The Case for Rechargeable Batteries

Here's a resolution gradually adopted: No more buying battery-driven personal electronics -- digital cameras, tape recorders, Bluetooth headsets, radios, MP3 players, GPS receivers, whatever -- that won't run on rechargeable NiMH batteries, preferably AA, AAA, or 9-volt.

We made an initial commitment to rechargeable batteries about 15 years ago, but that phase only lasted a couple of years. They were lousy. Now they're improved enough to commit again. The good ones will run just as long as their alkaline cousins, and last for hundreds of charges. Unlike alkalines, which gradually fade to black, NiMH rechargeables seem to provide a steady current for a long time before falling into a hole. On the downside, they still lose their charge faster than disposable alkalines or lithiums, and you do have to top them up them every couple of months to make sure they're ready for action. Also, the quality of both batteries and chargers is inconsistent. We've had good and bad luck even with the same brand. We still keep some alkaline disposables around because it's good to be able to stick them into a camera for an important event without wondering about their state of charge, and also because there are still devices around that absolutely need the 1.5 volts of power that is the alkaline standard. NiMH batteries run at about 1.25 volts, but this is well within the operating range of most electronics.

There are two good reasons for making the switch to to rechargeables and putting up with the slight amount of bother it takes to keep track of their charge state. First, it will help eliminate a vast amount of heavy, relatively nasty waste. Second, it'll save you a ton of money. Here's the math:

1. Buy a 4-pack of Energizer e2 rechargeable NiMH batteries and their accompanying charger for, say $30. These batteries are rated at 2500 mAh (that's 2.5 Ah -- for a discussion of these things, see 12-Volt DC Basics). Without the charger, four of them cost about $13. Figure on being able to discharge and recharge those batteries about 500 times. So that's 1250 amp-hours for about $40 -- $30 for the charger and batteries, plus maybe $10 for the electricity used to recharge them.

2. We're not sure there are disposable alkaline batteries rated at 2500 mAh, but for current purposes let's say you went to batterymart.com and ordered 1250 amp-hours' worth of UltraLast disposable alkalines at 2000 mAh each. You'd have to buy 16 packs of 40 batteries at the extremely good price of $9.95 each to get those amp-hours. That's $160, not including shipping -- four times the cost of rechargeables.

~ Doug Logan, New Energy Watch

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