After spending hours building the awesome LEGO Technic RC 4×4 Crawler 9398 or Mercedes Benz Unimog U400 8110, the first thing to do is put in a bunch of batteries and watch the model come to life.
Perhaps you have a LEGO train like the Emerald Night 10194 or Maersk train 10219 setup to run around the LEGO town or Christmas tree.
Watching or controlling your LEGO creation move is fun and addictive but going through pack after pack of AA or AAA size batteries will surely cost a fair bit.
Why not save the environment and money at the same time by using rechargeable batteries? It may cost more up front but the savings add up after a while. The money saved could be used to buy more LEGO instead of batteries that go into the landfill leaking chemicals into the ground.
I’ve used NiCD (Nickel Cadmium) and NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries before in the past for radio control cars, camera flash to wireless keyboards and mouse.
The issue is that after a full charge, the rechargeble batteries start to loose their charge everyday. So after a few days when I really need the batteries, it is empty or very low.
However, technology has improved with low discharge NiMH batteries. Once of the first brands to offer them are from the japanese company Sanyo with their line of rechargeable batteries called Eneloops.
These batteries hold their charge for much longer ensuring that you always have them ready for use even if left in the drawer for some time after a full charge.
I now use two sets of them in my Apple Wireless Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad. The second set of batteries are kept as spares fully charged and ready to be swapped anytime. No more keeping a spare usb keyboard or mouse in case the wireless ones run out of electricity.
Although I bought normal alkaline batteries to test out the completed LEGO Motorized Excavator 8043 just built over the weekend as I could not wait to see it in action, another set of Sanyo Eneloops are on the way.
Amazon is currently selling the 8 pack AA Eneloops on discount. Assuming the normal batteries cost around $3 to $4 for 8 pieces, use the rechargeable Eneloops about five times and you will already break even. That’s not difficult considering how fun it is to make your LEGO move with Power Functions.
One last thing, the batteries come pre-charged so you can start playing with LEGO Power Functions immediately.