Years ago, I’d get about 4 days max with 312s; now I’m 3/4 thru the 6th day before I get the low battery warning.

By contrast, the size 13 batteries in my old Marvels would last exactly as long as my current Lumity Lifes get with 312s. So if Phonak came out with a size 13 battery Lumity Life it really would be interesting to see how long it goes. What if lasted 8 days with my streaming and normal usage?

Well, whatever, it’s already GAME OVER for me and rechargeables. I’ll just stick with older technology if need be for the simplicity, convenience and DAYS of battery power with these disposables.

Rechargeable are for people that have difficulty changing battery and for people that change aid every three years. It is a battery issue plus trips can be an issue if your charger is not handy

Funny enough Ruth, I don’t take my hearing aids off when getting my hair cut, as chatting away with the hairdresser is part of the pleasure, if I take my aids out, I hear absolutely zilch, I just unhook them from the ear, and let them dangle on the tubing, this probably looks absolutely ridiculous to the other customers… But I don’t care

@1Bluejay said:

if Phonak came out with a size 13 battery Lumity Life

I don’t think this is coming this round.

There will be technologies that rely on rechargeable batteries because of the higher power/voltage. They will likely come out first because of the time it takes to figure out how to make them work with a traditional battery, or they might come out only in rechargeable devices. I don’t expect traditional batteries to ever go away, but anticipate users here being angry that traditional battery users are being oppressed or whatever because they don’t get access, or don’t get first access, to certain technologies. But it’s not a conspiracy, it’s an engineering problem. People will have to weigh the pros and cons just as they do with CIC vs RIC, etc. Choosing to stay with older tech, or to wait a few years for further development is a perfectly valid and understandable choice.

I am thinking @Neville, the next big thing in rechargeable hearing aid batteries will be a solid state version, already under development in Japan for the EV Car industry, these are high density batteries, so they hold a much larger capacity, with allegedly much better longevity…Cheers Kev

I assume you are bald as a coot then WH… Never had that problem yet @danka as you can see, from the image, you would be well clear of any scissors…

Nah, I disagree. Its personal preference. As a young-ish 50 year old I don’t have any problem changing batteries, have to keep my HAs more than 5 years if I want any insurance coverage and I travel a lot, but for my lifestyle I much prefer rechargeables. I know and respect the fact that they are not for everyone, but they are also not just for older people who have dexterity issues.

I also don’t think disposable batteries will disappear from the shelves anytime soon either though!

Potential Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Rechargeable Lithium Batteries in Electronic Waste Potential Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Rechargeable Lithium Batteries in Electronic Waste - PMC5

Also here is an excellent explanation of lithium from its mining all the way to its disposal. Its pretty grim.

Lithium-Ion Batteries are Toxic From Start to Finish1

Written by Dr. Nikhil Koratkar, co-founder of Alsym Energy, John A. Clark and Edward T. Crossan Chair Professor in Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic

Oh, I should mention that the other day I saw one of those amazon prime Rivian vehicles on fire in my neighborhood. It was quickly towed away.
Last year I got on a bus here in queens and as we were going along an avenue we passed an electric bus that was on fire. As we were alone on oure bus I asked the driver what he thought of electric buses. He told me they are a scam. He said they had already had more than a 1000 of them catch fire. But they keep it out of the news. The batteries are dangerous.

My Philips rechargables one battery stopped taking a charge and it was three years old and out of warranty (Costco does not service out warranty HAs and Philips USA only services HAs returned by Costco

I will try the buy your on battery my local Costco said they would not send it to Philips and then Philips would not replace the battery unless I got Costco to send it. They do have a battery door but but it needs a special tool to open it - not like the disposable battery door.

Thanks for the information

You can change the rechargeable battery without Costco’s help. Ask them for a pin tool to change the receivers. They will usually give that to you or perhaps you already have one. That pin tool can open the rechargeable battery door on the Philips. There are numerous posts about this, mostly for Oticon aids which use a similar design, e.g.,

Opening Oticon More Rechargeable Battery Door

DIY question for the group as I need to change the rechargeable Li batteries in my More HA’s. In the attached picture, is the bottom hole on the More the mechanism to open the tamper resistant battery door or is it a microphone? The contour around the hole makes it look like a microphone to me, not a door release. Clarifications or further how to instructions are appreciated! [Oticon More Battery]

I wonder whether Costco has a policy to not open up hearing aids in-store. I’ve seen some not so great ideas applied in an effort to help me and I could see them not wanting to be responsible for breaking the aids versus other parts. Costco also can’t order all parts, e.g., Grip Tips. Z22A batteries are possibly also not an item they can order.

You might try calling to get prices from some local audiologists as some have good pricing on the batteries and might pop it in for free as it takes very little time.

@kevels55 said:

I just unhook them from the ear, and let them dangle on the tubing,

Yipes! I’d be afraid of the stylist SNIPPING right through the tubes! It’s a wonder I haven’t had my wires snipped already. Even tho I warn the stylists that I have these SOX on my aids - and the aids cost me $6800! - it seems they are oblivious to slappin’ that hair dye ALL OVER the place. I finally bought a couple pairs of BROWN sox cuz they’d end up that color after one trip to the stylist.

Like you, it seems the chatter is never ending. I’d be just as happy if a robot painted my hair so I could take my aids out and not worry about them. But the endless questions always arise: “What side do you part your hair on?” “Do you want highlights?” “What are we doing with the haircut today?” AUGH. I have to be able to hear them, but they usually ask the question standing behind me, and for some reason, like to swivel my chair to face the person in a chair next to me while my hair is being blow-dried. The questions CONTINUE over the roar of the blow dryer without even a mirror to lip-read them.

TBVH @1Bluejay, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if the hairdresser inadvertently split my tubing, it takes me approximately 2 minutes to change tubing per aid, I probably have it down to a fine art nowadays, once you have done it several hundred times, it was part of my job at one time, renewing folks tubing, when I worked for Deaf Services… Dye on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish, and you ladies seem to love the stuff, personally I can’t see the attraction, but hay ho, each to their own I could envisage getting your hair dyed, may indeed be problematic, and you would most likely, want to remove your aids… Most of us guys, go as nature intended, we just want our hair cut, and that’s our wack, mind you, up until I was around 40, my hair was long, really long, it grew at a prestigious rate, it probably touched my hips? Now it’s pure white, and kept short, long hair, is a lot of hard work, it’s been years since I have even brushed my hair! And yeah, I wash it every day, but I never brush it, tis strange how lifetime habits change… You take care, Cheers Kev