Why are AAA alkaline batteries as expensive as AA, per battery? I've gotten AA as low as 20 cents a piece, but I don't need AA. I need AAA and shouldn't they be cheaper since they're smaller.
Do people with little hands get paid more?
I doubt there is much difference in the cost of production
That and maybe lower volume item. Cost of materials is often insignificant.
Well, I'm not buying anymore until the volume goes up and the price goes down. That'll show 'em.
Actually they are generally MORE expensive - perhaps because they sell fewer of them??
For cordless mice, keyboards, remote controls, LED flashlights, kitchen timers, etc, rechargeable Panasonic Eneloops are pretty awesome. FWIW, never seen an Eneloop leak and destroy a device.
I've got the same concern with C and D batteries. Most of my life, I've tried to buy devices using D cells, or AA cells.
With Harbor Freight and the free flash lights, that isn't working out very well at present. Such is life.
Except perhaps for Microsoft branded mice, which are only happy with a full 1.5 volts per battery. Eneloops and other rechargeables don't put out the full 1.5 volts.
I found an Amazon offering where the AAA ($0.44) are actually cheaper than the AA ($0.58).
vs.
FWIW, Amazon battery prices are inconsistent. Same battery, same quantity, various prices. Interesting.
At Costco, AA batteries are cheaper both for Duracell and Kirkland:
Kirkland AA: 27.8¢ Kirkland AAA: 32.3¢
Duracell AA: 39.5¢ Duracell AAA: 48.75¢
While it's true that AA are manufactured in larger quantity, both are still manufactured in enormous quantities so there would be no savings from that.
I would have expected them to cost the same since the cost of materials is a very minor factor in the retail price.
AAAA are far more expensive than either, but those are manufactured in relatively low quantities. I only have one device that uses them.
As has been noted earlier, that is the norm. I stumbled upon the cheaper AAA offering at Amazon just by clicking around. It's a rarity.
I think I recall maybe, possibly, having had one device many years ago that used AAAA. I have no clue what it was, but I do remember the tiny batteries for some reason. (I think!)
What is the AAAA device that you have?
This.
You have to be careful buying batteries on Amazon. They have a lot of third party vendors flogging outdated product. Stuff sold by Amazon is usually decent.
Per Paul:
As opposed to DuraCells, which I have had leak in several of my devices.
Now that Eneloop has resolved the self-discharge issue it would seem that, for most applications, Eneloops are better than alkalines.
the Dollar store sells 4 aaa for $1
work longer than Walmarts
marc
People here use very few C cells.
After a hurricane passed through I was with a neighbor who went to the Walgreen's looking for a portable radio. The only one they had left used C cells, which they were out of.
I let him borrow an extra wind-up radio I had.
Most flashlights like that use 3 AAA cells. Does that one?
BTW, I didn't think a wind-up radio was a real thing until I got one.
I seem to have read somewhere that battery-operated devices are made to work at voltages as low as 1v per cell, considering that ordinary batteries discharge to this quickly.
I have never seen an AAAA sold separately, but some 9v batteries are made from 6 of them.
There's also an F cell, 4 or which are used to make a 6v lantern battery.
I had some solar-powered LED lights that used an odd size: 2/3AA. When those went bad I looked for replacements and the only ones I could find cost several times as much as new lights.
I have one in my BoB. But, the mainspring makes it uncomfortably large. I've depated adding an output tap so I could use it to power other items, instead.
And, I wish it had a digital tuner instead of the crappy old analog style.
Not really. Note they are different sellers, not Amazon.
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