Rechargeable vs disposable batteries

Hearing Aids
#1

Am I missing something?

With the arrival of rechargeable batteries that last all day (at least for 3-4 years) why would you still use disposable batteries that are fiddly, have to go to landfill (or are very unlikely to be recycled) and you have to remember to change them?

The only two advantages I can really see are they are still a bit smaller, so you can use them in CIC aids, and they would be handy if you are in the wilds and you don’t have a solar charger/backup battery for your phone with you. Are they cheaper over the 3-5 year lifespan of the aids?

But reading here, I’ve read a number of posts where people prefer the disposable batteries. I’ve just started wearing aids (just on week three after unilateral SSHL) some Phonal Lumity, but I just charge them overnight in the same way I charge my phone (I would not look for a phone that used disposable batteries). What is the advantage of disposables that I’m not seeing?

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#2

Hello @AlexE, unfortunately, you open a proverbial can of worms by broaching this subject, again! There is only 2 types of hearing aid users, those that love rechargeable aids, and those that hate them, much depends on your personal preference, and ultimately your lifestyle… There is no one size that fits all. Cheers Kev :wink:

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#3

Ahhh…

Thanks for the head’s up.

VHS/Betamax, Xbox/PS, Apple/Microsoft/Linux, iOS/Android, Trump/Sani…

So more of a personal preference, what you are used to.

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#4
  1. Disposable batteries are available at the local grocery and drug stores. No need to send the hearing aid in to the shop for a battery replacement, providing a new battery can be installed.
  2. Don’t need working electricity to charge, just pop in a new battery.
  3. Disposable battery hearing aids can be used as a backup for years.
  4. No need to pack an another charger on a trip.

There are advantages and disadvantage to both types.

My main concern was the useful life of a rechargeable hearing aid. How many years can I use the hearing aid?

With a rechargeable hearing aid, many folks send the hearing aid in for battery replacement just before the warranty expires. So basically 4 years, maybe more, with a rechargeable hearing aid, and I’m without my hearing aid while it’s being serviced.

Having an old hearing aid with a disposable battery as a backup is a plus for me too.

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#5

Hearing aids are prostheses, intended to restore the function of missing or damaged body parts, so reliability is paramount. As important as a phone is, it doesn’t replace part of your body. Rechargeable aids have more points of failure, in the charger, the aids’ batteries and charging circuitry, and in the charging procedure. Also, phone chargers are standardized to a few different types that are readily available. Hearing aid chargers aren’t at all standardized, and can take longer to replace. Without the charger, rechargeable aids are useless. On this forum we’ve even heard of temporary failure modes in rechargeable aids that require a charger to remedy. The result is that if you don’t carry your charger with you, all day every day, you could be without working aids until you’re able to get home to put them in the charger.

Also, other factors like instant battery replacement with conventional batteries vs. charging downtime for rechargeables. And the peace of mind of being able to carry a month’s worth of power in most any pocket while leaving room for other stuff.

Conventional batteries are very, very inexpensive.

Conventional batteries’ fiddliness is in the eyes of the beholder. Many people have no problem with them.

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#6

The manual dexterity needed to change batteries is similar to that needed to insert a hearing aid in one’s ear canal.

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#7

This subject has been discussed multiple times in the past. Suggest you review past posts verses trying to recreate the wheel again.

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#8

The rechargeable aids work great for the first year, then the battery life starts to drop. By the time you are in year 3, you are lucky to get 6 hours before a recharge is necessary. At least that has been my experience.

