long, so your seedling is promising if it does better then LH(to me at least).......There's a need for good clear whites. Many people like that color. Nice to see you have a white seedling...............Maryl