When starting up a new project with Raspberry Pi I like to start up fresh
and with a minimal OS. Therefore i always use Raspberry Pi OS(ROS) Lite and then adding what I need.
Doing it right You don't have to use an external display, keybord and
mouse, just a "ssh" client.
In my underfloor heating project, using Node-RED, I have to have one sensing thermometer per room/zone, seems to be 8 in total, so therefore it would be nice with a wireless battery sourced device with good resolution and frequent updates.
During the test phase I used a Z-way device but the resolution was pretty bad. Another device mentioned is the Ruuvi tag but since it's a bluetooth device the transmitting range could be better. After some googling I went for 433 MHz devices.