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Why don't you use rechargeable batteries? I stopped using them in the 90s but switched back a few years ago. More convenient and less wasteful than single use b

Why don't you use rechargeable batteries? I stopped using them in the 90s but switched back a few years ago. More convenient and less wasteful than single use batteries, higher capacity and longer device life than built in batteries.

p1mrx 5y ago
Rechargeable AA/AAA batteries were always limited to 1.2 volts, which works poorly in some devices. Now you can buy lithium ion cells that regulate down to 1.5 volts, so NiMH is basically obsolete. Alkaline can still make sense for things with multi-year battery life, like remote controls.
- Maursault 5y ago
  > Now you can buy lithium ion cells that regulate down to 1.5 volts, so NiMH is basically obsolete. NiMH is a lot safer, cheaper, and has slightly better capacity. It's been a few years since first available, but any posters even heard of anyone using 1.5V Li-ion cells? Once you know enough to even be aware of them, you'd be using 3.6V Li-ion instead, so really it's the 1.5V Li-ion that was instantly obsolete, yet still somehow hangs on due to extremely specific circumstances of boutique users that want a flat-regulated 1.5 volts.
  - p1mrx 5y ago
    Are you sure NiMH has better capacity? You have to look at mAh * voltage (or just mWh) for a fair comparison. NiMH is safer, and cheaper for now, but those factors are irrelevant when 1.2V is insufficient for a particular device. If a device accepts 3.6V with overdischarge protection, then regular Li-ion makes sense, but there are a lot of 1.5V-3.0V AA/AAA devices out there.
    - Maursault 5y ago
      > Are you sure NiMH has better capacity? You have to look at mAh * voltage (or just mWh) for a fair comparison. Great question. Yes. At least I was, until I just found some newish 1000mAh 14500 cells. Last I knew, 800mAh was the highest capacity around. Ironically, I think in a lot of cases the 1.5V Li-ion cells use Wh rather than Ah to obfuscate the fact that the cell has less considerably less capacity than a 30¢ alkaline. So there is now about the same energy in an AA 1.2V NiMH cell as in a top capacity 14500 3.6V Li-ion cell. But this doesn't stay true for the lifetime of the cell as opposed to a single charge, for the most part because NiMH cells can tolerate 4X the recharges before resistance gets too high. > NiMH is safer, and cheaper for now, but those factors are irrelevant when 1.2V is insufficient for a particular device. If a device accepts 3.6V with overdischarge protection, then regular Li-ion makes sense, but there are a lot of 1.5V-3.0V AA/AAA devices out there. In hindsight, the observation I made does not apply much beyond flashlights. You're right, a 3.6V cell is not going to help someone whose device takes 2xAA cells without Dr. Frankenstein's assistance. However, if 1.2V is insufficient to power a device that was designed around alkaline chemistry, then it's a problem with the design, not the chemistry (granted, I have heard stories that NiMH doesn't work in some devices, but this wasn't most devices nor devastating to consumers). Alkaline cells aren't 1.5V for very long, it's a pretty steady discharge curve from ~1.65V down to 1V. So a device with such strict power parameters designed around drawing power from alkaline cells, without taking into account the discharge curve of alkaline chemistry, is thus poorly designed and wasting upwards of a third of your batteries' capacity (if 1.2V no longer works, and an alkaline cell is fully charged at 1.65V).
bxparks 5y ago
I agree, NiMH rechargeables are better than alkalines in almost every way. They don't leak and destroy the electronics. They can be recharged 500-1000 times, so they don't end up in a landfill after a single use. They have a really flat voltage curve. They have lower internal resistance, so can provide higher currents than alkalines. I think the only exception might be in ultra low power devices which last over a year on a single charge. But even then, I am likely to use the more expensive NiMH, because I'm so fed up with leaking alkaline batteries.
- tzs 5y ago
  Low self-discharge NiMH can last a long time in low power devices. I've got a pair of first generation AAA Sanyo Eneloops in my bathroom scale. They've been in there for 1028 days. I have a pair in the display unit for a pair of wireless fridge/freezer thermometers. That went 395 days. I've got first generation AA Panasonic Eneloops currently at 1079 days in one of the fridge/freezer thermometer sensors and 978 days in the other. 539 days in a humidity meter. 544 days in an analog wall clock.
- fencepost 5y ago
  With a good charger (not the ones included in sets of batteries) you can also refresh them through programmed charge discharge cycles if you have batteries that aren't in great shape anymore.
spapas82 5y ago
They have so many toys (which use for so little each time) that it ain't really worth it to use rechargeable batteries... I am just buying a lot of normal batteries each time and install them whenever needed. I just don't know what to do with the empty (or seeming empty) ones.
- Sharlin 5y ago
  Perhaps off-topic, and this may or may not be a popular sentiment on HN, but maybe they could do with fewer toys? At least fewer battery-operated ones? I mean, each and every one of us should be doing our part to not partake in unsustainable consumerism.
  - hamburglar 5y ago
    I’ve tried this but it’s really hard to get the rest of the gift-giving family on board. My kids just get way too many toys these days. I use rechargeable almost exclusively though and try to keep on top of pulling them out of disused toys to put into newer toys. If a kid tries to use an old toy that I’ve taken the batteries out of (which rarely happens), I just give them more.

p1mrx 5y ago

Rechargeable AA/AAA batteries were always limited to 1.2 volts, which works poorly in some devices. Now you can buy lithium ion cells that regulate down to 1.5 volts, so NiMH is basically obsolete. Alkaline can still make sense for things with multi-year battery life, like remote controls.

