How good are the alkaline batteries that you get at the dollar store? You can usually find a pair of alkaline batteries for a dollar at most dollar stores. How do they compare to grocery store brands, like Energizer and Duracell?
I put these batteries to the test by draining them with a continuous 1 amp load. This would simulate a heavy load like you would find on a digital camera, two-way radios, portable CD players, etc. The load is constant, which really is not a fair test since many products gulp a battery's energy intermittently. I think we can still draw some reasonable conclusions about a battery's performance.
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I put these batteries to the test by draining them with a continuous 1 amp load. This would simulate a heavy load like you would find on a digital camera, two-way radios, portable CD players, etc. The load is constant, which really is not a fair test since many products gulp a battery's energy intermittently. I think we can still draw some reasonable conclusions about a battery's performance.
Click the image above for higher resolution.
The worst performers are the Eveready Super Heavy Duty. They are carbon zinc, not alkaline batteries, but I included them to show how bad they really are in comparison. I would not even recommend using these in low drain devices like remote controls. Why? Because, not only do they perform poorly, they have a much shorter shelf life than alkalines. Since dollar stores often buy back stock from their vendors there is no telling just how old the batteries that you are buying are.
Most alkaline AA batteries at the dollar stores are sold in pairs, but I found packages of four Sunbeam brand alkalines at Dollar Tree for just $1. Amazingly they outperformed the Eveready Gold and Panasonic Plus alkaline batteries. So Sunbeam brand batteries are, by far, the best value alkaline batteries you can buy at a dollar store at about half the price and all the performance as the other dollar store brands.
So what about the Duracell and Energizer batteries? They cost $3.50 to $3.80 at the grocery store and although they beat all the dollar store brands, their margin of performance didn't seem that significant.
Actually the name brand batteries did perform much better because they started out with higher voltage and maintained that voltage for much longer. This is very important because many electronics will shutdown or indicate a low battery condition when the voltage drops below 1.0 volts per cell. As you can see on the chart, the name brand batteries have about 30% more energy at this point. Also, these higher initial voltages are indicative of better performance in digital cameras and could work twice as long or more than dollar store batteries in such devices.
Most alkaline AA batteries at the dollar stores are sold in pairs, but I found packages of four Sunbeam brand alkalines at Dollar Tree for just $1. Amazingly they outperformed the Eveready Gold and Panasonic Plus alkaline batteries. So Sunbeam brand batteries are, by far, the best value alkaline batteries you can buy at a dollar store at about half the price and all the performance as the other dollar store brands.
So what about the Duracell and Energizer batteries? They cost $3.50 to $3.80 at the grocery store and although they beat all the dollar store brands, their margin of performance didn't seem that significant.
Actually the name brand batteries did perform much better because they started out with higher voltage and maintained that voltage for much longer. This is very important because many electronics will shutdown or indicate a low battery condition when the voltage drops below 1.0 volts per cell. As you can see on the chart, the name brand batteries have about 30% more energy at this point. Also, these higher initial voltages are indicative of better performance in digital cameras and could work twice as long or more than dollar store batteries in such devices.
