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

we buy rechargable batteries only - highest capacity ones for DH's bike, and then when they are getting a bit worn and crappy and stop charging quite as well, they go into the kids toys.

I quite like the fact they run down fast in the children's toys, it's sometimes a convenient relief to be able to say "oh dear - the battery must have run down! What a shame - no more flashing lights and bells until tomorrow."

My parents had a no battery policy for toys wihch I have more or less adopted (with mixed success). If we did get toys which contained batteries then they were never replaced when they ran out. I still pine for "Operation" to this day...

I get supermarket own brand as I don't think the more expensive ones last significantly longer

We use rechargeables but I always wonder whether it is safe to just shove them all together in a box or whether I should be doing s0methng else.

I either buy Tesco Value or Ikea batteries. I generally try and avoid things that take non-rechargable batteries - all my gadgets have internal batteries, and I try and avoid battery-operated toys wherever possible!

I find batteries fiddly to get in an out and a faff to remember to buy and replace, TBH. Plus they seem so expensive and wasteful. (I know they always tell you not to, but I've always wondered what would happen if you put batteries on a fire? )

When I was a student I used to use cheapo batteries from poundland. Now I realise it's a total false economy. My audiobug (for listening to iPod on the car radio) only lasted about 20 mins on these.

I now only buy rechargeables and have a spare set for DS's light show (essential as he will not sleep without it!!) that are charged as soon as they are removed and put in a safe place so that he NEVER has to go to bed without it. Believe, it is not worth your life if that had to happen.

Actually it's great because much less storage to use rechargeables than having all huge packs of rubbish ones lying around. Also audiobug will now last the trip down to my mums and back + more (around 1300 miles!)

I hate the little AAA batteries - they seem to run out within minutes. It even influences my decision to buy: if there are two toys/devices, one running on AAA and the other on AA, I will always go for the AA version.

I did buy a battery charger last summer but I can't find the UK plug anywhere, AND I can't remember what I put the rechargeable batteries into (so they'll probably end up in the bin when they run out).

Thanks for the advice on lithium/alkaline, really useful.

gagamama I too have dreamed of putting batteries in a fire. Do they really explode?

Perhaps we could lob them at a bonfire from a safe distance and see what happens? Maybe if we glued several together and dipped them in lighter fluid first it would be more spectacular?

Do you simply buy the cheapest, or are you a battery connoisseur? we buy a good long lasting brand when on special offer, have some rechargeable ones too.

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)? When we remember, we take them out, esp items like ipod stereo system, which does not get used with batteries very often. We don't lose those as they take big batteries. Other items, we forget, such as dd's toys and they go flat. We re-use them if we take them out.

I tend to buy cheaper batteries - but do seem to end up replacing them more frequently. We did have a set of rechargables for a while - but I managed to mislay them.

When I change batteries, I hoard them in a marked jar until the next time I'm going to the Household Waste Recycling Centre, so that they can be recycled properly.

I would like it if my local Council could include batteries in their doorstep collection, but can't really think how. Perhaps a little caddy that hooks onto the lip of the wheelie bin? Perhaps battery companies could help to fund those?

I tend to buy the cheapest batteries fvor the toys, as I like it when they run out...
For cameras and xbox controllers etc I buy expensive ones when they are on offer in multipacks and hope they last me.

We did have rechargable batteries but couldn;t afford to have 'spares' so when they ran out we were without a battery while they recharged, which happened way too often and ruined a few days out when the camera sgtopped working, so I gave up on them.

I don;t have too many battery appliances that I dont use apart from the kids toys, and I leave them in as they are normally the value ones anyway.

I buy expensive batteries for my digital camera as they last longer (I look for the highest NiMH value as I think that shows how long they last???). I use rechargeables but find it annoying how quickly they run out, and even if you keep a spare fully charged set they seem to lose their power quite quickly even when not being used, so I tend to keep 2 sets of rechargeable batteries and one set of non-rechargeable batteries in my camera case as a back-up too. My camera takes 4 AA batteries so I end up carrying quite a weight of batteries around with me! I've heard Lithium batteries last longer so I may try those next.

I recently bought some cheap Panasonic batteries from a local shop but they ran out almost immediately so it seemed a real false economy.

I always buy well-known, branded batteries in large quantities as I am a Child Minder and get through tonnes of them due to all the toys the children use.

I buy the branded batteries because I don't trust the lesser known brands and safety is a priority of mine as I have to think of the little ones I care for.

Another reason I buy well-known makes is because I bought some cheaper ones from the market once and they wouldn't work so I've had my fingers burned!

