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Rechargeable Hearing Aids

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I am going to be purchasing hearing aids for the first time, and I’d like to know the advantages, disadvantages, and reliability of rechargeable hearing aids before I decide whether to get those or the regular battery operated ones. Has anyone had them for a while?

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Welcome to the forum. It’s generally considered poor form to post duplicate threads To me big advantage of rechargeables is letting somebody who has poor dexterity or vision be independent and not have to deal with replacing fairly small batteries. Two different types of rechargeables. The latest are lithium ion and Phonak and Signia are the only ones who offer them that I know of. They have enough charge to last around 24 hrs. My Mom has a Phonak B50-R and likes it. The downside is that the batteries are built in and when they need replacing, it will need to go back to the manufacturer. Covered by 3 year guarantee. If you plan on keeping your hearing aid for many years, that could be a significant issue. Other type of rechargeable uses a replaceable rechargeable battery. Issue can be if holds enough charge. People who stream a lot and use 312 batteries seem to have issues. 13 batteries seem to provide better capacity. I haven’t heard of any reliability issues. My take is that unless it is very hard for you to replace batteries, zinc air batteries are a better deal. They’re inexpensive and hold a decent charge and you can easily carry spares.

As I understand it, even with replaceable rechargeable batteries, you can only use it in an that supports rechargeable batteries and can provide in-place charging of the battery while it’s inside the HA, right?

I guess what I’m trying to ask is if there’s any kind of replaceable rechargeable batteries where you take it out of the HA at night and charge it in its own charger because the HA doesn’t support charging it? I’m guessing not, but I wonder why not… That way everybody/anybody can opt to use rechargeable batteries without needing the HA to be the kind that can support it.

I would guess that the reason for not having a charger for the individual batteries is because it would defeat the purpose of being helpful for those with poor dexterity or vision. I think it’s pretty much acknowledged that it doesn’t make sense on an economic basis.

I read up on the 312 size Power One Accu plus NiMH batteries and it says the following:

Power One Accu plus Nickel Metal Hydride Rechargeable Hearing Aid Batteries Size P312, 1.2V 22mAh, 2 batteries. Made in Germany. Requires PowerOne brand Accu charger also available from Microbattery.com3 Disclaimer - Due to the limited mAhcapacity of NiMH rechargeable button cells, this rechargeable battery may not besuitable for high power demanding hearing aids. If your zinc airbattery lasts less than 5 days, the NiMH Accu rechargeable battery on afull charge will likely not last through an entire day’s use and it notrecommended for your hearing aid). THIS ITEM IS NOT REFUNDABLE. UPC# 4043752145557

So I think it’s not going to work for my which typically lasts me only about 4 days due to direct streaming.

Another way to look at it. The zinc-air battery is 180mAh capacity while the NiMH above is only 22mAh capacity, or 1/8 less. So if my zinc-air lasts only 4 days, the NiMH one will last me only 1/2 day, not even one full day. Not worth the trouble changing out and recharging 8 times more often.

Another way to look at it. It costs me about $32/year to buy zinc-air batteries for my HAs from Costco. The NiMH set will cost me $28 and will probably also last me a year (assuming 1/2 day charge so 365x2 = 730 cycles which is about the life of a NiMH under 1000 cycles). So from the cost perspective, the saving is negligible for the 8x frequency hassle incurred. This is not even factoring in the cost of the actual charger itself, which is $85 and we don’t know how long its own rechargeable battery will last? Maybe 3 year?

I’ve used the PowerOne batteries and charger in the 312 size, and often the batteries died before I was done wearing the aids for the day. Cost-wise, a set of rechargeable 312s is $35 at Costco, and a boatload of zinc air batteries for a year is about the same. Rechargeables for me have only lasted about a year before needing to be replaced.

@chitownbarb said:

I am going to be purchasing hearing aids for the first time, and I’d like to know the advantages, disadvantages, and reliability of rechargeable hearing aids before I decide whether to get those or the regular battery operated ones. Has anyone had them for a while?

Re double post. New to sight and didn’t realize person was no longer active. When I realized this, I posted a general question.

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