Once upon a time, when you needed some rechargeable batteries, you just went and bought some. Now there are all these different kinds, and I have no idea where to start. What’s the best kind of rechargeable battery to buy?
Rechargeable batteries can seem like a confusing bowl of alphabet soup: NiCd, NiMH, Li-ion, and so on. Aren’t they all batteries? Do they not all store electricity to be used later, then are recharged when depleted?
Well, yeah. However, they are all a little different in a variety of ways, including things like price and “memory” and the like.
First of all, when choosing a rechargeable battery, it’s a good idea to check the milliampere hour (mAh) rating — the higher the number, the longer the battery will power your device before needing to be recharged.
For those of you who just must know why, here’s the science: A milliampere hour is one-thousandth of an ampere (also commonly known as an amp) delivered over the duration of one hour. So if a battery is capable of providing 1,500 milliamps for one hour, that battery has a rating of 1500 mAh.
Now, the thing to keep in mind is that different electrical devices draw a different amount of amps — so that 1500 mAh battery that lasts for a year in your TV’s remote control might only last about 10 hours in your digital camera, since the camera draws considerably more current to operate than does a remote control. While the mAh rating of a battery cannot generally be used to tell you how long a battery will last in a device — unless you know and understand Ohm’s Law and feel like doing the math — it can be used as an apples-to-apples comparison. Bottom line: A 1500 mAh battery will last longer in a given device than a 1000 mAh battery.
Battery breakdown
Let’s take a brief look at a few of the more common types of rechargeable batteries. This is meant as an overview, but if you’d like more detailed information and a lot of science, I highly recommend checking out Battery University or the article Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers: A Personal Perspective, from the State of California’s CalRecycle.org site.
There are three basic types of rechargeable batteries you will generally come across on a daily basis — and one specialized one you probably don’t think much about. Here’s a quick look at each of them.
Nickel cadmium (NiCd or NiCad)
When I was a kid in the 1980s, these were essentially the only game in town for small rechargeable batteries — and if you had a lot of electronic toys, your parents probably bought a set or three of these. They worked, but they certainly weren’t ideal — in fact some of their flaws have put people off rechargeable batteries even today, but they certainly still have applications.
Large usable temperature range — work well in both extreme cold and heat
Good for big loads — flashlights, camcorder lights, anything that requires a large current draw
NiCd cons
Heavy – very dense for their size
Toxic – cadmium is a heavy metal and really nasty for the environment
“Memory” effect – if a NiCd is not completely dead before it is recharged, it will “remember” where it was charged to and its performance will degrade
Nickel metal hydride (NiMH)
As the 1990s rolled around, manufacturers — realizing the limitations of NiCd batteries — started releasing products with NiMH batteries, and selling them in common disposable battery sizes as well. NiMHs were good at combating two common NiCd problems — weight and memory — but they too aren’t perfect.
NiMH pros
High capacity — in most situations, NiMH last much longer than comparable NiCd
Less “memory” effect — resistant to the memory effect from partial charging
NiMH cons
Heavy — no lighter weight than NiCd
Smaller usable temperature range — perform very poorly in very low or sub-zero temperatures
“Memory” effect — only resistant to memory, still is a problem over time
Lithium ion (Li-ion)
In the never ending quest to make digital cameras, cell phones, laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices smaller and lighter, yet still usable for long periods of time, the Li-ion battery became more and more prevalent. Though generally only found in device-specific applications (as in, not AA or the like), chances are you use something with a Li-ion battery in it every day. (For instance, this is the battery that powers iPhones around the globe.)
Li-ion pros
No “memory” effect — charge a Li-ion whenever you like
Lighter, smaller — up to 50% lighter than an equivalent NiCd/NiMH
Environmentally friendly — no heavy metals
Li-ion cons
Expensive — those pros up there come at a cost
Poor high current performance — not good for things like lights and camera flashes
Lead acid
Here’s the fourth, specialized battery type that I mentioned above. This is the original rechargeable battery, invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Plante. You probably use one of these every day and don’t ever think about it until it stops working — practically every single car out there uses a lead acid battery. You might have one sitting under your desk, too — they are often found in uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). Since these are generally limited in application, we’ll forgo listing pros and cons for them.
Correct application of power
NiCds, as I said, still have their place. They work great in flashlights, external camera flash units, and anything else that draws a lot of current. They also have a good shelf life when charged, so they’re good for things that sit around without being used every day.
