Testing double-A batteries: dollar stores vs. major brands (Marketplace)

We're on a mission, researching

batteries

. Working as a team with the Ontario Technological University. Ready to do some

testing

for us? Yes sir. Putting some big

brands

to the test. We want to know how long they last and whether more expensive

batteries

offer better bang for your buck. I usually buy Duracell or Energizer. Generally, performance-wise, they are better than most others. Believe in Panasonic. Many of you tell us about batteries. Do not last. They are neglected top batteries. They don't last as long as before. Battery manufacturers have big promises like "long life," "long-lasting power," "30 percent more power." Ultra-alkaline electronic circuit, high resistance electronic circuit.

We bought ours at

dollar

stores

, where Double AAs cost about a

dollar

. How many do we need? I think we're going to need all of these. And Walmart. This is a great value, right? And Canadian tire. -Oh, they're there. -Double AA multiplied by 12. Here we go. Where we also wonder if larger packs might be better value for money. Prices vary from place to place. This package sells for 29.99. The claims? "Up to 50% longer life" and "protects your devices from leaks." Ultra-alkaline for high-tech devices. Here is a lesser known brand that is much cheaper. All for one dollar twenty-five each.

Sounds great, but do dollar store batteries really work? It is a battery cycler. We plan to find out. And what it allows us to do is simulate loading and unloading. So instead of plugging in my RC racer, we can let this machine do all the work. Six

brands

and 240 batteries to test. In the meantime, I'm collecting all our used batteries. The problem is that sometimes it is difficult to know if they are really dead. Quite a bounce. Many of you want to know that too. And ask about this... A battery drop test. To show if a battery is still in good condition.

The theory is that if it bounces your battery is dead, throw it away. And if it goes straight down, it doesn't bounce, like that. It's good. We have other tools to help. This is a battery tester that you can get for about ten dollars. It tells us if the batteries are good, low or questionable. And we have a voltmeter to actually see how much energy is left in a battery. It is a 1.5v battery. Right out of the package, it's actually more than 1.5, right? That's new. The battery tester... Question mark. But we believe this one is dead.

So, we really don't know. First the rebound test. -That was a rebound. -That was a rebound! Now let's make the voltmeter. 1.32. But the test said he was dead. Experts tell us that anything with more than a volt left could be enough to power a low-power device for a short time. So what we just discovered here is that bounce

testing

doesn't work. Good. Back in the lab. So, we compared some of the dollar store batteries to some of the bigger brands here. Exactly, yes. It's time for our first lab results with a set of dollar batteries. These, known as carbon zinc or carbon zinc.

We got these electronic circuits for a dollar twenty-five for a pack of eight. Quite cheap! Recommended for low-power devices such as remote controls, wall clocks and flashlights. And these Panasonics for 25 dollars too. The backpacks say "super heavy duty." But are they? The slang around that term dates back to the '70s, and it worked. It significantly affected an entire generation of battery consumers. Dan Steinart, an engineering professor at Columbia University, studies the energy capacity and efficiency of disposable batteries. I'm glad he made a direct zinc-carbon comparison. Here's our low-power test that's similar to using them for something like a computer mouse or TV remote on an ongoing basis; carbon-zinc batteries last only about seven or eight hours.

The longest lasting alkaline? I held on for 27 hours. I used them when I was a kid and as I learned more and more about batteries, I couldn't understand why they are still sold. What do you see back there? Remote control, clock, radio, that's what I usually do with it. This one is like a toy, so... Do you usually consult this information? No not really. I never, ever do it. Many of you tell us that you do not check the use recommended by the manufacturers. So we wondered what would happen if you threw them at a device that draws much more power, like a remote-controlled toy or a high-powered flashlight.

These lasted six minutes. Wait, six minutes? That's kind of surprising. 6 minutes. Well. Alright, then don't buy them. I ran similar tests to what your independent study showed and got the same results. I couldn't find a single use case where carbon-zinc in any way outperformed alkaline batteries. There is no reason to sell a zinc-carbon system in 2022. Panasonic says that carbon-zinc batteries are an established technology and provide great performance when used in recommended devices. Dollarama says they want to offer customers a range of options at low prices, and Dollar Tree confirms that they import and sell carbon-zinc batteries with electronic circuits.

For the alkaline battery you get three times its capacity. So, an alkaline battery has three times the capacity of carbon-zinc batteries? Yes. One less test. Next, the

double

alkaline AAs. In this simplified test, we simulate how they are used in everything from a computer mouse to game controllers and high-powered flashlights. We have a lot of little things, you know, the television remote controls. It adds up pretty quickly to what we are using. Our test also considers value considering capacity and cost, but before we even get to the test... there's a problem. Leaking batteries in a new pack.

