Battery-saving Moment

Batteries come with so many gifts at Christmas that it is hard to keep track of which are old and which are new, especially if there are young ones in the household. So you want them to be alive as long as possible. When I saw this article in the SF Chron last week I thought I would pass along the information to save you a little money, time and energy.

If you happen to have two watches, pull out the stem on the one you aren't wearing. It only takes a moment to reset when you wear it again, and according to Mary Hunt, aka the Cheapskate, the batteries will seem to last forever.

The batteries that you take out of the smoke detectors each season still have enough umph to use in a camera or any other implement that does not have urgent needs..

In a cordless phone, Ms. Hunt says, take the batteries out and use a little fine sandpaper on the terminals for a bit more life.

She cautions that storing in the freezer adds little life to the batteries and that when you are using your laptop, turn off all devices and programs you don't need. Listening to music with the CD-ROM drive and watching DVDs are big battery drains.

There is a new rechargeable battery technology type called nickel metal hydride (NiMH). These have greater capacity than the NiCD battery and don't suffer from "memory effect" which causes a problem if you try to recharge before the battery is fully discharged. Unfortunately, they are more expensive and need a charger especially made for them.