Battery Comparison

Battery Charging Tips	Battery Comparison	Battery Types
Example Costs	Rechargeable Batteries

Rechargeable Battery Type Comparison

For a range of common types (non rechargeable cells are shown for comparison purposes):

Battery Type	Nominal Cell Voltage	Relative Capacity	Use In High Current Devices	Recharge	Number Recharge Cycles	Self Discharge Rate	Notes
Alkaline - Standard	1.5V	Medium	Poor	No	n-a	Slow (>5yrs)
Alkaline - High Power	1.5V	High	Good	No	n-a	Slow (>5yrs)
Alkaline - Rechargeable	1.5V	High*	Poor	Yes	50-100	Slow (>5yrs)	Not recommended. Capacity reduces with use.
Carbon Zinc	1.5V	Low	Poor	No	n-a	Slow (>5yrs)	Very old
Sealed Lead Acid	2.1V	High	Good	Yes	500-800	Med (3%/m)	Most commonly associated with car batteries but also available in sealed variants and smaller sizes. Not available in AA, AAA, C, D, PP3 sizes
Lithium	3.6V	High	Good	No	n-a	Slow (>10yrs)	Do not confuse with Lithium Ion batteries which are rechargeable. Not available in AA, AAA, C, D, PP3 sizes
Lithium Ion	3.7V	High	Good	Yes	400-1200	Fast (8%/m)	Not available in AA, AAA, C, D, PP3 sizes
Nickel Cadmium (NiCad)	1.2V	Medium	Good	Yes	Up to 800	Fast (10%/m)	Almost replaced by NiMH
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)	1.2V	High	Good	Yes	Up to 1000	Fast (25%/m)	Now the most common type of rechargeable battery
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) - Low Self Discharge	1.2V	High	Good	Yes	Up to 1000	Medium (2%/m)
Nickel Zinc	1.65	High	Good	Yes	Up to 1000	???	CUrrently AA & AAA only, relatively high voltage not suitable for all devices
Zinc Chloride	1.5V	Low	Poor	No	n-a	Slow (>5yrs)	Not available in AA, AAA, C, D, PP3 sizes

Notes:
1. Number of Recharge cycles: How many times the battery can be recharged.
2. Achieving the number of cycles with NiCads requires draining the battery occasionally.
3. Achieving the number of cycles with NiMH requires shallow discharging (charging before the battery loses too much power).
4. Self Discharge Rate: How quickly the batteries lose their charge when left unused. Discharge is faster at higher temperatures.
5. Self discharge rates are quoted at 20 degrees centigrade and increase significantly as the temperature increases.
6. Rechargeable batteries must be recharged using the correct type of charger.

Battery Capacity Comparison

For a range of common types and sizes.

Battery Type	AAA	AA	C	D	PP3
Alkaline - Standard	960mAh	2375mAh	6500mAh	12500mAh	480mAh
Alkaline - High Power	1150mAh	2850mAh	7800mAh	15000mAh	580mAh
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)	1100mAh	2900mAh	5000mAh	10000mAh	300mAh
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) - Low Self Discharge	800mAh	2000mAh	3000mAh	6000mAh	155mAh

Notes:
1. Capacity is rated in either milli Amp hours (mAH) or Amp hours (AH).
2. All capacities quoted are the highest capacity, cheaper batteries will have lower capacities.
3. The capacity of alkaline batteries can be higher than the equivalent NiMH but the capacity drops under high load.
4. The capacity of NiMH batteries does not reduce significantly under high load.