NiMH batteries make a good all around replacement for disposable alkaline batteries — pretty much any general purpose device that sees regular use is a good candidate for NiMH. Don’t use them in things that sit around, however — they tend to bleed down over time even when not being used.
Li-ion batteries, again, are generally found in things like cell phones and digital cameras, but in some cases you can refit older devices that used NiCd or NiMH batteries with them. This varies on a case by case basis, so I can’t really say “Yes, your DelComThinkPad laptop from 1999 can be used with a Li-ion battery” with certainty.
Charged question
Rechargeable batteries can seem like a confusing bowl of alphabet soup: NiCd, NiMH, Li-ion, and so on. Aren’t they all batteries? Do they not all store electricity to be used later, then are recharged when depleted?
Well, yeah. However, they are all a little different in a variety of ways, including things like price and “memory” and the like.
First of all, when choosing a rechargeable battery, it’s a good idea to check the milliampere hour (mAh) rating — the higher the number, the longer the battery will power your device before needing to be recharged.
For those of you who just must know why, here’s the science: A milliampere hour is one-thousandth of an ampere (also commonly known as an amp) delivered over the duration of one hour. So if a battery is capable of providing 1,500 milliamps for one hour, that battery has a rating of 1500 mAh.
Now, the thing to keep in mind is that different electrical devices draw a different amount of amps — so that 1500 mAh battery that lasts for a year in your TV’s remote control might only last about 10 hours in your digital camera, since the camera draws considerably more current to operate than does a remote control. While the mAh rating of a battery cannot generally be used to tell you how long a battery will last in a device — unless you know and understand Ohm’s Law and feel like doing the math — it can be used as an apples-to-apples comparison. Bottom line: A 1500 mAh battery will last longer in a given device than a 1000 mAh battery.
Battery breakdown
Let’s take a brief look at a few of the more common types of rechargeable batteries. This is meant as an overview, but if you’d like more detailed information and a lot of science, I highly recommend checking out Battery University or the article Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers: A Personal Perspective, from the State of California’s CalRecycle.org site.
There are three basic types of rechargeable batteries you will generally come across on a daily basis — and one specialized one you probably don’t think much about. Here’s a quick look at each of them.
Nickel cadmium (NiCd or NiCad)
When I was a kid in the 1980s, these were essentially the only game in town for small rechargeable batteries — and if you had a lot of electronic toys, your parents probably bought a set or three of these. They worked, but they certainly weren’t ideal — in fact some of their flaws have put people off rechargeable batteries even today, but they certainly still have applications.
>> Do you have to recycle batteries?
NiCd pros
NiCd cons
Nickel metal hydride (NiMH)
As the 1990s rolled around, manufacturers — realizing the limitations of NiCd batteries — started releasing products with NiMH batteries, and selling them in common disposable battery sizes as well. NiMHs were good at combating two common NiCd problems — weight and memory — but they too aren’t perfect.
NiMH pros
NiMH cons
Lithium ion (Li-ion)
In the never ending quest to make digital cameras, cell phones, laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices smaller and lighter, yet still usable for long periods of time, the Li-ion battery became more and more prevalent. Though generally only found in device-specific applications (as in, not AA or the like), chances are you use something with a Li-ion battery in it every day. (For instance, this is the battery that powers iPhones around the globe.)
Li-ion pros
Li-ion cons
Lead acid
Here’s the fourth, specialized battery type that I mentioned above. This is the original rechargeable battery, invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Plante. You probably use one of these every day and don’t ever think about it until it stops working — practically every single car out there uses a lead acid battery. You might have one sitting under your desk, too — they are often found in uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). Since these are generally limited in application, we’ll forgo listing pros and cons for them.
Correct application of power
NiCds, as I said, still have their place. They work great in flashlights, external camera flash units, and anything else that draws a lot of current. They also have a good shelf life when charged, so they’re good for things that sit around without being used every day.
NiMH batteries make a good all around replacement for disposable alkaline batteries — pretty much any general purpose device that sees regular use is a good candidate for NiMH. Don’t use them in things that sit around, however — they tend to bleed down over time even when not being used.
Li-ion batteries, again, are generally found in things like cell phones and digital cameras, but in some cases you can refit older devices that used NiCd or NiMH batteries with them. This varies on a case by case basis, so I can’t really say “Yes, your DelComThinkPad laptop from 1999 can be used with a Li-ion battery” with certainty.
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