Talk to us about batteries - for a chance to win £500 and free Energizer batteries!

[HelenMumsnet]

Hello.

Energizer wants to talk batteries with you!

Do you simply buy the cheapest, or are you a battery connoisseur? Are you a power planner or a power player? Do you leave batteries in when appliances are out of use for a long time? Or do you take them out (and then lose them)?

Please do post and tell us on this thread.

And also feel free to share your best battery tips - or your worst battery disasters - particularly if they're Christmas-related.

Energizer's expert Clare Burke will be monitoring this thread and then coming on to answer your questions, and provide lots of info to help you save money and ensure you have the right power source for all the gadgets in your home this Christmas.

Everyone who adds a question, tip or comment to this thread (or who shares a battery disaster) will be entered into a prize draw to win £500.

The draw will be made on 10 December and the winner's cheque will be mailed out, via special delivery, on 11 December, so it'll definitely arrive in time for Christmas.

And that's not all! The first 100 Mumsnetters who post a question, comment, battery tip or battery disaster on this thread will receive free Energizer batteries worth up to £15.99.

In order to claim your batteries, you need to complete your details, including a UK address here

Please include an indication of what type of batteries you would like or the type of product you need batteries for.

Your details will only be used to send out the batteries and will be destroyed after the mailout. You will not receive any additional marketing.

Many thanks - and good luck!
MNHQ

If the batteries in remote controls don't seem to be working, take them out, rub them in your hands and it seems to give them a new lease of life.

SENSIBLE QUESTION....

If i were to use our recharger more often... I would want to simply fill it with batteries...and leave it continuously charging...so they are always ready when i need a battery...but that seems a very expensive 'non eco way'....the alternative being to charge overnight and then remove and store for later use....but....is it my imagaination...or do they seem to loose charge all by themselves???

The only thing I find with Rechargeable Batteries is that there are a huge amount of things that state you shouldn't use rechargeable batteries in them and I would love to know why?

I try to use RB, but to be honest think they are not as good and actually quite high maintenance if you ACTUALLY read the instuctions as to how to get the best out of them.

I use whatever is on offer with Duracell/EverReady as I do think they are superior and there are usually offers on in one or other of the local stores.

I'm attracted by a special offer but tend to buy one of the recognised brands especially for camera etc (less so for a toy or torch) although I remein inconvinced that there is a huge difference
I don't take them out -didn't know you should!
I love toys that include batteries
surely everyone has frequent disasters of giving a toy that needs batteries (elefun!)
thought dc had swallowed one once she hadn't but I've still never found it. That was when we discovered just how good at climbing she was!

I wish there were fewer sizes and they were all rechargable

I recycle them including at work

A question why do some things warn against using rechargable batteries?

I have no brand loyalty and just buy the cheapest/what's on sale.

I always have tons of AA and AAA in the house as that's what all of our gadgets seem to take! I do not take batteries out if I am not using something.

I buy my batteries from the pound shop, i got 14 panasonic AAA batteries for a £1 the other day, bargin.

maybe manufactures could have a scheme where you send them your dead batteries...and they send you a voucher for reusable ones...maybe 10p per battery you return????

I have a recharger, bought from Tesco and 8 AA and AAA batteries. As they die, they are recharged and put in the recharged battery spot ready for the inevitable moment when the precious piece of equipment fail, just when needed the most.

We used to buy the cheapest ones, regardless of the brand, until DD discovered the joys of her personal CD player. Rechargables work out so much cheaper, plus it's DD's job to load the recharger.

We bought a load of Kirkland batteries from Costco a few months ago.
I normally buy big brands, but the Costco ones seem OK and I'd rather put cheaper ones in toys.
I seem to remember that Morrison's batteries came out as best value when the Gadget show tested batteries.

