Welcome To The Official Website Of Smart Spending By Jane Furnival

Electricity and batteries

Reader MARK FLURY says:

One thing you could also mention is cutting back on the use of battery powered gadgets....not just buying the gadgets themselves, but the cost of batteries, which for AA types average £1 each or more. I would guess the average home has lots of battery powrered gizmos.

I am an ex-battery addict. I went through 4 or 5 packets of Duracells each month in a couple of things that I use a lot (portable CD player and a radio). They also never lasted as long as the manufacturers claimed they would. Then I saw the light and discovered rechargables and am saving a fortune. I've worked out that I've saved at least £800 odd over the past four years or so since I made the switch, even allowing for a decent quality charger (one that is intelligent, so not the cheapest) and an extra set of batteries.

I have a rule that an item has to run off the mains, have a socket for a mains adaptor or run off rechargables, or I will simply not buy it, which no doubt has also saved me extra money over the past few years. I see people in places like Dixons automatically reach for the multipacks of AA sized Duracells, when packs of battery chargers and battery sit on the next shelf for around the same price. Of course the shops would not be able to sell you more batteries if you buy rechargables!

You might also want to know that the 'useful' testing strips provided on batteries such as Duracells may show 'empty' when there is still a quarter of the capacity left.

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