Speaking of burnt fingers I haven't personally had a battery disaster but my late grandfather did a few years ago when he very foolishly decided to throw some used batteries onto his open fire. Well of course they exploded and he was very lucky he didn't come of worse then with a pair of singed eyebrows, some melted hearth rug and a very cross wife. He had a penchant for doing stupid things anyway.

I do tend to run batteries to the ground but I try and not mix them with old ones and I recycle where I can. If I buy a gift that requires batteries I will always buy them alongside the gift.

We mostly have rechargeables, plus random assortment of funny-looking ones that came in remote controls and so on. WRT children's toys, I usually put in single-use, and let them run down without replacing them . Saved my ears on many an occasion - 'Oh I'm sorry darling, there doesn't seem to be a way to replace them. But you can still play with it without the musci can't you?'

I've changed from buying any old battery to only buying rechargeable batteries. We must get through about 30 a month with all the blinking beeping detritus associated with having two small children.

I buy smaller cell type batteries on ebay though as you need to get the right one and they are miles cheaper there.

My question is: why are battery chargers not generally available in other sizes than AA or AAA - I have one which does C batteries, the little square ones and AA and AAA batteries but it was quite hard to source and now we have one for AA/AAAs and one for others, which means we have to have two fiercely ugly units sitting around waiting to charge.

My tip would be - go to charity shops and buy soft toys which have hard centres, then unpick the seams and replace the batteries and you will be amazed what irritating tat you have purchased They sell them for 20p as broken but you can repair them with new batteries and then sell them at the school fete for £1. The batteries cost about 5p.

I would also like to know - is there a chart somewhere online with the names of batteries and a picture of them - I had to buy a particularly obscure battery the other week and it turned out to be called something else in the UK to the US (where I bought the product) but quite often with camcorders/cameras etc., they have obscure numbers (especially smaller batteries) or have been superceded by an 'equivalent' battery but you can never work out which.

Have to admt that I tend to buy whatever is on special offer, although do tend to go for brand names rather than shop's pwn labels.

I only ever buy rechargeables these days - the NiMh ones in preference to the NiCd ones if I can get them.

We also only by rechargeables now. Have quite a selection though because we keep forgetting to recharge them .

We have some rechargeables and some disposable ones. I tend to buy whatever is on offer, but usually a known brand, e.g. ever-ready, duracell.

Tip - with rechargeable batteries, let them run right down, or else they won't recharge as fully.

I hope you had a good weekend and the rain didn?t ruin your plans too much. Your questions have been coming in and I will aim to answer them the coming days. Today, however, I would like to run through Battery Recycling for you as it seems you have questions on how you can do your bit when disposing of batteries.

KarinG ? you asked specifically if modern batteries are bad for the environment and what we are doing with regards to battery recycling. Firstly, I want to ensure you that Energizer exceeds the standards that are in place to protect from hazardous materials being placed in batteries. However, not all batteries do so it?s always worth checking.

With regards to collection and recycling the Battery Directive comes into force on Jan 1 and collection boxes are starting to appear in public places already. With effect from 1st February 2010 all retailers (except the very smallest) will be offering ?take back? schemes in store, which will certainly increase the ease of recycling.

We are working with Battery Compliance Schemes to get collection boxes in place in schools, libraries, offices, public places and local amenity sites as quickly as possible.

Perapera ?You might find your local council is a good place to start for finding out where you can dispose of your batteries in your area.

For anyone interested you can find out more about the battery directive here: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/producer/batteries/index.htm

we tend to buy cheap abtteries for things such as the children's toys and the wii remote, it doesnt matter if we have to change them regularly for this. but buy brand ones for the digital cameras as they wont work/work well with the cheap ones, and dont want it to conk out at crucial picture-taking moment.

we have serious collection of rechargeable batteries. we tend to buy energizer, but recently dicovered that aldi does cheap rechargeables but limited sizes.
i always buy then they are on offer, sepcially before xmas buy loads as xmas day will be needing all sorts of batteries. once at dd`s first xmas, we had no batteries and boxing day moprning we shopped around for batteries. lesson learnt

Thansk for the info re recycling. Good that it's going to be more easily accessible soon.

What about the safety issue, though, of stockpiling used batteries? Is the leaking gunk dangerous? Corrosive, obviously, but presumably safe in a glass or plastic tub? Fumes? Is the crusty stuff that's left behind when you empty out the collection tub (or remove forgotten battery from rediscovered tool or toy ) dangerous?