{"id":481,"date":"2009-10-10T12:29:21","date_gmt":"2009-10-10T17:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fiveforks.com\/ted\/2009\/10\/are_rechargeable_batteries_cos\/"},"modified":"2012-01-07T17:02:09","modified_gmt":"2012-01-07T22:02:09","slug":"are_rechargeable_batteries_cos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/2009\/10\/are_rechargeable_batteries_cos\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Rechargeable Batteries Cost Effective?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeb sent me this article<\/a> where the guy says rechargeable batteries are rarely cost-effective. Here’s what I wrote back:<\/p>\n

He’s right to some extent, but it surprises me that he doesn’t have a digital camera in his house. Those go through batteries pretty quickly and just about everybody has one. Though maybe he has one that uses a special battery instead of standard AA’s. Flashlights go through batteries pretty quickly too if you use them regularly, though I think I’ve only had to recharge mine<\/a> twice in the six months or so that I’ve owned it (that may go up as I take the dogs for walks more often at night with the shorter days). The Archos<\/a> eats through batteries too, as do some CD players that people might use every day. At the store I see packages of 24 disposable batteries and I have a hard time believing that someone buying a package like that couldn’t replace at least a few of those with rechargeables.<\/p>\n


\nHe is also missing the boat on Low Self Discharge batteries like Eneloops<\/a>. These don’t require a 30-60 day cycle because they can hold a charge for so much longer (a year or more). You can put these in a flashlight or camera you don’t use that often and they will be ready immediately whenever you need it for over a year (they retain 80% of their charge for the first year). Plus a rechargeable like an Eneloop will take more pictures than an alkaline before it goes dead. However they cost a lot more than alkalines (or regular NiMHs which can lose half their charge in a month). I think I figured that Eneloops cost 7 times as much as an alkaline on sale. So you would have to burn through 7 alkalines, which would take many years (longer than you would own that item; though honestly you will just get something else to replace it that will also need batteries) in most remote controls, alarm clocks, etc.<\/p>\n

Unless you can get the rechargeables on sale. I got the Duracell-branded Eneloops for $6.45 for a 4-pack on a really good sale. That cut the ratio in half. So I bought 8 AAA’s and AA’s and will use them in my network of indoor\/outdoor thermometers<\/a> and my remote control<\/a>. Those are on roughly a 1-year cycle and so the Duraloops will pay for themselves in 3 years. After that I’m just raking in money.<\/p>\n

Unfairly, this guy looks at an 18-month period. Is that how long he will own a wireless mouse? Maybe 3 years would be more appropriate. Plus he talks about the price of a charger being $40<\/a>. But he needs a charger for the Wii system already, so that is a one-time cost. You can get an acceptable charger for $20<\/a> – $26<\/a> (charges batteries individually instead of in pairs, senses when the battery is full, and takes at least an hour or two to charge).<\/p>\n

Where people mess up is in buying a number of chargers and I include myself in that group. I have something like 6 or 7 chargers that do nothing but charge AAA and AA batteries (including a Rayovac Renewal rechargeable alkaline charger that didn’t quite pan out). Most of the ones I have are cheap chargers that charge batteries too fast and eventually destroy them (the vast majority of what is in stores). They are junk. Now I have a really good charger<\/a> and shouldn’t ever need another one.<\/p>\n

People also mess up by not getting batteries on sale. Whether it is rechargeables or alkalines, there are good sales if you look for them. Walgreens had a not-all-that-uncommon sale where you could buy one 16-pack of Walgreens alkaline AA batteries for $10 and get a 16-pack of AAA batteries for free. 31 cents per battery. My Duraloops were $1.61 each (so that’s a ratio of 5). But if you just drop by Kroger and pick up 4 Duracells not on sale you might pay $5 or over $1 each for a throw-away battery. I have way too many batteries now though.<\/p>\n

98% of people aren’t going to educate themselves enough to make a good decision on battery and charger purchases. They will just go to the store at any random time, buy a cheap charger with some cheap NiMH batteries and be disappointed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeb sent me this article where the guy says rechargeable batteries are rarely cost-effective. Here’s what I wrote back: He’s right to some extent, but it surprises me that he doesn’t have a digital camera in his house. Those go through batteries pretty quickly and just about everybody has one. Though maybe he has one … Continue reading “Are Rechargeable Batteries Cost Effective?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1116,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions\/1116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/ted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}