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

I buy any battery as long as it's rechargeable. I wish there was an easy way to tell if they're still charged or will need charging again, as we sometimes do them in bulk only to find we have to charge them again as they've been sitting around too long without being used. An easily accessible way of recycling them would also be very welcome.

I mainly use rechargeable but as it is nearly christmas i will buy a big bulk pack of batteries from Argos.
I do tend to forget to take batteries out of toys which aren't being used then my punishment is to find they have leaked and destroyed the toy!

my battery disaster story goes like this.....ever since christmas two years ago i made it a priority to become knowledgeable about batteries.My very close friend was emigrating and stayed with us over the christmas period.On xmas day i wanted to get loads of lovely photos of our families together for what i knew would be very long time until we could see eachother again.The batteries in my camera were dead and my friend was going to bring hers and i told her not to worry as i had my camera and lots of films.We couldn't take any photos and nowhere was open to get any batteries and she was leaving on boxing day to stay with her mum before her flight.So i didn't get to take the photos of us all and it was quite upseting.Anyway my top tips are anything you don't use regularly from batteries in seasonal dcorations to the radio that you may just use for camping take the batteries out and label them,then store them in a plastic bag in the fridge,never in the freezer.We have also done fun tests with batteries as both my sons got remote control cars and walkie talkies for christmas and we put cheap batteries into one sons toys and better quality ones into the other toys the better quality ones lasted much longer,so cheapo ones are definitley false economy.I have a couple of friends with children and they keep buying cheap batteries and then complain they dont last i keep telling them but you can't teach an old dog new tricks.I rely heavily on batteries and find that the batteries in my ipod last longer if i avoid changing tracks too often is good to save power as it will acess the hard drive less often.Also with my camera[which is now a digital one]I don't keep looking through the pictures as that uses lots of power from the battery.I also take the batteries out when not using it.That just leaves me one question is it wise to stock up on batteries for the future or will they deteriorate.Or is it best to just buy them when you need them.As i have often seen good quality batteries on special offer and wonderd if it is economical and practical to grab a load on offer.

I BUY MY BATTERIES FROM HOME BARGAINS THEY HAVE THE SAME BATTERIES WHAT YOU SEE IN THE HIGHT STREET BUT A CHEAPER PRICE I DONT BELIEVE IN PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THEM MY 4 YEAR OLD SON IS AWAYS NEEDING THEM FOR HIS TOYS SO I DO TRY TO GET A BARGAIN AND REMOTES I DONT BUY BATTERIES THAT OFTEN THEY SEEM TO LAST A LONG TIME I HAVE A GOOD TIP FOR CLOCKS I NEVER USE NEW BATTERIES I USE USED BATTERIES THEY RUN ON SO LITTLE POWER AND YOU SAVE A LOT OF MONEY

I buy whatever batteries are on offer at the supermarket...

If I am buying normal batteries then I go for a decent make (like energiser ). I think I went with a cheaper option for rechargables, but that was due to finances at the time rather than preference.

We vary with taking them out and leaving them in, and yes... lose every one of them.

I tend to buy 'good' batteries rather than the cheapest, but like an offer!

Batteries don't last long enough to be taken out when you're not using something - eg, wii.

It'd be great if all batteries could come with that checking scale on the side, so you never chuck out a battery with some life left in it.

I tend to buy a mix of batteries - some cheapy, some better and some rechargable according to what they're needed for.
We are able to put batteries in our recycling and our local morrisons has a battery bin.

I buy the cheapest for the dc's toys, but branded rechargeable for things like my wireless keyboard.
I tend not to buy energizer though and I can't stand the bunny! sorry.

We do have some rechargeable batteries, but not enough for all the crappy battery powered toys the GP's keep buying for the boys and DH's many gadgets, so we also tend to purchase the big packs of batteries from Ikea.

We collect all our used non-rechargeable batteries in a big jar and recycle them at DH's workplace.

I don't think we have ever removed batteries from an appliance when not in use, is that really terrible?

