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Contents: Best Batteries |
Batteries Compared |
Battery Types | Battery
Tips | Chargers |
Charging Tips |
Running Xmas lights on
batteries | Links
Your guide to types of household batteries (AAA, AA,
C, D, and 9V)
Good
(rechargable)
Bad
NICKEL-METAL HYDRIDE (NiMH)
If you want to recharge your batteries, use
Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH). These replace
obsolete NiCad rechargeables. NiMH's have much
higher capacity than NiCd's and don't suffer from
memory effect. Thomas Distributing and C. Crane
have great prices on NiMH's and carry the highest
capacity D's (9-11,000 mAh). Radio Shack sells
them too but they cost a little more (and their D's
have less capacity). Also see our recommended
chargers. NiMH's are great all-around batteries but
they have a high self-discharge rate (they go dead
after a few months even if you don't use them) so
they're not good for things like emergency
flashlights or smoke detectors.
Good
(standard)
OXYRIDE or ALKALINE
NICAD: NiMH is better
RECHARGEABLE ALKALINE: few recharge cycles,
small capacity
HEAVY DUTY/GENERAL PURPOSE: puny; die
quickly
LITHIUM: Expensive, toxic, can't recharge (good
only for smoke detectors, or sub-freezing temperatures
where long shelf-life is required)
NiCad's are obsolete rechargeables. They've been
replaced by NiMH's which last longer, don't suffer
from the memory effect, and aren't toxic. (more...)
Rechargeable Alkaline (Pure Energy, AccuCell)
can't be recharged nearly as many times as real
rechargeable batteries (like NiMH & NiCad). They
also can't be used in high-drain devices like digital
cameras, and their capacity drops every time
they're charged. But they're good if you need a
rechargeable that puts out more voltage than an
NiMH. (more...)
If you don't use many batteries and don't
want to get a recharger, then just buy oxyride
or alkaline batteries. They're both inexpensive
and give plenty of power. Oxyrides last way longer
than alkalines and are only slightly more expensive,
so they're usually your best bet.
Heavy Duty, General Purpose. These are Zinc
Chloride and Carbon Zinc, respectively. "Heavy
Duty" is a big misnomer; these are really "puny
duty". General Purpose are very susceptible to
leaking. (more...)
Standard alkalines don't work well in high-drain
devices like digital cameras. For those use either
high-drain alkalines (such as the Duracell Ultra,
Energizer Advanced Formula, or Kodak Photolife), or
oxyrides. You can get regular alkalines or high-drain
Lithium batteries are the most powerful batteries
you can get, but they're expensive, you can't
recharge them, and they're toxic so you can't just
throw them in the trash. (You're supposed to take
them to your community's hazardous waste facility.)
alkalines at most grocery stores, and generic is
nearly as good as brand-name as long as it's
alkaline. But if you buy batteries more often than
once a month or two, you should probably consider
rechargeables instead.
They're great for devices that use the 9V size, since
they'll last a long time (10 years in smoke
detectors), but for other sizes NiMH is a better bet
(see left). (Note: Lithium ion batteries are rechargeable
but they're not available in household sizes like AA, AAA,
etc.) (more...)
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Household Battery Types Compared (AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V)
Oxyride
Alkaline
Rechargeable
Alkaline
Nickel-Metal
Hydride
(NiMH)
NickelCadmium
(NiCad)
Lithium
Carbon Zinc
(General
Purpose)
Zinc Chloride
(Heavy Duty)
1.7
1.5
1.5
1.2
1.2
1.75
1.5
High
High
High at first,
but less each
cycle
High
Low
High
Low
2400
2000 at first
1300-2900
depends on
brand
600-1000
depends on
brand
2100
500-1000
not made in
this size
12,000
8000 at first
2200-11000
depends on
brand
1800-4500
depends on
brand
not available
in this size
3000
Performance in high-drain
devices (e.g., digital
cameras)
Excellent
Standard:
Poor
Special:
Good
Poor
Excellent
Good
Excellent
Poor
Rechargeable?
Not really
Not really
Sort of*
Yes (but see
note about C
& D sizes)
Yes (but see
note about C
& D sizes)
No
No
Recharge cycles
6?
??? I'm
guessing <10
50-500
Accucell
100's of times
100's to
1000's
of times
N/A
N/A
Toxic (special disposal
needs)
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
Slow
Slow / up to
5 yrs. shelf
Slow
Fast
(25%/mo.)
Fast (10% in
1st 24hrs,
then
10%/mo.)
Very slow
Slow
Memory effect
No
No
No
No
Maybe
N/A
N/A
Price for 2 AA's
$2.48
$1.36
$3.00 - $3.60
$5.00
$5.49
standard
$6.99 hi
capacity
$6.99
$1.75
Cheap, high
capacity,
lasts longer
than
alkalines.
Best bet if
you're not
recharging.
Cheap, high
capacity,
but doesn't
last as long
as oxyride,
and can't
be
recharged
Volts
Capacity
Capacity in mAh (AA)
Capacity in mAh (D)
Self-discharge rate
Notes
Fewer
recharge
cycles, and
capacity
drops after
just a few
charges.
NiMH is
Your best
Toxic, low
bet for a
capacity,
chargeable. high selfGood for
discharge
everything
rate. Use
except
NiMH's
emergency
instead.
flashlights &
smoke
Great
power, but
can't be
recharged,
and are
toxic. Best
choice for
smoke
Absolute
crap. Do not
buy.
like NiMH.
