IKEA Canada will phase out common alkaline batteries in 2021 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2021, 04:22:33 pm
content: IKEA Canada to stop selling non-rechargeable alkaline batteries.Too bad, the batteries were cheap and of fair capacity.https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/this-is-ikea/newsroom/ikea-canada-to-phase-out-non-rechargeable-alkaline-batteries-pub76acafb0

author: f4eru
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2021, 09:10:40 pm
content: Alkaline are less and less used in new stuffLithium rechargeables are better both from performance, price over lifetime, and environmentally.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2021, 12:14:01 am
content: I do not want to wait for the batteries to recharge. I want to instantly swap them and go.Also not sure what indications are that "new stuff" uses rechargeables. I cant recall seeing a single device that would stipulate that.Thirdly, rechargeables have lower voltage, quitting faster than alkalines on a given device. They are nuisance.And i leave the environment thing to old wives' tales.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2021, 04:30:14 pm
content: A properly designed product using rechargeableli-ionpack is way way better.The problem is, most of the devices now using alkaline cells are not going to get such well-engineered substitute, at least not for the price most customers are ready to pay. That's why we continue to see disposable alkaline cells being used.But the change is real, it's just gradual and very slow.IKEA's only motivation is the PR. Environment-speech has one interesting feature though: you don't need to keep any of these promises. You can keep selling the batteries. IKEA will be praised for environmental thinking, regardless of if they keep the promise or not. They can even pull this PR stunt every year or so!For example, here, LIDL uses this strategy frequently. They have stopped selling non-fair-trade certified bananas. They have stopped providing plastic bags for veggies; and so on. None of these decisions held, and no one have questioned it.

author: gnuarm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2021, 09:18:32 pm
content: Quote from: f4eru on February 26, 2021, 09:10:40 pmI think that is an overstatement. When a battery is depleted at some rate that makes sense to use a rechargeable, then sure. But my mouse, clocks, DVMs and pretty much everywhere I use alkaline batteries a rechargeable is a big PITA. I tried using rechargeables in mice and remote controls. It was of no advantage at all and an inconvenience to drag around a charger to keep them charged up. At $0.25 each in the dollar store I much prefer alkalines in low drain uses. It is hardly an significant impact on the environment. What is the impact of keeping your home warm in comparison? Keep things in perspective.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2021, 09:29:39 pm
content: Perhaps IKEA should stop selling their crap furniture and save a forest or twenty.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 05:15:18 am
content: The biggest problem with alkalines nowadays is that they leak, oddly enough with name brands like Duracell doing as bad or worse than the dollar store specials. In contrast, even cheap NiMH rarely leaks.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 05:45:34 am
content: This is probably a good thing. I phased out alkaline batteries years ago and never looked back, I've had so many of them leak that I don't want them. LSD NiMH is readily available and inexpensive, I haven't yet found anything that they don't work for and I don't really understand why anyone would bother with disposable batteries for everyday use in 2021. I have a tray of batteries in the desk drawer with a section for dead cells and a section for charged cells. Whenever I take batteries out of something I either pop them in the charger on the desk or if that's occupied I put them in the tray and pull some fresh ones out of the pile of charged ones. It's totally painless, I've always got fresh batteries ready to go, it has saved me money and best of all, I have not yet had a single one of them leak, ever. Some I must have bought at least 10 years ago, whenever Sanyo first released their Eneloop cells.If you *really* want old fashioned disposable batteries, you can buy them from Digikey cheaper than I've seen in any store. I bought some Panasonic AA's a few years ago to put in things I was giving away as gifts.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 05:48:33 am
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on February 28, 2021, 05:15:18 amDuracell are not just as bad, they're up with the WORST in my experience. Those and Kirkland batteries from Costco which I've heard rumors are made by Duracell. My mom bought a bunch of those at some point and several of them leaked while still in the package prior to their expiration date and others ruined several of her flashlights.I've had some NiCd cells leak but they must have been 20 years old. Haven't had any NiMH leak yet that I can think of but I haven't had any of them for 20 years yet.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 05:51:39 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on February 27, 2021, 09:29:39 pmSome of their furniture is not all that bad, it's inexpensive but if you don't abuse it the stuff will last quite a while. Wood is a renewable resource, and what is the alternative for affordable furniture? Plastic? That isn't really an improvement from an environmental standpoint.

author: gnuarm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 06:34:41 am
content: Quote from: james_s on February 28, 2021, 05:45:34 amYeah, I see Digikey has them for $0.1625 each... in multiples of 25600!!!At least Duracell will honor their replacement guarantee.I buy Sunshine batteries at the Dollar Tree, 4 / $1.00, AA and AAA. I've never seen a better deal.

author: gnuarm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 06:37:27 am
content: Quote from: james_s on February 28, 2021, 05:48:33 amYes, and Costco won't replace anything that is damaged and they won't even give you a refund unless you have over half the batteries still in the pack. I quit my membership partly over that. I'm just fed up with their crap. I felt like a sucker giving them my money every year and seeing the membership fee jacked up every couple of years. They openly acknowledge they make more off the membership than they do what they sell.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 08:12:09 am
content: Quote from: gnuarm on February 28, 2021, 06:37:27 amI haven't noticed the membership fee going up, I think mine has been around $50/yr for many years now and you can have two people on the same membership. I save many times that on food, I buy almost all of my frozen goods there, stuff that keeps well so I can make good use of buying it in bulk. Some other stuff is a great value too, just today I picked up a box of those expensive Sumo oranges for about 1/3 what they cost at the supermarket. Stock on some items comes and goes and not everything is a great deal. It is a false economy to buy more of something than you can use before it spoils just because it's cheap but if you shop sensibly it's well worth it. The gasoline they sell is pretty consistently cheaper than anywhere else around too. I've also never had any trouble at all returning items on the rare occasions I've had reason to.

