To buy 400 Duracell single use alkaline batteries at £1.19 each would cost £476.Įven if you add on the cost of a Duracell charger at £23.99 and ascribe all of that cost to just that one rechargeable battery, a rechargeable is still nearly seventeen times cheaper than disposables. Price comparison of AA batteries (rechargeable and single use)Ī Duracell rechargeable battery costs £4.12 but can be recharged 400 times at a cost of just 0.08p per recharge making a total cost for the lifespan of the battery of £4.44. Rechargeables’ total lifespan is much longer than disposables thereby saving on resources and energy to manufacture. Rechargeables work out cheaper in the long run, but the lower initial cash outlay is one of the reasons that people buy disposables. Are rechargeable batteries cheaper than disposable batteries?Īlthough rechargeables are more expensive initially, (around three or four times more), because they can be recharged 500-1,000 times or more, they are more cost effective. We look at how best to recharge different rechargeable batteries further down in the guide. On average a NiMH might lose 30% of its charge over 12 months. One downside of rechargeables is that they lose charge when not in use. More and more devices are available now with inbuilt rechargeable batteries and, as long as they can be replaced, that can only be good news. However, there are no NiMH flat button and coin cells for use in watches and hearing aids. In many high-drain consumer applications, nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries are replacing alkaline batteries as they offer better performance and last much longer than the disposable alkaline batteries. Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are the most common type of household rechargeable battery on the market today, along with the Lithium-ion battery in your phone or laptop and in powerbanks. But by 31 December 2030, the EU Commission will assess whether to phase out the use of non-rechargeable batteries for general use. According to 2019 data, sales of alkalines were worth £230 million whilst rechargeables were only worth £18 million. Most batteries sold are single-use alkaline batteries. See our guide to supermarkets to see how they compare. Co-op and Waitrose were, but they don’t sell own-brand batteries. Only Morrisons sells rechargeable batteries and, when we last reviewed supermarkets, they were not a Recommended Brand. We have not included any supermarket own brands. We compare these two brands further down in the guide. But Duracell is one of our Brands to Avoid because of its poor ethical performance.

The two bestselling brands are Duracell and Energizer, with Duracell selling twice as many batteries as its rival. Most of the companies specialise in making batteries but there are a couple of general electrical companies – Philips and Panasonic – and there is the retail behemoth Amazon, subject of our long-running boycott call for its tax avoidance strategies. It does not cover lithium-ion (Li-on) battery packs for laptops and mobile phones, or car batteries.Īll the brands also make powerbanks and battery chargers for rechargeable batteries. This guide covers household batteries like AAs and AAAs, as well as button cells and hearing aid batteries. Three brands appear on the table twice, as their batteries with recycled content gain an extra product sustainability mark. Note: These batteries come with a USB charge cable and may not be compatible with other cables.How to find environmentally friendly batteriesĪll the brands in this guide make both disposable and rechargeable batteries. USB Rechargeable Lithium AA Battery Specifications: Short-circuit and over-charging protection.Rechargeable via USB Type-C cable (included).USB Rechargeable Lithium AA Battery Features: Level up your batteries and order some USB Rechargeable Lithium AA Battery. Tested to have a cycle life of 1200 times means that you won't be replacing these batteries for a long time. Worry no more about over-charging your batteries as the over-charging protection stops charging when full. These batteries have short-circuit protection and the LED indicator will even flash to alert you when it happens. These batteries feature a red LED indicator that blinks when charging and remains on to let you know your batteries are fully charged. You can finally get rid of your big and bulky battery chargers as the fast-charging USB Rechargeable Lithium AA Battery can be charged directly via USB Type-C cable.

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