I'd like rechargeable batteries that keep their charge for longer. Mine sit unused but ready for camera etc and I have to recharge before I want to use them.

Also sainsbury's started a post them back recycling envelope but then withdrew it because of risk to posties of wrong batteries being put in them. When will something new be sorted out along these lines?

I use rechargeables almost all the time, not just at home but at the school I work at where we have 10 still cameras & 4 mini video cameras, so I've always got batteries in the charger.
At home I have a mini set of drawers next to the socket in the utility room with charged batteries in one drawer & uncharged in the other.

My tips

(1) You can often get more life out of a battery by cleaning the contacts/terminals with an emery board, especially ones in things like clocks or remotes, where the batteries have been in there for some time.

(2) If you run out of rechargeable batteries, look on your teenager's bedroom floor....

I buy the cheapest ones, especially for the annoying toys

Never buy rechargeables. I know that I would lose them/forget they were rechargeable. Tend to bulk buy on impulse often Duracell or (I think) Boots own brand? Or whereever it is I am shopping.

My Dad always had piles of batteries in the house. Maybe its a generational/age thing or perhaps the war.

With 5 kids in the house no matter how many I have I always run out and to get rechargable for everything would be so expensive to start off with so we stick with cheap batteries and replace them when needed

We have a load of rechargeable batteries for important gadgets and then buy cheapies for everything else

Batteries get recycled through school

Haven't waded through the whole thread (am after the 100 watershed and am afraid batteries just arn't that interesting)

I was going to buy rechargables but most toys plastic crap say they don't work with them

Is this a cunning ploy but the battery makers (on a par with the electric cars -v- oil barons)

TBH I bulk buy from poundland (the wii eats cheap batteries but as they're only £1 (durr) for 12 I conveniently forget this and think I'm saving money.

duracel for my... umm.... bunny LOL Cheapest or whatever is on offer for everthing else!

Missed the free batteries

I did manage to take batteries out of DS's 'baby' toys before I packed them up - poor DD has no idea of the fun noises the 'little people' farm is capable of as I have never got around to replacing them since we got it out for her (and it is not even all that annoying - I am just disorganised).

I try to include batteries whenever I give a present that needs them, but since I know I have forgotten on occsaion I find it hard to 'judge' people who do the same to us - so we always stock up before birthdays/Christmas. That said, I have been the parent scrounging round the house for something, anything, to steal batteries from in order to get something working for a desperate DC .

Personally I never buy cheap cheap batteries as they have always seemed a false economy to me - so I get big packs of (usually) Duracell (sorry Energizer) whenever I see a good deal. We have never managed rechargeables. Although we have lots of things with batteries in, we don't seem to replace the same set often, IYSWIM, so it seems to me the upfront investment in rechargeables would be so huge that it would be years before we got payback IYSWIM.

You might not have missed the batteries, a few people have made a few comments on here (thats what I'm hoping anyway)

I generally buy the cheapest unless the good batterys are on offer.
I ususally spend xmas or boxing day at the local garage stocking up at x pounds.

For cheap batterys ikea are fab they do big packs for next to nothing

Make sure to have penty of the square type batteries (6v? - can' remember quite which ones) around. having made sure to have plenty of AA batteries around, on Chhristmas Day we find that ds' "big" Christmas present ( a remote controlled dalek) needed these non-standard batteries (I tihnk it was for the remote) . Fortunately, we stay at my parents at Christmas and my dad saved the day with his own supply.

Generally, we tend to buy either Energiser or Duracell - whichever is the chpeaer. Tend to prefer the branded long-life ones as I'm never sure which appliances we will be using the batteries in.

Essentially, with youung kids, you can never have too many spare batteries of any size: AAA all the way up to SIze D and invluding the square ones. Sod's Law decrees that whatever size you are out of stock of will be the size that is required in some beloved toy.

My dc school does a battery recycling scheme which is a good idea , however not when they try emptying packets of new ones