author: gnuarm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 08:38:58 am
content: Quote from: james_s on February 28, 2021, 08:12:09 amMaybe you haven't been paying attention. Costco raised their membership fee to $60 several years ago. Food is some of the worst "bargains". I've bought fish that had to be wrung out before it could be cooked, vegetables that were saturated with water and had to be drained. Much of their food are things I don't or won't eat. The few items I found that were a good price and I enjoyed were often not on the shelf when I returned.I bought Kirkland jeans that simple ripped out after some months. A kayak was not made properly so the bulkhead that maintained a water tight compartment for safety leaked from day one... the list goes on and on. Yes, you can save a few pennies on gas if you don't mind the long lines.Sure, you can return stuff, but you can do that anywhere. In fact, I've never had so much trouble returning things at other stores. I brought back a car battery and without even looking it up the lady said, "You can't return that, it's out of date" as if she had X-ray vision. She was snotty, rude and when I made her look it up she sent me to the tire center they said they had nothing to do with batteries and sent me back.Nope, there is nothing I like about shopping at a place that has no regard for their customers and combines that with crappy products like jeans and batteries. Oh yeah, crappy Kirkland alkaline batteries theywon't take back!

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2021, 04:58:59 am
content: Quote from: gnuarm on February 28, 2021, 08:38:58 am$60 is "around $50", either way it's a trivial expenditure, impulse purchase territory and it's only once a year. Maybe it varies by region, I live a few miles from the city of Kirkland and frequently shop at their flagship store, for me it's a homegrown local business. If they don't carry the stuff you eat then it's probably not a bargain for you but I've been very satisfied. I buy a lot of frozen meat (chicken strips, wings, patties, breasts, sirloin patties, battered fish, salmon patties, sausages) and I often buy their fresh half salmon fillets which have always been excellent and are about half the price as similar ones from the local supermarket. Dried fruit, condiments, pasta, bread and buns, soda, cleaning products, toilet paper and paper towels, etc. Their pumpkin pies and chocolate chip cookies are delicious too IMO. I've also bought most of my socks from there and they've lasted as well as anything else. I've been a happy customer for around 25 years, my whole family shops there, never had a single issue that I can recall that wasn't dealt with. A couple of times i bought a food item that had spoiled or tasted funny and they accepted the return with no hassle at all. YMMV

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 02, 2021, 04:57:32 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on February 27, 2021, 09:29:39 pmA lot of their wood products are made from recycled materials and sawdust. That's the Kallax bookshelves, some of their dressers, the countertops, that sort of thing.But the Gallant table that's underneath the computer on which I type this? Solid plywood, sturdy, and I don't know where I can buy a wrap-around table set-up like it anywhere, and certainly not for what I paid for it. Same for the Besta cabinets hanging on the wall to my left. Actual solid plywood, and the drawer closures and doors work well, too. And then there's the countertop in the bathroom, along with the cabinets. The countertop looks brand new, but it's actually 7 years old now.So yeah, you can find a lot of crap at Ikea. But much of their products really are solid.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 02, 2021, 05:48:36 am
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on March 02, 2021, 04:57:32 amGalant? MDF, not ply. Besta is chipboard.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 02, 2021, 08:55:18 am
content: Ikea makes products out of recycled trash, basically -> people complain it's not green because the products don't last as long as "proper" wooden furniture.Ikea makes some "proper" wooden furniture -> people complain it's not green because trees are killed.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 02, 2021, 11:35:50 pm
content: Well to some degree you get what you pay for. Proper wood furniture is much more expensive and not everyone can afford that. Pretty much no matter what you do somebody is going to complain. Ikea produces a range of furniture of varying quality to suit the budget of various groups of people. Some of it is quite well made, other stuff is flimsy and cheap. Even the cheap stuff can last decades if you take care of it though. Don't pile 200 lbs of books on a $79 bookshelf and expect it to last.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2021, 12:00:27 am
content: wonder why battery manufacturers dont talk about thishttps://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Practical-Electronics/80s/Practical-Electronics-1986-07.pdfpage 16Part 1 is on page 15 athttps://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Practical-Electronics/80s/Practical-Electronics-1986-06.pdf

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2021, 02:54:49 am
content: Quote from: themadhippy on March 03, 2021, 12:00:27 amThey did. About 25 years ago there was even a series of rechargeable alkaline batteries and there have been a few chargers designed to charge standard alkalines. The problem is they never really worked very well. The special batteries were more expensive than standard alkaline and only good for about 25 cycles and only did that well if you didn't discharge them too far. Standard alkaline cells are notorious for leaking and recharging them makes them even more likely to leak.The concept was marginal at the time, and modern LSD NiMH makes it completely obsolete.