Comments on: How Rechargeable Batteries Save Me $317.49 a Year

By: Thomas mon

Thomas mon — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:27:08 +0000

Uhm, from your chart I would suggest buying a different wireless mouse and keyboard that doesn’t suck up your batteries every month. To replace the batteries in your keyboard at a rate of more than once per month tells you that you should have a wired keyboard. Don’t most cameras these days come with their own rechargeable battery packs these days anyway?

By: Grey

Grey — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:51:30 +0000

When you say military use of batteries, are you talking about things like AA cells, or something more industrial?

By: Michael Kingsford Gray

Michael Kingsford Gray — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:18:06 +0000

Its “horses for courses”.
Rechargeables are great if one is essentially sedentary, or within reach of a generator or power grid.
But in the Outback, for instance, they are not value for money.
There is a reason that military forces still use primary cells for much of their field-work.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:51:24 +0000

The rechargables don’t last forever. But these newer Nickel-Metal-Hydrides seem to be doing extremely well with my devices. I’m not sure they last longer, but after buying a couple extra ones, I never go without.

Mainly, disposable batteries are just stupid in cost and in enviromental impact. The amount of energy that must go into purifying and sealing these batteries is nearly wasted if you only use the battery once. Not to mention the metal waste in landfills, as in reality people never properly dispose of them at the dump. Since a rechargeable battery can be restored a hundred times, at low cost, it’s a no-brainer.

By: Julian

Julian — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:50:11 +0000

I recently changed over to rechargeables and there are a few factors you didn’t consider in your evaluation.

The rechargeable batteries don’t last forever. The number of charges they can handle last depends on the quality of your charger. So replacement battery costs should be factored in.

The total charge of a rechargeable battery is lower than the total charge of a fresh battery, and won’t store in the cupboard for as long without losing that charge. Since changing over, I have had a lot more battery changes and a lot more fiddling around with chargers. You should factor the cost of your time as well (and interruptions when working, being lost, taking photos, walking in the dark, etc.)

I think the rechargeables still win.