Should I be skeptical about rechargeable hearing aid?

Wow, if there were some technology breakthrough like that.

Hearing aids would be freaking more powerful than these days! because batteries have been a limitation for hearing aids for a long time.

@wilt2448 said:

If I was replacing the batteries every other day that would be wasteful. Experience has taught me that they begin to chirp after about 8 or 9 days for me. It’s for that same reason I replace the tires on my car while they still have some tread left and don’t wait until the rims are touching he ground.

It’s really good to get 8 or 9 days out of the batteries for your hearing aids. I can only get about 4 days for my disposable batteries on my Oticon aids. But then I stream a lot. If I stream less, maybe I can get 5 days. I think 4-5 days is probably typical for folks who stream a lot all day for work in video calls.

The calculus for changing batteries early before they’re spent is different between an 8-9 day usage vs a 4-5 day usage. For the earlier, let’s say you decide to change out after the 7th day (because you almost never run out after 7 days), then you’ll only have forgone 1.5 divided by 8.5 days of use (assuming that 8.5 is the average use time until the battery is depleted). That’s only around 18% (almost 1/5) of possible remaining charge that you would forgo.

On the other hand, with the 4-5 day usage calculus, you’d probably want to change out after 3 days of use, because there’s a good possibility you may run out in the middle of the 4th day, again, depending on how much you stream, which you normally don’t care to keep meticulous track of anyway, so the battery crapping out some time during the 4th day is a possibility. So again, assuming that you get an average of 4.5 days worth of use in this calculus, you’ll have forgone 1.5 divided by 4.5 days of use, or 1/3 of possible remaining charge that you would forgo just to make sure you don’t run out unexpectedly.

Forgoing 33% of left over charge in the 4-5 day use model compared to 18% in the earlier case of the 8-9 day use model is 83% more (33/18), significant enough to pause and think.

Nevertheless, it’s not about money consideration here. If you do the math, most of the times, the disposable option will almost always win over the rechargeable option money-wise because the cost of replacing the rechargeable batteries after 3 years is probably more than the total cost of the disposable batteries in 3 years. Even if you change out disposable batteries sooner to avoid a mid-day interruption, it’d probably still be cheaper with using disposable batteries anyway.

So the waste argument is not a money argument between the disposable option vs the rechargeable option. The waste argument is just that, an argument within the disposable option all by itself. It’s an argument of wasting unused charge for the convenience of avoiding uninterrupted mid-day battery change. It’s not about money, it’s about folks who prioritize convenience vs folks who don’t mind the inconvenience because they prioritize minimizing waste, that’s all.

Folks who are for the disposable option but don’t prioritize minimizing waste will feel more justified to stick with their preferred choice of the disposable option. Folks who prioritize minimizing waste in the disposable batteries will probably give more points to the rechargeable option, despite it still being a more expensive option money-wise either way.

It’s good that you have that much backup. That is my point though. If one uses rechargeables then he/she best have good backups to tide them over while they are waiting for an appointment to get the batteries replaced. Maybe you don’t have to wait but most of us do.

@Volusiano said:

Folks who are for the disposable option but don’t prioritize minimizing waste will feel more justified to stick with their preferred choice of the disposable option. Folks who prioritize minimizing waste in the disposable batteries will probably give more points to the rechargeable option, despite it still being a more expensive option money-wise either way.

On that topic, do you realize that you probably used more electricity/energy typing that reply than I wasted in an entire year by using disposable batteries?

I agree with everything you have said. I am not trying to push any ‘agenda’ or convince anyone to switch. If fact I have stated repeatedly that I respect that everyone has their reasons for their choices.

I only respond to these types of posts because I was a skeptic, but once I tried rechargeable HAs I liked them. I try to respond from the perspective of someone who has had both types of batteries, because I see a lot of statements made by people that have not tried rechargeable batteries that are not true in my specific experience, so anyone who is actually trying to make a decision (vs. defend a position) can see both sides.

Yes, you are correct that I may still have problems. I have had them for over a year now (almost a year and a half), and my audi has an hour reserved every week day for walk in issues where I can have the batteries replaced during this time if/when required, so I don’t foresee a big issue, but who knows.

I also didn’t mean to start a big ‘green agenda’ push. I agree it is minor, but in my own experience the piles of batteries lying around waiting for me to get around to recycling them were a visible reminder. If I had other reasons for preferring the disposable batteries this wouldn’t have been a concern (as I said, I’m sure it is no worse than the waste associated with the HAs themselves after 5-6 years) but for me it was an added bonus once I had made the switch. It wasn’t necessarily a factor in my decision, but once I made the decision to go with rechargeable batteries it was something I saw as a plus.

I’m not pushing any agenda. And as I said previously, I respect your choice to use whatever type of battery you want. I am not trying to convince anyone of anything - I honestly don’t care what other people choose, and would go back to disposable batteries if I had a reason to.

My only motivation in responding to any of these posts is to add my experience as someone that has experience in using both types.

It could be that my rechargeable batteries last longer than yours would because my loss is less severe - I don’t know but could be possible. But my point is that for me (and many others) it doesn’t matter if I could ‘get by’ while they are charging because I don’t need to. They are only charging while I am asleep. I put them in around 6:30 in the morning, and take them out around 11 at night - no charging required in that time. Again, maybe this would not work for you. But for someone trying to make the decision (like the OP) maybe that info is helpful.

I the oldest set has had the batteries replaced as a maintenance process to keep them useful for my needs, but even then i wasn’t seeing amy issues with the batteries. I believe that my audiologist has some type of test that he runs every time i.have my aids in for cleaning or adjustments.

Not sure I have ever seen anyone here complain about poor quality of disposable batteries. Every disposable battery I’ve tried is top notch (Power One, Rayovac, etc.). Sounds like that’s a fantasy complaint coming from marketing execs rather than real world complaints.

By the same token, don’t preach to me about disliking rechargeables and my choice in the matter, especially when they cause me to go without hearing. That is a deal breaker until I can get a full day’s charge in 5 minutes.

My Widex Moment 440’s, that I got 18 months ago, will last at least from 6am to 2am the following day. So, at least 20 hours. Probably longer.

What do you do stream all day? When i am not doimg volunteer work i am straming audiobooks, for as much as 8 hours a day. My aids are always connected to my Android phone, and to the connect clip, I also stream from my TV adapter at least 2 hours a day. My aids have never gone dead from a drained battery and my average day is 18 hours. Sure i have pushed my batteries down to less than 10% battery life left. I personally don’t feel that is a problem and actually helps the overall battery life. But I have to say there was a time i fully agreed with you but in hindsight I was wrong.

The same here, my aids are put on the minute i wake up in the morning and the last thing to be removed at night before preparing for bed. So if you don’t stream then you don’t stress your batteries near as much as i do.

60+ replies here in two days. And cousin “Lumity battery isn’t good enough” is up to 308 and counting in two months. Gee, that’s so much new and useful information it’s hard to keep up.

I think we’ll simply have to agree to disagree. We all have our preferences. And one person’s preference is not going to be good for another, and may not fit another’s lifestyle at all. Regardless of anyone’s opinions on waste or the green agenda.

On here you will always get a fight over rechargeable aids. A lot of the negatives are understandable and a lot of the, are just human nature at being unwilling to change. All my working life i have either been an electronic technician, troubleshooter, and assistant electrical engineer, or an IT professional. In all cases my specialty has been troubleshooting. I am someone that has had to be quick to accept change to serve in my career.