Regular Batteries versus Rechargeable

Thanks Jim for reply. I’m willing to explore benefits of rechargeable HA’s but not willing to give up a dryer/dehumidifier. There are times during the summer (high humidity) when I’ve worked outside when I know my HA’s need to cook overnight to dry out. And if you don’t dry out your aids you lose your mold’s receiver sooner versus later. The one draw back I’ve experienced with regular HA’s is the performance of my HA’s will drop as the HA battery gets weaker. That didn’t happen when I had analog hearing aids (Starkey) which seem to operate at full strength until the battery suddenly died. But my aids purchased in 2012 seem to diminish in performance as the battery weakens. Nothing major but I can tell the difference in my hearing level using a fresh battery versus a seven day old battery. So I assume going the recharging route gets you a fresh battery every day or every other day, or until the battery doesn’t fully charge properly. It would be nice if HA’s accepted both regular and chargeable but I bet you have to pick one or the other. Not sure.

They claim that the batteries don’t die slowly but stay the same level until they die but like others I also notice a difference as the batteries get to the end of life

I keep a pack of batteries in my wallet all the time in case of battery dying out suddenly and moreover with my samsung note 4 i have an app called S Note where i mention the date on which new battery is inserted in the hearing aid and i have a pretty good idea of when to expect battery change.

I keep them in all the cars, in my computer bag, in the desk, at the vacation house, everywhere. My aids, depending on how much I stream, die in the afternoon of the 8th or 9th day. I just change them every Sunday morning. Even as tempting as the Widex fuel cell sounds you’re still stuck to the well. I have no desire to haul a charger around.

Well I agree if your traveling a lot or just away from home for a few nights hauling a charger around could be a pain in the butt. But I’m having a problem not seeing the real savings in rechargeable batteries. Case in point a few months back I bought through Amazon 60 Rayovac extra mercury batteries (size 675) for $17.80. And yes that price is correct. So those sixty batteries will last me six months plus. Now my HA’s are 2012 (I’m shopping) and they are not used with cell phone or any other streaming equipment. But really - are members here telling me I’m going to save money recharging batteries every night versus spending $40 a year for throw away batteries?

As far as I can see there is absolutely no cost benefit going the recharging route, unless new HA’s with all the bells and whistles eat battery power like crazy. So say a size 13 battery which would normally last me a week (or slightly more with old HA’s) is going to last how long with a Phonak Marvel or WIdex Evoke with limited cell uses/streaming use? Six days instead of Seven? Five days instead of Seven? Four days? Just asking. But even if its five days a week I’m still just paying $50 - $60 a year for batteries. If you do the math it just doesn’t seem to match up.

Phonak says that the battery technology used in the Marvels will be good for 6 years. Before then there’s no question that I will have gone on to an even more advanced technological “Marvel”.

Actually a Lithium-ion battery evenly maintains its charge until it is depleted and then suddenly stops. Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t disposables continually lose charge until depleted?

I’m still a new HA user, but so far with my rechargeable Marvels I’m seeing 40 to 50% still remaining when I put them back in the charger at the end of the day. I’m really not worried about running out of battery power.

I’ve been using disposable batteries longer then I’d like to admit and have never had a problem. But one has to wonder if someone coming home late at night might forget to charge their HA’s? Maybe some over indulges on the drinking side and falls a sleep before recharging batteries. Maybe rechargeable battery gets lost - pretty expensive to get a back up, etc. Maybe your car breaks down and you can’t get home to your charger? And then as posters mentioned the hassle of taking your charging unit on the road. Seems to me the “just right spot” would be a rechargeable battery that last four or five days before it needed recharging.

I live in mid-Atlantic and maybe 4 or 5 times a year we lose power. A couple of those hits could last 24 hours or longer so wouldn’t it be awful if you had a big meeting the following day, wedding, special event and your home lost power through out the night or charging period. Yea maybe I’m drawing straws but batteries that just last 12, 14, 16 hours don’t seem user friendly to me.

My understanding is the Widex fuel cell won’t be coming out until later this year and there are still many unanswered questions about how it works. And though the 20 second full charge sounds great - how often do you have to squirt methanol into your Widex HA to keep it working. No one knows. But I’m all for new technology and cost saving.

Widex claim 20-24 hours

Barring the debate over the economics between regular vs rechargeable batteries (where regular batteries still most likely win hands-down, even with the latest fuel cell technology), one drawback I see with rechargeable batteries is that you’re tied down to where your charging unit is at night, even if power outage is not an issue.

There’s no sponntaneous freedom anymore to do unplanned things like deciding last minute to stay overnight at a friend’s house, because you didn’t bring the charging station with you and must go home to recharge your hearing aids. With your phone, you can borrow a friend’s charger (pretty universal), and even if they use a different phone platform, most likely you have a spare cable used for your car and you can just use it to plug into your friend’s 5V plug. With a (non-Zpower type) rechargeable battery system, you’re pretty much dead in the water because it’s not universal like a phone charger.

Or what if you fall asleep on the couch watching a movie late at night and forgot to haul yourself up to go to the bedroom to drop your hearing aids into the charging station?

God forbids, what if your charging station malfunctions? There’s no backup until a replacement can be obtained.

With the ZPower design where you can interchangeably use either the removable/rechargeable batteries or the regular batteries, this freedom issue is alleviated as long as you keep regular batteries in the car or with the car keys or in your wallet/purse, etc. But with the other types, the spontaneous freedom is lost and you need to plan ahead for things.

So it’s not all about the convenience of not being interrupted due to low battery issue. There’s a price to pay for losing certain freedom to do things as well.

As for the fuel cell taking only 20 seconds to charge, that’s fine and dandy, as long as you have it nearby you. The regular batteries take less than 20 seconds to change. And at least you can carry regular batteries or stash them with you everywhere you go. You can’t do that with your fuel cell charging station.

There are lots of “what-if’s” but I think I’ve got the one’s covered that I might run in to.

1. I have a gas fired generator tied in to my house electrical system. If my power goes out, the generator kicks in and I have uninterrupted power.
2. I purchased three Marvel chargers and always keep one in the car.
3. I have several Anker power banks that the chargers will plug in to and they will hold dozens of charges if I’m going to go someplace where power might be a problem. I purchased the power banks for our cell phones but they will also work just fine for the Marvels.