Maursault 5y ago
> Now you can buy lithium ion cells that regulate down to 1.5 volts, so NiMH is basically obsolete. NiMH is a lot safer, cheaper, and has slightly better capacity. It's been a few years since first available, but any posters even heard of anyone using 1.5V Li-ion cells? Once you know enough to even be aware of them, you'd be using 3.6V Li-ion instead, so really it's the 1.5V Li-ion that was instantly obsolete, yet still somehow hangs on due to extremely specific circumstances of boutique users that want a flat-regulated 1.5 volts.
- p1mrx 5y ago
  Are you sure NiMH has better capacity? You have to look at mAh * voltage (or just mWh) for a fair comparison. NiMH is safer, and cheaper for now, but those factors are irrelevant when 1.2V is insufficient for a particular device. If a device accepts 3.6V with overdischarge protection, then regular Li-ion makes sense, but there are a lot of 1.5V-3.0V AA/AAA devices out there.
  - Maursault 5y ago
    > Are you sure NiMH has better capacity? You have to look at mAh * voltage (or just mWh) for a fair comparison. Great question. Yes. At least I was, until I just found some newish 1000mAh 14500 cells. Last I knew, 800mAh was the highest capacity around. Ironically, I think in a lot of cases the 1.5V Li-ion cells use Wh rather than Ah to obfuscate the fact that the cell has less considerably less capacity than a 30¢ alkaline. So there is now about the same energy in an AA 1.2V NiMH cell as in a top capacity 14500 3.6V Li-ion cell. But this doesn't stay true for the lifetime of the cell as opposed to a single charge, for the most part because NiMH cells can tolerate 4X the recharges before resistance gets too high. > NiMH is safer, and cheaper for now, but those factors are irrelevant when 1.2V is insufficient for a particular device. If a device accepts 3.6V with overdischarge protection, then regular Li-ion makes sense, but there are a lot of 1.5V-3.0V AA/AAA devices out there. In hindsight, the observation I made does not apply much beyond flashlights. You're right, a 3.6V cell is not going to help someone whose device takes 2xAA cells without Dr. Frankenstein's assistance. However, if 1.2V is insufficient to power a device that was designed around alkaline chemistry, then it's a problem with the design, not the chemistry (granted, I have heard stories that NiMH doesn't work in some devices, but this wasn't most devices nor devastating to consumers). Alkaline cells aren't 1.5V for very long, it's a pretty steady discharge curve from ~1.65V down to 1V. So a device with such strict power parameters designed around drawing power from alkaline cells, without taking into account the discharge curve of alkaline chemistry, is thus poorly designed and wasting upwards of a third of your batteries' capacity (if 1.2V no longer works, and an alkaline cell is fully charged at 1.65V).

bxparks 5y ago

I agree, NiMH rechargeables are better than alkalines in almost every way. They don't leak and destroy the electronics. They can be recharged 500-1000 times, so they don't end up in a landfill after a single use. They have a really flat voltage curve. They have lower internal resistance, so can provide higher currents than alkalines. I think the only exception might be in ultra low power devices which last over a year on a single charge. But even then, I am likely to use the more expensive NiMH, because I'm so fed up with leaking alkaline batteries.

tzs 5y ago
Low self-discharge NiMH can last a long time in low power devices. I've got a pair of first generation AAA Sanyo Eneloops in my bathroom scale. They've been in there for 1028 days. I have a pair in the display unit for a pair of wireless fridge/freezer thermometers. That went 395 days. I've got first generation AA Panasonic Eneloops currently at 1079 days in one of the fridge/freezer thermometer sensors and 978 days in the other. 539 days in a humidity meter. 544 days in an analog wall clock.
fencepost 5y ago
With a good charger (not the ones included in sets of batteries) you can also refresh them through programmed charge discharge cycles if you have batteries that aren't in great shape anymore.

spapas82 5y ago

They have so many toys (which use for so little each time) that it ain't really worth it to use rechargeable batteries... I am just buying a lot of normal batteries each time and install them whenever needed. I just don't know what to do with the empty (or seeming empty) ones.

Sharlin 5y ago
Perhaps off-topic, and this may or may not be a popular sentiment on HN, but maybe they could do with fewer toys? At least fewer battery-operated ones? I mean, each and every one of us should be doing our part to not partake in unsustainable consumerism.
- hamburglar 5y ago
  I’ve tried this but it’s really hard to get the rest of the gift-giving family on board. My kids just get way too many toys these days. I use rechargeable almost exclusively though and try to keep on top of pulling them out of disused toys to put into newer toys. If a kid tries to use an old toy that I’ve taken the batteries out of (which rarely happens), I just give them more.