Tag: rechargeable

January 13, 2026 – How Wearables Have Changed My Life

January 13, 2026 /

I am not a fan boy or gym rat or even a fitness fanatic. I am just a guy that looks at data and makes observations. I got this GPS watch to help with my training for my PCT hike and it has slowly made an impression on me. It is the kind of impression that puts conscious decisions to the forefront. Before I knew it, I was making health improving decisions that I didn’t even know were issues.

Years ago when I was leading a 24×7 tech support group, I found out about this feature that buzzed your wrist when the phone rang. As a pretty heavy sleeper, I was curious how that might affect my ability to catch some of the calls that I missed because I was sleeping and the ringer was not waking me up. Some of the guys in my group were wearing them and swearing that this was the difference maker when they were on call.

I shared this with my wife and she was interested too for different reasons. For her, my excuse of not hearing or feeling the phone ring while I was working around the house was coming to an end. She seems to have this incessant need to feel like she can get ahold of me at any moment. It is a feeling driven out of fear that I have fallen off the roof or something.

I downplayed the risks but when it came to tracking my training, I changed my tune. I looked at the top of the line and double the price watches but I decided that it wasn’t worth the price. I was not planning on using my watch to navigate and I didn’t need a color screen. I picked the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical II. I am not sure what makes it tactical other than it is brown. It was the watch that fit the price and had the features that I wanted, particularly the run time.

This is actually my second Garmin watch. My first one was a much simpler watch called the Forerunner. I used it when I was training for my half marathon. I became battery sensitive because after two years, it wouldn’t run long enough to complete at two plus hour run. But, it was pretty cool because I could see a map of what I did plus pace. Battery life became the reason I quickly ruled out the Apple watch nearly immediately. I don’t want another thing that I have to charge everyday.

Yes, I do use it to track my hikes and walking. I look at steps and time for pace as well as distance. But what I really found is valuable is the other data it provides. When I sync my watch on the Garmin Connect application, the very first graphic it provides is a ‘body battery’ image. It takes the activity and rest for the day and comes up with some sort of point in time calculation of what my body battery value is. I have to say that when I feel run down, the body battery validates that either I did not get enough rest or I have been busier than I realized.

Another thing I look at is my sleep score. I typically only look at it when I feel like I slept poorly. But I have to say that I feel pretty validated about how I am feeling and the relative score that is presented. A general trend is that I start the week high and my battery declines as the week moves on. On some Fridays, my battery is a quarter of what it was Sunday morning.

A lot of the day is out of my control. But, there are occasions when it is a Wednesday and I am feeling low energy and I make the conscious decision to go to bet at 8:30 rather that trying to make it to 10pm. This is particularly true when it has been a hard weekend without a lot of rest. Looking at the data is changing my behaviors. I am making decisions to act on the data in the interest of feeling better tomorrow.

I have had a scientific interest in the data as well. I have observed that on days where there is a fair amount of drinking that my sleep is garbage. It didn’t matter if I slept 10 hours on New Years Eve, the result was that it was of poor quality and my body battery started off significantly lower than where it should have been. I have used the data to decline that second drink.

I have to say that the solar component does almost nothing that I can see. I have yet to see an increase in the battery life on a sunny day. But, supposedly after a full charge, there is 40 days of GPS free operation. I have yet to see the battery get low because I charge it when I take a shower. The watch will gain four days in thirty minutes.

I can also say that I only feel the ringer function about 2/3 of the time. I often find when I am being very active, it is very noisy or some amount of vibration I often do not feel the ring. Maybe it is just my choice in wearable, I don’t know but I thought that I would share that this may not be a panacea if you are looking for that function specifically.

End Your Programming Routine: This body battery function is one of the unknown gems of a wearable. I always knew that I felt run down as the week moves on but now I have proof. And because I can conduct empirical experiments, I can actively do things so that I feel better tomorrow. I don’t believe that it is all mental, because I usually check to validate my feeling and not look before I decide.

July 31, 2024 – I Am Starting To Get Angry

July 31, 2024 /

Something has definitely changed. It could be that this company stopped making batteries in the US in 2016. I suspect that the components to make them have gotten cheaper/flimsier/worse. This was a battery that I took out of my weather center next to one of my computers in the basement.

Maybe it just feels good to complain. But this really pisses me off when alkaline batteries do this. It also seems like it is more normal than less at this point. This is the reason I have started switching over to rechargeable batteries. My strategy has been to replace them as the alkalines die. Hopefully, it is not too late.

The failures seem to be more prevalent with batteries in use in the basement. All the remote controls, decorations and things that get cast off or forgotten seem to have a much higher degree of failure than upstairs. It still happens when the climate is more controlled but it also seems to be less frequent. This leads me to believe that the problem is with a seal that contracts too much due to temperature.

