Picketwire
Well-known member
Here are the cost to charge 8 2400mah rechargeable batteries: To charge, at 80% efficiency, it will take about 3.5 amp hours to fill from completely empty. With the cost of electricity at 11 cents per kWh the cost would be $.003 for 8 AA batteries or 3/10ths of one cent. I am sure alkaline AAs last a long time but... And if you think low voltage would be a problem, hook up a TENS machine with 2 AAA batteries to your sore muscles, turn it way up, and see if you can't shock the heck out of yourself. I started using rechargeable batteries many years ago in digital slr cameras because the Pentax manual said that although the alkaline batteries supplied with the camera would do for the setup, they would not support the daily use of the camera. The earlier batteries would drain just sitting there about the same rate as I was using the camera. I would try to replace my AAs with the ones that I charged last and they would be flat too. With the newer low self discharge AAs, that has never been a problem and they are pretty much equal to alkaline batteries in amp hour ratings. And, I have never ever had one leak. I had duracell batteries leak that were never used.
