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Why rechargeable (AA/AAA) batteries not popular?

4 points by sunjain ↗ HN
I have been using these for a while. Good value for money and using these is more environment friendly(supposedly). It is difficult to find these in stores, can order it online only. Is it because of the alkaline battery maker's lobbying/deal with stores? Less profit for stores? Consumers don't care, not worth the hassle?

11 comments

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archangel_one
Too expensive, performance degrades over time, you have to have a charger for them and when they run out it takes hours before they're recharged, during which you can't use whatever it is that needed batteries.
stcredzero
Also, the marketing has been damaged by the crappy batteries and chargers sold in drugstores and prevalent retail outlets. To buy good batteries, you need to buy the ones pro photographers use for AA powered devices, like these: http://amzn.com/B0009H5VVM

Unless you are doing something with high current applications, you probably want low self-discharge. It's really hard to beat Alkalines for batteries that last forever with low-current uses.

I've had a good experience with this: http://amzn.com/B0014KLX9C

It was able to charge my iPhone more than once. (Maybe 1 2/3rds of a charge?) Getting out the charger and transferring the batteries over was a pain, though. With the good NiHM batteries, it can also extend the endurance of my PHS300 mobile hotspot to 5 hours. (Even though it's not supposed to be able to!)

pwg
Stcredzero's listed amazon AA batteries: $12.95 for four.

Another amazon listing for Duracell 4-pack Alkaline: 4.95 for four.

Rechargeable: $3.24 per battery

Alkaline: $1.24 per battery

3.24 divided by 1.24 = 2.61.

After 3 recharges, the rechargeable has now become cheaper than the alkaline battery. It seems difficult to believe the performance would degrade sufficiently after only 3 recharges to justify sticking with alkalines.

As for the lengthy recharge, the solution there is buy a second set. Keep one in the charger (a good one that goes to trickle when done), when you run down, swap. Result, no effective wait time for fresh power.

Travis
I recently purchased 3 sets of AA Energizer brand rechargables. They kept their charge in some of my electronics for all of 24 hours in many cases.

They seem like a great idea, but in my recent (last 2 years) experiment, the performance actually does degrade that quickly. It could have just been a bad batch, but it was 3 separate 4 packs of battteries, all with their own chargers.

pwg
If it was the chargers that were packaged together with the batteries, then the problem was likely the charger destroying the batteries rather than any fault of the battery itself.
EECS
You can find bulk batteries for cheap at Costco, Home Depot, and a ton of other stores. They sell them in 24, 36, 72 packs for almost nothing. And there are deals online that make them even more lucrative at times. Can't remember the last deal I got but I think it was like 72 AA batteries for like $9. While that's not typical, what is typical is spending less than $10 for Energizer or Duracell AA batteries around 24 to 36 packs. These are pretty common and each battery lasts pretty long.

On the flip side, as others have said, rechargeable are only good for the first week or two you have them if you use them a lot. The charge doesn't hold after awhile and they suck. The charger and the batteries are expensive compare to the non-rechargeable alternatives.

pwg
Home Depot online listing: 36 pack Energizer Alkaline for 13.97.

That is $0.39 per battery.

Rechargeable: $3.24 per battery.

3.24 divided by 0.39 is 8.31.

At the ninth usage, the rechargeable battery becomes cheaper than the very cheap one use battery.

I have four Energizer NiMH AA's that have to be at least 4-5 years old now and have been recharged at least 50+ times by this point. Are they quite as "strong" as when they were new, no. Are they still doing very well, yes.

A lot of the bad experience from rechargeable comes from using the cheapo chargers that are sold in the stores alongside the batteries themselves. Plunk down the one time cost of $30-40 for a decent charger and the rechargeable batteries will reward you handsomely.

motters
I use these all the time in many gadgets. They're easy to find in supermarkets, so it depends where you live I suppose.
petervandijck
Stores have incentive to sell goods that expire fast.