Batteries
Rechargable batteries have become almost as inexpensive as alkaline ones. Why use alkaline ones anymore? If you’re interested in buying some, I recommend all-battery, because they are having a sale with very inexpensive prices. For example, a pack of 24 AA batteries with free shipping only costs $29.99. If you just use them each twice, then you would get your money worth (compared to the cost of good alkaline batteries).
Before NiMh rechargable batteries became popular, rechargable batteries were not very popular, because they were low in capacity and had memory which caused the capacity to shrink even more if you frequently charged them. Good thing we have better ones now.With new technology, alkaline batteries have become used much less frequently than they used to be. Rechargable batteries are not only great for saving money since they can be used hundreds of times, but are also better for the environment, because they get disposed of less frequently.I got my first set of NiMh (Nickel Metal Hydride) rechargable batteries about 3 years ago. If I remember the price correctly, a set of a charger and 4 AA batteries with 1600mAh capacity cost about $30.00, and I thought they were inexpensive. After all, that’s only the price of 30 duracell batteries, but these rechargable ones could be used way more than that. The capacity of NiMh batteries is also much higher, making them ideal for high-drain devices, such as digital cameras.
Choosing a charger: When you buy a charger, try to make sure that it could charge 4 AA or AAA at the same time for convenience sake. Some of the cheaper ones can only charge 2 AAA at a time because of their design. You can also only charge batteries in pairs, so make sure you’re charging an even number at the same time. (I added this paragraph after somebody mentioned these details in digg)
Here’s an example of how much money rechargable batteries can save you over time. If you buy one pack of 24 AA 2600 mAh (that’s about double the capacity of duracell batteries) batteries at all-battery’s sale price of $29.99 (shipping included), then you would never have to spend money on AA batteries again. 24 is probably enough for all your devices that use AA. If you have 4 remote controllers, 1 of which runs out of power each year, a digital camera that drains 4 batteries after 50 pictures which you use to take about 300 pictures a year, an mp3 player that runs for 15 hours on two AA’s that you use for an hour a day, and disposable alkaline batteries cost $0.75 each, then you would spend $74.67 just on AA batteries a year. If you buy rechargable ones, then you would be spending $29.99 for a lifetime, saving you $44.68 the first year and $74.67 every year after. If you live for 50 more years (I don’t know how old you are, so you can do the math for this part), then that would be a total savings of $3778.18 for doing almost nothing.
If you do not own rechargable batteries yet, then I recommend using all-battery to purchase some. They are very inexpensive (only a little more than the price of alkaline ones), and many of the larger packs come with free shipping.
Somebody mentioned that NiMh may not be the best choice for remotes because of the high discharge rate in a comment. However, I did not approve the comment, because that person refused to leave an email address. Yes, that person was correct, so I guess a better alternative would be rechargable alkalines. Rechargable still beats disposable.
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