Are NiMH worth it? AKA - Where the heck are all my rechargeables?

[NAC]

So I was about to order some AA NiMH batteries the other day. And then I thought to myself - why do I need more, I should have enough floating around. I searched my emails, and it looks like I have bought at least 24 AA Eneloop batteries over the past few years. Huh, I had assumed it might only have been 12. Admittedly, I am talking about 7 years - but I don't recall ever recycling or throwing out a single Eneloop. I have recycled all of the older NiMH batteries I got prior to Eneloop.

So I searched the house, checked all the toys I can find, and I am now up to 8 batteries. 16 are missing. What the heck?

Makes me wonder if rechargeable are worth it for a family with kids. I know I can keep track of them for my flashes, flashlights, and a few other things. But once the kids start taking them, who knows where they go.

Anyway, I'm going to go search the attic for retired toys...

 

[killster1]

just keep the rechargeablez and get new kids? i buy EBL brand from ebay they are not as high priced as eneloopes and seem to be running strong for few years.. currently in use (off the top my head) 3xD in my Mr Beam flood lights. C x12 in diff baby devices. 20x AA in lights and xbox controllers. 10xA AA in remotes, and a reserve of charged in cupboard.

i assume your problem is kids throwing them out. They should not throw away any rechargeable prob is illegal for one and bad for the earth! just have them put the old ones in bucket next to new ones.

 

[Mike64]

How old are the kids? Have you been making a point of telling them they're rechargeable when you give them to them and/or put them in their stuff (and so not to just throw them away if they replace the batteries themselves)? Given my own (albeit vicarious) experience with kids and battery usage, I assume those 16 rechargeables are a basically tiny percentage of the total number of batteries your household has used in 7 years, so if they are in fact as much as an exception to your general household "rule" as it seems like they've been, losing roughly 2 per year isn't really that bad a track record... Haven't you lost more flatware to the post-dinner garbage pail over the same period of time...?

 

[NAC]

My kids are now 13 and 14. I've taught them the difference between rechargables and alkaline, so I don't really think they were taken out of a toy and put into the garbage. Could be though. I think it is much more likely that they are in old toys/electronics, and the toys are either somewhere in the house, or donated away, or perhaps thrown out. I would have typically checked for batteries before giving away or throwing out toys, perhaps my wife or kids didn't.

I tend to be very careful with my stuff, and my kids are more careful than most. But mistakes happen. And each year it gets a little harder to keep track of all the stuff.

And I have decided that alkaline are the better choice for many use cases. Such as any toy/device that is possible to be gotten rid of before the batteries in it ever die - like a remote or many toys.