What I don't get: I stopped using alkalines long ago, and have since settled for Eneloop rechargeable batteries. They can be reasonably used even in wall clocks, due to their low rate of self-discharge.
Why do people still buy the regular ones?
Why do people still buy the regular ones?
I absolutely agree that NiMH cells are superior in almost every way, but it's not irrational to prefer disposable batteries.
[0] http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Performance-Alkaline-Batt...
[1] http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-AA-Rechargeable-Batteries...
[2] e.g. http://www.amazon.com/review/RMWO7UZ9TAVRF/ref=cm_cr_rdp_per...
The other argument is financial. I have a cheap wall clock that runs about a year on a AA. The prices are very hard to understand on Amazon but you're looking at about $4 or more per rechargeable eneloop AA and around 40 cents for an alkaline AA in bulk. I think its fair to compare onsie-twosie rechargeables to bulk disposables; isn't that the entire point of being rechargeable? So I need to keep that clock powered up for more than a decade to run a profit on the rechargeable. Honestly I don't think it'll hold up that long. You need to recharge that dude more than, say, every six months, to run a profit, longer than that and its cheaper to dispose.
Presumably they don't charge $4 for a top of the line NiMH and 40 cents for an alkaline just for fun, I think its extremely safe to estimate the rechargeable causes at least 10x the environmental damage as the alkaline. Obviously the linear damage is 10x alone, some employee somewhere will get that $4 instead of 40 cents and buy gasoline or food or other petrochemical related substance, plus the issues with nickel refining, the electrolyte is somewhat more exciting, etc. So its not just a financial win.
Then you have the hassle of keeping things charged, which realistically means having a stock of extra batteries lying around. Also, it doesn't help that the cheapest rechargeable batteries and chargers lead to a comparatively bad user experience (batteries not holding a charge long, low lifetimes).
Similarly, look at kitchen knives. Most folks have sub-par stamped kitchen knives instead of a decent chef's knife even though you can get decent ones for 30 to 40 bucks or so. It's a matter of high up front costs and not knowing what they're missing.
But then I also own high-quality kitchen knives and sharpen them regularly, cutting tomatoes with a blunt knive is something I refuse to do. Guess you're right.
Of course, I don't have my hopes set too high for this, as there's a certain degree of liability risk in handing lithium-ion cells to consumers; they don't take as kindly to abuse as alkalines and have been known to explode on occasion when severely mistreated.
[0] I'd rate the Miller ML-102 power bank as a best-in-class product for running on removable 18650 cells and putting out 1.8A on a single cell. It costs $6.
For regular alkaline batteries, Nintendo says 60 hours lifetime using just the accelerometer, and 25 hours using both accelerometer and pointer. That's not very long for a kid that's seriously into a game.
Is it possible that you are also going through non-rechargeable batteries reasonably fast, but don't notice because, say, the kids can change those without your involvement, but with rechargeable batteries you are the one who handled recharging so saw every battery swap?
Another thing to watch out for is that alkaline and NiMH have very different discharge curves. Alkaline starts at 1.5, then falls steeply to around 1.3-1.4, then drops at a more gentle rate down to around 1.1, and then plummets.
NiMH starts at around 1.3, drops to 1.2, and then stays close to level until near the end, then starts dropping faster for a bit, then goes over a cliff.
If a device was not designed specifically to allow for NiMH, it is going to assume a discharge curve that follows the alkaline profile. When it uses voltage to estimate how much battery life is left, it is going to get confused by the NiMH curve.
If you put fresh NiMH batteries in a device, use it a while, and check the battery level, it will be reported as much lower then it really is. This can fool people into replacing the batteries early, because they figure it is falling fast and they don't have much time left.
I had one device where it would report not long after I put fresh batteries in that it was down to 60%, and if alkaline had fallen to 60% that fast, it would be time to put new batteries on my shopping list...but in reality with the NiMH it would actually stay at about 60% for weeks.
Not very environmentally friendly I know.
Most things seem to have built-in batteries these days so there are fewer and fewer reasons to use any of them I guess.