Rechargeable batteries and the battery charger are also an answer for those who stop to tally up the cost of replacing all the worn out batteries in their lives on a regular basis. Those who understand the concept of ?true cost?, aka ?full cost? battery pricing know that they are paying more for their batteries than they really should have to, and the chance to rid themselves of that particular waste of their hard-earned dollars certainly makes a battery charger worth a look.

Why Disposable Batteries Cost So Much

The biggest reason that batteries are more expensive than a reasonable profit on their components and assembly cost should make them is that, because in the environmentally unfriendly world of the past, millions of disposable batteries were left to corrode in landfills and leak their toxic chemicals, including mercury and lead, into the soil and water. Now that the environment is a major concern, all those chemicals have to be cleaned up, and that cleanup has to be paid for.

The true, or full cost, of your current stock disposable batteries includes extra charges to offset the environmental cleanup necessary from the improper disposal of the batteries of yesteryear.

But charging to the rescue of your pocket book are those inseparable sidekicks, the rechargeable battery, and the battery charger. As soon as you make the switch to rechargeables, you'll eliminate both the recurring costs of replacing your old disposable batteries and your contribution to the ongoing battery disposal problem.

Your Battery Charger Alternatives

If you think you're ready to make the switch, take the time to educate yourself on battery charger alternatives. The different types of battery charger have now been available long enough to have developed a track record, and you can do some comparing before you buy.

The introductory model of the battery charger is the simple charger. Your wall sockets operate on AG, or Alternating Current; the simple battery charger pulls electrons from your AC wall socket, transforms them into DC, or Direct Current, and sends them to the battery to charge it. The drawback to this system is that rechargeable batteries have a finite capacity for electrons, and once it is reached, they will be damaged if the charging continues. In rare instances they may cause a fire. For more info see http://www.lastbatteries.com/ on Batteries.

Up one level of battery charger sophistication is the timer charger. As its name indicates, it will shut down the charging process after a preset amount of time; but if it is used to charge batteries of limited capacity, damage remains a possibility. With batteries of greater charging capacity, on the other hand, a timer charger may shut down before charging is complete.

The ultimate battery charger is the intelligent charger; it detects exactly how much charging capacity a specific battery has, and delivers not one more or less. When the charging is complete, an intelligent battery charger continues to keep the battery topped up with a tiny stream of electrons as long as the battery is connected to it. What more could you want?