I don't buy the really cheap ones, they never last long enough. I buy the decent ones when they are on special and stock up, especially before christmas. We use rechargeable ones for the wii otherwise it would have cost an arm and a leg! Batteries get taken out of kids toys if they are no longer played with/have gone flat. Now if someone could let me know where I put my stash of AAs are I'd be very grateful

usually buy a pack or 2 every time i'm in IKEA.
or whatever the nearest supermarket has on offer when something urgently needs a battery NOW!

Top Tip.

always check boxes and packets before you wrap christmas presents. Get whatever battery it needs. Pick apart packaging. find small tiny screwdriver from last years crackers. put in battery. put together fiddly packaging and 4 million wire ties. wrap present.
The DCs won't appreciate your efforts but it might make life just that little bit easier come christmas morning.

Sorting batteries makes a three-year-old very content for at least 20 minutes.

I buy rechargable batteries as I find them more economical in the long run.

It is a bit of a pain having to be organised enough to have them charged though.

Never buy cheap ones, they are not worth it.

I bulk buy. Not sure about naming websites but there are some great ones, and I buy multipacks of AAA, AA and CR2 batteries. Saves my bacon when batteries need changing, and DS tends to say "Mummy fix it" rather than Daddy, which randomly makes me rather pleased.

My tip is if you buy any of those teeny circular batteries, make sure your wallet is shut, or you will lose them on the way home. They are that small.

For remote controls etc that don't need replacing often, we just get cheapo ones eg Tesco Value.

For high-energy items (like DS2's vibrating chair which was on 12 hours a day for 6 months) we use rechargeable otherwise it would cost a fortune!

I wish it was easier to recycle batteries -- i know you're not supposed to throw them in the household waste but we do

We buy branded (duracell normally) but if another was on special offer would buy that instead probably!

I know that batteries should be disposed of properly and not just put in the bin (our local council collects them with the recycling for example), but how many people are really aware of this? Are modern batteries still potentially harmful to the environment?
Do you think we need a campaign to raise awareness about the potential environmental impacts of chucking batteries out? And if so, what are Energizer doing to spread the message?
Quite a few questions there!
Thanks.

Also DH maintains that if you put worn out batteries in the freezer for a short time, they'll spring back into life for a short while.

I tend to buy Wilko or Morrisons own brand batteries as they are so much cheaper. We do have a super-duper charger which can charge batteries in about half an hour but I keep losing the batteries

I used to buy tesco's own batteries pre DS, however since having him and all the toys etc that require batteries I found that they ran out of "juice" far too quickly!

So tried Duracell and same thing happened but honest to goodness Energiser are fabulous! I tend to buy in bulk though, expensive at the time but really does work out cheaper.

Rubbing them together only gives you a few days extra energy but if you pop batteries in the freezer(make sure they are dry before replacing into whatever they go in), then you can get an extra week out of them!

Not enough recycle places about here(we dont have recycle bins in our area) so have to admit, I do occasionally put out with house hold waste, not good I know!

I do think more awareness of this is needed.

I buy cheap ones for certain things and really do try to use rechargables otherwise.

Ive had a thought as this really bugs me, have you never thought about getting together with big toy comapnies to put a big picture of a battery on the front of toy packaging? its sooooo annoying when you get home and you get the toy out the box then discover that it needs batteries and of course you have every size of battery bar the one you need!

My sister never buys batteries for the childrens toys as she is childless and doesnt realise that most of them dont come with batteries

Putting spent batteries on the radiator also seems to squeaze out the last drop of power ~ not that I've ever tried that, but lots of prisoners do this for their radios if they don't have power leads.

I hate that(in particular)cheap batteries end up leaking. I do usually leave them in the article that requires them.

I also hate that you can't always tell if they are completely spent. Used to like the ones(Duracell?)that you could press top and bottom to check their wear level.

HATE HATE HATE that my refuse collectors don't take the used batteries for recycling too. you have to find a place to take them to(CO2 raising to deliver them miles away)and you can't/shouldn't chuck them out with the normal rubbish.

Has to be a hot radiator by the way.