Not much
reason to
buy.
usually a
better bet.
detectors.
detectors,
though.
Notes on the Table:
Volts. The fact that NiMH & NiCD put out less voltage than alkalines is usually not a problem, unless your device uses six
or more batteries.
Capacity in mAh. Varies by brand. Alkaline figure is from ZBattery. Rechargeable alkaline figure is for Pure Energy Brand
for AA, and Accucell brand for D. NiCd are for Golden Power and Radio Shack brands. NiMH figures are for batteries
carried by Thomas Distributing and Radio Shack. Capacity for lithium, and carbon zinc/zinc chloride are not usually
published by manufacturers and hard to track down; I got figures for these from a Battery FAQ website and from Accucell's
website, though both sites are now down.
Recharge cycles. The number of times the battery can be recharged. Figures for Rechargeable Alkalines are from
manufacturers' claims. Getting the most cycles out of NiCads requires periodically draining the battery (or using a charger
that does so). Getting the most cycles out of NiMH requires shallow discharging (charging before the battery loses too
much power).
Special Disposal Needs. See NiCads, below.
Self-discharge rate. How quickly the batteries lose their charge just sitting in the drawer. Discharge is faster at higher
temperatures. From Batteries in a Portable World.
Prices. Pricing is from Radio Shack 2000 catalog for Alklanie, NiCd, and Lithium; from Thomas Distributing for NiMH; from
Sundance Solar and CET Solar for Rechargeable Alkaline (Pure Energy & Accucell); from my local grocery store for Zinc
Chloride. Note that CheapBatteries.com has cheaper pricing.
Details on each Type of Battery
Oxyride (aka Nickel Oxyhydroxide, NiOOH) -- best disposable battery (but consider
using rechargeable NiMH instead)
Oxyride batteries came out in 2006 to challenge alkalines. And they do a great job at that: They last
more than twice as long as standard alkalines in digital cameras, and around 1.5x as long as high-drain
alkalines like Duracell Ultra. They're cost-competitive with alkalines too. The only problem is that they're not
rechargeable. For this reason, for most applications I still recommend NiMH. Recharging batteries saves you
money and means less waste.
Oxyride batteries put out 1.7 volts, higher than the 1.5 from an alkaline, and way higher than the 1.2
volts from a rechargeable battery. But higher voltage isn't necessarily an advantage, because voltage isn't
the same thing as capacity. Voltage is how "powerful" the force is, not how long that force lasts. The extra
voltage should be safe for most devices, though I expect light bulbs may burn out a bit quicker.
One person claims to be able to recharge oxyrides, but only with a slow charger, and only for six cycles.
That's not nearly as much as an NiMH, which can be recharged hundreds of times.
More on oxyride batteries:
Oxyride review in the New York Times
Oxyride battery tests. Shows that oxyrides last much longer in cold temperatures vs. alkalines.
They underperformed alkalines at normal temperatures, but that's because of the nature of the test
-- a constant drain. In more typical use, oxyrides will always beat alkalines.
Wikipedia on oxyrides
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Alkaline -- good disposable battery (but consider using rechargeable instead)
Alkaline is the most common type of household battery. It became popular in the 1970's, as an
alternative to wimpy Carbon Zinc and Zinc Chloride batteries (e.g., "Heavy Duty" and "General Purpose"
batteries). Alkalines have a lot of power and are inexpensive, but they usually can't be recharged.
(Exceptions listed below.)
Standard alkalines don't work well in high-drain devices (like digital cameras), because they're not
good at pumping out lots of juice quickly. They'll still work, but your battery life will be really short.
However, most manufacturers have introduced special alkalines which work well in high drain
devices, such as Duracell Ultra, Energizer Advanced Formula, and Kodak Photolife.
By the way, there's not much difference in capacity from brand to brand, as long as you're
comparing standard to standard, and high drain to high drain -- they're all pretty much the same, despite
the manufacturers' commercials. Consumer Reports found that the spread between the best and worst
alkalines was only 9-15%. Tests by ZBattery.com also showed little difference between name-brand
alkalines.
Alkalines used to contain mercury, a toxic metal, but Congress banned mercury from household
batteries in 1996. So alkalines don't have any special disposal requirements -- it's safe to throw them
away. The exception is button batteries, the kind that go in watches and calculators. Radio Shacks will
accept button batteries for proper disposal.
Alkalines lose their voltage gradually -- as opposed to rechargeables like NiMH or NiCad which maintain
most of their voltage over the whole charge and then suddenly plummet.
Alkalines might leak if they're used only lightly or not at all for a long period of time. For expensive devices
that get only very infrequent use over a long period of time, Heavy Duty batteries in theory might provide
more protection, since they reportedly leak less, even though they're weak and don't give much run time.
How to Recharge. You need a special charger for alkalines. If you charge them in a standard charger
they'll explode. But it's probably not worth even trying to charge alkalines in the first place, because they
can be charged only about 10 times (vs. hundreds or thousands of times for a real rechargeable battery, like
a NiMH or a NiCad). The newer high-drain alkalines are especially resistant to charging. Anyway, if you must
rechage alkalines, and you've purchased the special charger for doing so, then keep your alkalines "topped
off". The sooner you recharge them, the more recharge cycles you'll get out of the battery and the more
total power you'll get out of it. If you let an alkaline drain too much, then you won't be able to recharge it.
All this is true of both standard alkalines and rechargeable alkalines.
