areyougreenenough?
AA Better choice
in Batteries
by david wells
A little mAtH
gy Corp.
T
here you are at the store, in
cAN sAve You A
front of the car-lot-sized battery
display, pondering how many
BuNdle of dougH
AA batteries to buy for the next couple Yes, rechargeable AA batter-
months. An eight-pack? The 20-pack? ies (the most popular size for
Which is a better value? Whoa! handheld electronics, cameras
edit: ©2008 Maha Ener
You're looking at the wrong display, and toys) cost 3-4 times as much
and asking the wrong questions! Head as alkaline batteries, but let's do a little
on over to the camera/electronics aisle math to uncover the real price of portable
Photo cr
and take a look at a much greener electricity. For comparison purposes, let’s say one AA
future: rechargeable batteries. battery will power our boom box for one hour.
AA Battery price for each No. Needed total out-of-
type AA cell for 500 Hours pocket cost
Alkaline $0.50 500 $250
NimH*1 $2.00 1 $2
That’s right, the rechargeable NiMH (nickel-metal outlets (such as
www.greenbatteries.com or www.zbattery.
hydride) ones will last up to 500 times longer than the alka- com ) offer the greatest variety of batteries and chargers.
line throw-aways! The choice is a no-brainer, economically.
You will, in fact, save well over 200 bucks per battery. Not
all at once, but over the next few years.
BATTeRY CHARgeRS: Conventional battery chargers draw
Here are the hidden costs and drawbacks. First,
up to ten times more energy than is actually stored in the
rechargeable batteries require the one-time purchase of a
battery, even when they’re not actively charging. Look for
battery charger, which run from $10-$80. The electricity
“intelligent” or “smart” battery chargers that use an aver-
cost for recharging a battery is approximately one cent.
age of 35% less energy and switch off once the charging is
Second, if an alkaline battery powers your handheld device
complete. The best ones have digital readouts, and some
for 15 hours, a rechargeable one may last only 12 hours.
models even have car adapters. Highly recommended
Third, you’ll need spare batteries to rotate into use while
brands include Maha and LaCrosse Technologies.
others are recharging. Finally, some types of single-use bat-
teries are more appropriate for particular applications.
RefRIgeRATIoN: Contrary to popular belief, there is virtu-
ally no benefit in freezing alkaline batteries. Hybrid NiMH
purcHAse ANd storAge tips
batteries boast a much longer shelf life, and don’t require
NiMH BATTeRIeS: Both types of NiMH AA batteries vary in
refrigeration. Regular NiMH batteries, however, lose their
capacity, from 1800-2900mAh, so look for higher capac-
charge after a few days when kept at room temperature,
ity versions in the 2500-2700mAh range (alkaline batteries
but retain a 90% charge for months if you store them in the
are usually rated at 2850mAh). Battery stores and online
freezer. All batteries should be brought up to room tem-
perature before using them.
12 Phoenix
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