Batteries are such a crucial part of our daily living. They power up our remote controls for out televisions, allow our kids’ toys to function, provide energy for our laptops and cell phones, and so much more. Find the right battery for the job can be challenging, but even more challenging is keeping the battery charged up so that is last a long time.

What can you do to help save some run time on your batteries?

First of all, make sure that the batteries you buy are fresh. This means that they haven’t been sitting on a shelf for a long time. Batteries are like milk and do expire. The longer they sit on a shelf, the worse they work. So shop for your batteries at stores that have a lot of traffic, that way you know that they have to restock the shelves often and are getting new batteries all the time.

Keep the “FIFO” method of stocking shelves in mind also; first in, first out. Look for packages on the back of the display and see if it is newer by checking the dates. Stores try to sell the oldest merchandise first, so ideally the new merchandise should be the least convenient – depending on the associates of course.

Once you have purchased your batteries and brought them home, place them in a plastic zip lock storage bag and put them in the refrigerator. This will keep your batteries fresh until you are ready to use them. Once you are ready to use them, pull them out of the refrigerator and allow them to get back to room temperature before using them.

Purchasing zinc-carbon batteries for items that have a low draw (think clocks/calculators) to make them last, and alkaline batteries for high draw items (radios/cameras) will give you more bang for the buck. The appropriate battery for the task will ensure it will last as long as possible.

Never mix old batteries with new batteries. The new ones may actually cause the older batteries to leak battery acid in the competition to keep up. This can potentially cause burns, as well as destroying the equipment it is in.

If you buy rechargeable batteries, then make sure that you are charging them up and following the instructions properly. Whatever the instructions are make sure that you follow them to the nail.

Items like your laptop that are on all the time, there are a few things you can do to reduce the battery usage. Keep your computer on defrag mode so that it runs quicker, keep your screen on the dimmest setting, and close out programs when you are finished running them.

Keeping multiple programs open at once drains the battery from your computer. So try to only keep one or two programs open at a time.

For laptop batteries, cell phone batteries and camera batteries, allow the battery to be used up entirely until it dies. Then recharge it. You should do this at least once a month so that the battery is brought through an entire charge cycle.

There are so many expenses related to having electronics without having to worry about keeping them powered. So follow these simple and easy tips to help save you the time, money and trouble of having to replace batteries.

Dorthy Weatherbush keeps tons of consumer electronics in her home for both her and her children. So she order batteries online at Batteries.com. Thanks to Batteries.com she doesn’t have to leave her house to go hunting for batteries ever again.

categories: batteries,battery life,consumer electronics,electronics