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#9

The lucky people with generous insurance coverage upgrade their HA’s regularly and do not need to worry about the life span of rechargeable batteries. These are the ones who continually argue about which type of battery is best. They have that luxury. Those of us who buy HA’s out of our own pockets need them to last as long as possible and so we go for disposable batteries even if it is shown that rechargeables are “better”

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#10

I used HA Widex AIKA until recently, maybe 15 years! This would have been impossible with a rechargeable battery, now it broke and the service told me that these hearing aids have not been repaired for several years. i.e. with a rechargeable battery (which has a life of 3-4 years) it would have ended up in the trash long ago.
I had a backup hearing aid for a long time that had been sitting in a drawer for at least 7 years. If it had a rechargeable battery in it, I might as well have thrown it in the trash, but since it has replaceable batteries, I just put a new one in and it works :slight_smile:
In general, the life of built-in batteries is shorter than the life of hearing aids and replacing them is problematic, maybe even impossible. But it’s certainly not like you walk into a service center and leave in an hour with new batteries.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

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#11

By the way, how long does the hearing aid last on a charge?
My hearing aid worked for 5-7 days (18h a day) with one size 10 battery.

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#12

I don’t know or generally need to know.

My aids, my phone, my computer, my car, my hot water system and house just get plugged in when I go to sleep, charge on cheap rate overnight electricity or at this time of the year, off the house battery which charges off the panels on the roof.

These all have some form of backup power system, be it a case with a higher capacity battery, a slap on battery pack or if needs be, the public grid or public charging stations.

But I’m lucky that I live in an affluent western democracy and we’ve only experienced one power cut in my area in the last five years and that was planned to allow for free cutting.

1 Like
#13

Disposable batteries last me 7 days.
They can be replaced in under 1 minute.
They outlast my 24 hour work shift.
They are readily available.
They are cheap.
They don’t require a charger.
They are usable in prolonged power outages.
They are actually easy to use for most people.
They don’t require you to send your aids to the lab or office for replacements.
They remain effective after many years of using the aids and each set still lasts as long.

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#14

homoousios or homoiousios?

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#15

Not religious. Just like my aids to work when I work.

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#16

“Last all day” is kind of a slippery concept.

I have been wearing rechargeable Phonak Lumitys for about 8 months and mostly like them just fine. However, I regularly have days like today.

Today I needed to be up at 3am to fly across the country for a business trip. After showering and dressing, my aids were in by 3:30 or so. I arrived at the airport to find that my flight had been delayed by several hours. I was able to get rebooked, but now I will land in NY at midnight instead of 6pm, and I have a two-hour drive to my hotel after that.

So, converting for time zones, I need my hearing aids to work from 3:30am pacific time until at least 11pm pacific time. Thats going to be pushing 19 hours, and experience has shown that they aren’t going to make it.

With my previous Oticons and their disposable batteries, I got 7-8 days out of a set and could easily pop new ones in if they died. With the rechargeables, I will have to choose a period of at least 30 minutes today where I am ok with being almost completely deaf and unable to communicate.

I realize that I am kind of an edge-case, but that doesn’t make it less of a problem for me.

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#17

Take the timezone where they are not calling out you have to border your flight… this will be the new world for us who didn’t ask for rechargeables.
Have a good trip

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#18

This brings up a flaw of the “I charge my phone so I can charge my hearing aids” argument. You can use a phone while it’s being charged, but you can’t use hearing aids when they’re being charged.

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#19

Yes! Great comment. The debate does seem to stir similar emotions.

#20

on all the HA dealer websites, people are shown doing nothing to get dirty, not working, just going out for coffee with friends, putting their hearing aids and teeth on the bedside table at 10pm and going to bed.
This is not my life, I have been using HA since I was about 30 years old, (I am 48 now), I work as a service technician in the healthcare industry, I am always on the move, traveling, flying, sporting, working until everything is done, I don’t go to bed before midnight and quite often fall asleep from fatigue in front of the TV with my hearing aid in my ear (CIC), I get up in the morning, and do nothing, no stress about my hearing aid being out. I have spare batteries in my car, at home, at work, in my wallet…
But I know what I’m talking about, I have Apple Airpods pro, which have to be charged - connect to the cable and wait… just when I have time to go for a run! And it’s a negative experience.
The hearing aid serves me, not me the hearing aid.

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