Growing up in the 1990s, we always had rechargeable batteries in devices around our home. It was probably because my parents had purchased a large pack of them from an electronics store, and we just kept popping them in. But you rarely, if ever, need to replace them, as you could put them in their own charger any time they were running out.
Nowadays, there are fast chargers, slow chargers, USB-based chargers, and many more have taken the place of alkaline and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries as a power source. Of course, there are also plenty of devices that still take alkaline batteries. While I still do use rechargeable NiMH batteries in some of my devices, I’ve been smarter about setting up my home with either lithium-ion or alkaline-powered batteries. There are some devices I won’t use rechargeable batteries in.
I didn’t expect USB-C AA batteries to be this good, but here we are
These cells punch way above their weight.
Smoke alarms need to be working consistently
This is not something you ever want to fail
The most common alkaline batteries you’re going to come across in today’s day and age are AAA and AA. More uncommon ones like C, D and 9-volt batteries were used to power devices 30 to 40 years ago. The bigger batteries were used for devices that required a lot of power, such as boom boxes or portable heating units. Those have been phased out, as many of them use outlet power or rechargeable lithium-ion batteries now.
When you need something to have constant power to work, it is typically plugged into the wall. However, for devices like smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors, they need to be powered constantly to work but aren’t always plugged into an outlet. They don’t take up a lot of power, so they work fine with AA or AAA batteries.
However, because of their safety use cases, you don’t want to be in a situation where they aren’t working. Smoke alarms can obviously detect when a potential fire is ablaze in your home. Smoke alarms identify combustion particles in the air and sound off an alert to give residents a heads-up that a fire is taking place.You can buy analog or smart home smoke alarms.
While rechargeable batteries can last a long time, you might not remember when one is in need of charging. Plus, if you take them out to charge them, they will not be working while they’re charging.
A good idea to remind yourself when to change your smoke alarm batteries is to do so when the clocks change for Daylight Savings Time. This ensures that your batteries are working at all times of year.
Flashlights should be powered up in case of an emergency
Keep them ready for when the power goes out
You may keep flashlights all around your home in case something happens, and you need light quickly. While your smartphone is good in a pinch, it often doesn’t have the throw of a proper flashlight. It also isn’t as easy to hold and point at objects you want to see illuminated as a flashlight is.
A flashlight needs to be there when you need it. Whether you store them in your bedroom so you can have one if the power goes out or you keep them downstairs by the door for when you have to go outside, flashlights are a must-have item in any household. The last thing you want to have happened is for the batteries in them to not be charged properly, and you aren’t able to use them.
People use flashlights for many different tasks, but at the end of the day, the most important one is our family’s health. You should not only have flashlights in different rooms in your home, but also in your car. You never know when you might need one and your phone might be dead, forcing you to rely on a flashlight.
I recently went out and bought two new flashlights, one shorter and one longer, as well as a penlight. I wanted to have one downstairs by the garage door, so I could use it to see in the dark when my dog goes out towards the edge of the fence at night. The other one, I needed to keep by my bedside table as I’m frequently asked to go investigate a noise in the middle of the night.
If you’re someone who has had a similar experience before going to bed, you want to have a flashlight handy. It makes life a bit easier when you can just grab and go and the AA alkaline batteries work well.
Your remote deserves better
Don’t have it quit on you in the middle of your favorite show
You might think that rechargeable batteries would be great in a remote control. While losing a TV remote can be devastating, it’s not as bad as having a remote and it not working. How mad would you be when you went to watch TV and you forgot to charge those batteries, rendering the remote useless.
Most remote controls use AAA batteries. But others take AA, so you need to be prepared in that aspect. However, you don’t want a rechargeable battery for either of those sizes because of the possibility they’ll need charging at the worst time. Smart TV remotes are especially important because they control
Let’s say you’re getting ready to watch a live sporting event and your rechargeable batteries have been popped into the charging ports. Your entire TV and system wouldn’t be able to turn on, leaving you out in the cold in terms of watching sports or whatever show you want to watch.
You’re more likely to find out a remote needs new batteries when you want to use it. You don’t want to then have to pop them in a charger and wait for them to be ready.
Use tried and true battery methods around your home
You can trust alkaline batteries in all kinds of devices and gadgets. It’s important to know which batteries are in which devices in your home. It’s also valuable to have backups of every kind of battery just in case you need to replace them. If you want to rely on rechargeable batteries, you should set reminders of how often you might need to charge them. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
