Recharge household batteries?

I've got a couple of double and triple A NiMH battery chargers I got them for the digital cameras when a lot of them used 4 double A batts and used them up quickly. 8 packs of AA worked best for my use case.
It's a timing thing with me. If I'm going to be using the batteries a lot, nearly every day, the rechargables are more cost effective. Triple A rechargables never impressed me all that much. They run out of juice to fast for my taste both Alkaline and NiMH.

 

I use AA and AAA rechargeables in lots of places around the house and on the road. In applications like remote controls they go a year between charges. Flashlights a bit less. In my home, there are service flashlights for everyday use and there are separate emergency ones* which I keep loaded with lithium primary cells.

My shaver runs on rechargeable AAs because I travel all the time and I don't want a lithium battery in the cargo hold of the plane for safety reasons. I carry a tiny USB-powered charger in case the trip lasts longer than the charge- but I've only used it twice in the past decade.

I strongly recommend Panasonic's "Eneloop" brand. I've tried many and theirs are consistently wonderful.

*on emergency flashlights: I absolutely love the Toshiba one I got in Japan, wish I'd gotten more. It glows in the dark and it has no power switch. It simply turns on as soon as you remove it from its wall bracket. This design feature is great, because it discourages casual usage and thus preserves battery power for an actual emergency.

 

Second the Eneloop recommendation. Don't know if Costco still even carries them, but sales were common years ago.

I used NiMH AA and AAA in remotes and closet lights. Will use them in other lights for planned activities.'Emergency' use I've just been using my phone. Got some alkalines* on hand for flashlights if needed.

NiMH(and NiCd) have a lower per cell voltage than alkaline. Some gadgets have an alkaline only label for that reason. Depending on the gadget, NiMH might be good enough, and others should stick to alkaline. I'll use NiMH in the programmable thermostats if need be, but not the blood pressure cuff.

C and D NiMH simply aren't common. Same with the chargers. I don't have enough things that use them to put in the effort to get NiMH for. Seen rechargeable Li-ion in those sizes that were self contained with built is USB charging. Wasn't cheap then to power a 6 cell flashlight though. Will take another look when it is time to replace the alkaline stock.

*don't keep alkalines in aluminum flashlights. They will off gas over time, and bases don't play well with the metal. Things will swell, and the batteries will get wedged in there. Then you have a pile of Maglights that you occasionally think about contacting the manufacturer for a return.

 

Yeah, I've got a couple of adapters that can drop into the AA slot of many chargers to accommodate a C or D, but haven't used them in years.

I think I'm down to one item in the house that uses D, and two that use C- kid's toy that she will soon outgrow and my old Yamaha drum machine which somehow I never outgrew.

A saver-pak of carbon zinc cells every other year is fine for that, and I understand those to be pretty tame in the lanfill.

 

In my experience, it has never been worth trying to buy NiMH AAA AA C or D rechargeables at any local brick-and-mortar store; the only choices there have always been puny in capacity compared to what's available somewhere online like batteryjunction.com. I don't know why that is, but it's what I've run into.

 

Could be physical size concerns with limited shelf space. More mah can end up being a tight fit in some things.

 

Boy, no kidding. I have an older 4 D-cell Maglite that somehow missed several months of the regular inspection cycle and was wedged solid. Several days of vinegar deionizing and knocking about got things loose. Wondering if a careful application of a cylinder honing tool might get things back to something near normal in there. I'll think about it for a while longer.

More to topic, I use NiMH AA cells in my travelling wireless mouse and have 6 cells in rotation. I get 3-4 months of daily use before a set of two needs recharging. My oldest set is nearing 11 years with no apparent reduction in mAh.

 

I got some cells out of a six cell by heating the case with a heat gun. Then I left the cap too loose during the knocking about, and now that is wedged on. At this point, it will be less hassle to get credit for it and the couple of minis under warranty.

 

I don't know why my maglite stopped working, but it stopped.

This eventually led me to the realization that pretty much every other flashlight in the world had improved considerably since my youth, while the maglites didn't change much, so I moved on.

Now I've got a Petzl headlamp hitting the quarter-century mark. Only had to replace the headband once in that time. That goes 3-5 months on eneloop AAAs in my usage.

 

We have a couple of the new LED Maglites at work, 3 D-cell, and I swear when I click that thing on there is an ever so slight recoil. It is most certainly a photon cannon.

 

Yeah, I already have several LED lights of various types, that getting the Maglights replaced isn't pressing.
Alkaline plus aluminum case doesn't care would the brand is though.

 

Thirds on the Sanyo / Panasonic Eneloop recommendation, for AA and AAA. I haven't seen any C or D cells in this line.

I collected a bunch to evaluate for a potential new product design back in 2010-11, when they still carried the Sanyo brand name, and took them with me when the job ended. (That particular product development line ended, all resources swallowed by a much larger development line, and I elected to not follow.) Got a few more later after Panasonic bought them out. Still have them in regular use for headlamps, small flashlights, hiking GPS, and a few other uses than can empty batteries fairly quickly. Still use regular brand-name alkalines for other things where the batteries are drained very slowly, such as remote controls and computer mice and clocks.

I've heard claims that certain other subsequent product lines of other brands work better, but haven't yet had reason to evaluate them myself. These Eneloops just keep on doing the jobs at hand.

 

Both.

The prepper community - and anyone who lives in hurricane country knows that disposable alkalines have a higher shelf life than the alphabet-soup of rechargeables.
That's why most smoke detectors recommend alkaline battery backup.

However (comma!!!)
If the device in question is used regularly then you might save money on a rechargeable if you get 'x' number of charge-recharge cycles out of them - where "x" is a variable influenced by battery manufacturers, optimism, the climate industrial complex, etc....etc....

'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an essential device in possession of a battery, must be in want of a replacement or a recharge.'
In 'ops normal' a recharge may be done, at leisure.
In SHTF times - you may wish for a ready spare or three.

I lean towards rechargeable for non safety devices with battery backups.
I will let the constant reader imagine what devices might go where.

 

I can usually manage to put up with the smoke detector chirping for the time it takes me to throw another 9V on the charger and then swap.

 

I've switched the lithium batteried smoke and CO detectors. By the time the battery dies, the detector has reached its end of life.

 

The latest combined smoke/CO detectors I've had, contain an internal 10 year shutdown. This seems based on modern advice that CO detectors are good for only 10 years, so the maker enforced it with an internal clock, started when the consumer activates the device. The batteries are not replaceable. A.k.a. enforced planned obsolescence.

This may not apply to similar smoke-only detectors.

 

I think I'd be okay with that, as long as they cost the same as the ones I use now + 10 years worth of 9v batteries.

 

Smoke detectors also have a ten year lifespan, and far as I know, always had. The materials in the sensor age and wear out.

 

Funny timing.
I did a check on a rifle yesterday including the attached green dot and .....it was dead!
(Blame @bwilson4web - he put me up to it!)

Fortunately, backup iron sights work - and....I had a ready spare (alkaline) AAA in the range bag with a partially expended 10 year shelf life.

I'm not sure about the self discharge rates of a lifepo4 equivalent.
They're advertised at 3-5% per month.....but they have a flat discharge curve out to - what?
90++ percent?

ACTUAL mileage WILL vary, but in 2024 I think that the experts are still right.
Sample size = 1.
IF YOUR LIFE may depend on it - use a replaceable if not disposable battery AND have a disposable spare.