As you know, not all of my relationships with alkaline batteries is bad. As I wrote in 2021, I have a working set of batteries from 30 years ago. These batteries are in a bicycle head lamp. The have been in my garage since I moved 20 years ago. So they have been subject to near freezing temperature up to 120 degrees with no ill effect. In true transparency, I dont think that I have checked on them since that article. So, a follow-up is due.

Funny thing, I probably should start checking my topics before I start writing. As I was searching for the link to my 30 year batteries, I ran across something I previously wrote. Turns out, I also wrote about batteries failing in 2021. So, shame on me for not checking previously if you remember that one.

My experiment. With rechargeables has been less than stellar. They are advertised as as holding 90% charge after a year but I have ran into dead batteries in less than six months. The Panasonic Enloops I chose to go with take several hours to charge on my charger. The also don’t seem to last as long. I have gone through multiple sets this year in my remote hygrometer sensor. While less than perfect, I am anticipating that they are not going to ruin my devices.

End Your Programming Routine: No matter what, I am going forward with rechargeable batteries. I can no longer trust the major battery brands for alkaline batteries. Remember when they were $8 for 4 and now they are going for $20 for 48 at Costco. There is no way that cost savings is just in volume.

January 30, 2024 – How Many Batteries Do We Need?

January 30, 2024 /

I am going to make an argument today. I stated in December that I am shifting away from alkaline batteries. This move is not to save the planet, while that is an added bonus, but to save my sanity. This is the tactic that every person that is environmentally conscious should use. In order to get people to switch to an ‘eco’ line of thinking, the evidence should be overwhelmingly beneficial, not because it makes them feel morally superior.

For instance, let us look at electric cars. I have yet to see a compelling argument that this is the replacement for gasoline engines. As far as I can tell, electric cars have a niche in the commuter space. It is super convenient to top off your car at home, at night and if you can get a couple hundred miles range then you have probably handled 75% of the suburban use cases. But, any sort of long range trip or extended weekend is a nightmare. Even in southern California, the mecca of EVs it cannot be done without extreme frustration and pucker factor. That alone is enough for me to say that EV technology is not a replacement for gasoline at this time.

When charging takes five minutes, is ubiquitous and the range is 800 miles now you are speaking my language. It is faster than refueling and goes farther now there is a compelling reason to not buy an EV over a gasoline car. Whether I believe the environmental benefits or not, the product is better than the alternative.

The decision of better for the planet is only one of the considerations in each purchase. People make decisions all the time based on many factors. The item fits better, it is in my price range, it is more durable, it is available now are some examples. I can go to any gas station, convenience store, dollar store, box store etc and buy batteries.

The biggest reason I am switching over to rechargeable batteries is the durability. I am sick and tired of opening a battery compartment to find that the battery has leaked out and even sometimes ruining my device. Usually, this is more than an inconvenience but these are things that aren’t really replacible.

My HP calculator that I paid $300 for in 1991 is an example. Sure, the technology is out of date but it still works fine and since I am not doing calculus anymore, I don’t need the capability. It is a sentimental item for me. It was the single largest purchase I made until I was out of the house and in college. My OBDII code reader had the batteries go bad. I paid $450 for that. That is replaceable but why do I want to? My current toner, my weather station, different remote controls, flashlights… the list goes on and on.

As I was writing that list, I was thinking most of those items occurred either in the shop or the basement. This doesn’t mean that every failure has happened in a less than conditioned environment. But a starting point might be to replace the batteries in my tools and things that live outside of heated space.

The failures also mostly happen in infrequently used items. It is probably safe to keep using alkaline batteries if you are frequently using an item. I am trying to take the batteries out when I remember, but sometimes I forget. Or sometimes things get moved without a thought and then the next time I need them, the batteries have exploded.

To date, I have already spent several hundred dollars on rechargeable batteries and I am not even close to having enough. These things are expensive, granted I am not buying the cheapest brand. They are averaging $3-4 a piece whereas at Costco, I can buy an alkaline battery for about $0.50. But, that means that if I go through eight cycles it has paid for itself. The batteries are supposed to have 2000 charge cycles in them. Even to get to eight cycles it will take a long time for them to pay off. But even if I only get 20 cycles, it should more than pay for itself. Best of all, I am not going to have a ruined device.

One last thing about rechargeable batteries. Having a stock of these is valuable if you need them. They can be recharged with solar power or a generator. You are not going to charge an alkaline battery so if you cant get to a store or there are not stores open or no more alkaline batteries, this is a more self-reliant option. This is where I got the idea. My initial experience with Ni-Cad batteries in the 1980s was terrible but I have been convinced that technology has moved a long way in 30+ years.

End Your Programming Routine: It may be that not every alkaline battery needs to be replaced with a rechargeable one. There are some things that I could care less if they get ruined. That being said, I am buying batteries to replace each time the alkaline dies. That is an expensive proposition, but I think it is going to work out economically, ecologically and for the safety of the device.