This is Duracell. We find it in the package and, as you can see, there are materials here. This is the leak. We heard about this topic from viewers across the country. I looked at the remote and it didn't work and the batteries were gone. Wow. One, two, three, four, five... Six

double

A. -Yes. -Wow. That's a lot. And this happens during our battery drop test. Oh! Oh. Well, that's not good. Oh my God! Oh, this could be the reason it wasn't working. Well. So we had another battery pack do this for us in the lab, but those were Duracell and this one is Energizer.

This is Energizer. Some viewers tell us they are contacting Duracell for refunds. In the end they reimbursed me for the cost of the remote control. Which I thought was nice. The same goes for Energizer, which has a guarantee against leaks. And it promises to repair or replace damaged devices if that happens. It turns out that this expert says that the leaks are intentional. So there is actually a safety reason why these batteries leak. If pressure builds up, they will slowly exude their insides to prevent an explosion, which could be more damaging. And another reason is that they are stored at too high a temperature.

Both Duracell and Energizer recommend storing batteries in a cool environment to minimize the chance of leaks. And Duracell requests our leaking batteries so they can do their own analysis. We also reviewed alkaline cells from Dollar Tree and Dollarama. It's time to consult with our laboratory. Where the results of alkaline batteries await and there is a surprise. If we look at the comparison per dollar spent, we surprisingly get an alkaline cell from E-Circuit, compared to other cells. Do they hold their own against some of the biggest and best-known brands? Yes. Energizer lasts longer in all tests, with Duracell right up there and the other big brands too.

The surprise? Those electronic circuit alkaline and ultra-alkaline batteries we got at Dollar Tree worked strong, as did the Panasonic alkaline plus from Dollarama. In terms of these capacity values ​​per dollar spent, E-Circuit is the best. Look at cost per capacity. Test results show that alkaline e-circuit and ultra-alkaline e-circuit batteries cost less per cell. so does the Panasonic alkaline plus. That's the headline. All those dollar alkaline products work almost as well as the big name brands. When you see two things on a shelf and something is twice as expensive, you would expect there to be some measurable difference.

This should have some value and you'd be surprised if there isn't. Both Duracell and Energizer send statements saying they stand behind their products. In the meantime... I'm doing what more than half of Canadians do: taking all these used batteries and sending them off for recycling. The question is: will they really end up where we expect? Let's find out. Canadians recycled 4.1 million kg of household batteries in 2020. A record, according to Call2Recycle, the largest responsible for the collection and recycling of this type of waste nationwide. What do you expect to happen to them? I hope they get recycled, but I don't know what they actually do with them.

Retailers in Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, Quebec and Saskatchewan charge green fees. Have you ever noticed that when you buy batteries, an ecological fee is applied? No not really. Our team pays 11 cents for a smaller package and 2.40 for a large package that we purchase. About five cents a battery. It's like a hidden tax or something. I'm happy with this because if you're using some kind of battery and they use it for recycling, then that's fine. So this is where it all starts, really. Dead batteries used to go to this plant near Welland, Ontario. But Call2Recycle says it just terminated the company's contract.

So normally this entire warehouse will be full of batteries? Yes. Where are all those batteries now? Well, they're not here. So where are those batteries going now? We did some digging and found out that some of the batteries that used to go here now go to a recycler in Michigan. Is it best for the environment to ship batteries out of the country for recycling? I think it's an important question, I guess the emissions associated with transportation override the benefits of recycling. It's really hard to measure that. But I would tell you that really what we want is to support local recycling solutions and certainly grow the recycling economy as well.

Jo-Anne St. Godard works at the Circular Innovation Council. Are the green fees that people pay, especially in Ontario, a tax? Ecotaxes are a decision by producers on whether they want to fully or partially finance their obligations by transferring them to consumers. So, it's really your choice. It is not a tax. What should consumers who pay these green fees do? They certainly need to ask questions of governments about where this money goes. We want to make sure consumers don't stop picking them up, separating them from trash and making sure we find recycling solutions. Consumers continue to do their part.

You bet. All the more reason to buy carefully. When looking at the wall of a dollar store like this, the trick is that you may want to use alkaline products. Let me take a quick look at the name. These were only $1.25. Where did these come from? From the dollar tree. Interesting. So if you compare the price per unit, this one is cheaper. Good to Know.