Saving battery on a remote sensor

hey all, so i have a couple of questions…
ive got a few nodemcu’s that i want to use for sensors around the house, eg pir’s and temp/humidity sensors, ive been playing with deep sleep and what not but not seeing anything useful for long term usage on batteries, im using 2x 18650’s in series, as the nodemcu’s im using tolerate the higher voltage and the regulator only heats up after like 5 mins of normal use… so my 6 seconds run and 30 mins sleep seems to get about 3 days from a full charge using fast connect and low power wifi mode , using a voltage divider from the batteries to the adc i have a working battery level… but im also aware that my current setup of something like 2k and 1.7k resistors will be using more power than if i select alot higher resistances, and this is my first question, does a permanently connected voltage divider always draw power through the adc… or does it like disconnect when not taking a reading or when its sleeping? if not can i use a transistor or relay to only connect the pin for measurement then disconnect on sleep? or would this be pointless if im using a better voltage divider and get the consumption way down…
my second question is, is this even the thing i should be working on? or is the 6 seconds of wifi and mqtt likely to be using more power than the battery adc sensor

here is my current version of the temp/humidity sensor

esphome:
  name: nodemcutwo

esp8266:
  board: nodemcuv2

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
#api:

ota:
  password: !secret ota_password
  id: my_ota
  
wifi:
  power_save_mode: HIGH
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  fast_connect: true
  manual_ip:
    static_ip: 192.168.1.115
    gateway: 192.168.1.1
    subnet: 255.255.255.0

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Nmcu2 Fallback Hotspot"
    password: !secret fallbackappassword
web_server:
  port: 80
  auth:
    username: admin
    password: !secret webservpass
captive_portal:

    

deep_sleep:
  run_duration: 4s
  sleep_duration: 30min
  id: battery_deep_sleep

mqtt:
  broker: 192.168.1.117
  username: !secret mqtt_username
  password: !secret mqtt_password

  birth_message:
    topic: nodemcuv2/status
    payload: ''
    retain: true
  will_message:
    topic: nodemcuv2/status
    payload: ''
    retain: true
  
  on_message:
    - topic: deep_sleep/ota_mode
      payload: 'ON'
      then:
        - deep_sleep.prevent: battery_deep_sleep
  
    
    - topic: deep_sleep/ota_mode
      payload: 'OFF'
      then:
        - mqtt.publish:
            topic: deep_sleep/ota_mode
            payload: 'PASS'
            qos: 2
            retain: true
        - deep_sleep.enter: battery_deep_sleep






sensor:
  - platform: wifi_signal
    name: "nodemcutwo ssi"
    update_interval: 1s
  - platform: dht
    pin: D7
    temperature:
      name: "nodemcutwo Temperature"
    humidity:
      name: "nodemcutwo Humidity"
    update_interval: 3s    
    
    
  - platform: adc
    pin: A0
    retain: true
    name: "nodemcutwo Battery"
    update_interval: 1s
    expire_after: 1860s
    device_class: battery
    unit_of_measurement: "%"
    accuracy_decimals: 1
    filters:
      - multiply: 7.959902632416832
      - calibrate_linear:
            - 8.2 -> 100

            - 3 -> 0  
          
          
text_sensor:
  - platform: wifi_info
    ip_address:
      name: nodemcutwo IP Address
    ssid:
      name: nodemcutwo Connected SSID
    bssid:
      name: nodemcutwo Connected BSSID
    mac_address:
      name: nodemcutwo Mac Wifi Address
    scan_results:
      name: nodemcutwo Latest Scan Results