Cheap Lithium Batteries

[teethgrinder]

While in Tescos last night, I spied the Energiser lithium batteries were £3.97 for a pack of 4. Same price for AA and AAA. They are usualy £6.75 or so.
Offer ends on 5th August.
Also selling aluminium camping kettles for £3. I bought one to replace one I bought in 2005 for £5 which now has a hole in it.

I have no business interest in Tesco, except maybe that my mum works at one of their stores.

[mattc]

These are back.

Bit worried they have been repackaged as "DIGITAL" i.e. aimed at cameras. Hope they are the same battery, or at least still good for AA lights.

[Jules]

I think this has been pointed out before but if you have a  99p shop near you they are currently full of Energizer 'Energi to go' mobile phone rechargers suitable for Motorola phones.

I don't have a Motorola phone either but included in the pack are two Ultimate Lithium AA batteries which works out at £1.98 for four

[Biggsy]

These are back.

Bit worried they have been repackaged as "DIGITAL" i.e. aimed at cameras. Hope they are the same battery, or at least still good for AA lights.

They're probably the same, and certainly good for AA lights.

7DayShop are even cheaper than the Tesco special offer (with free post as well) thanks to zero VAT on small purchases from Guernsey.... But not cheaper than 99p Store - which I will be investigating!

[Biggsy]

I have now raided my nearest 99p Store.  Yes, it seems a good deal!

My only concern is that neither the pack or the batteries are marked with a Use By date.  Lithium batteries are famous for their long shelf life, but still it's nice to have them as fresh as possible, especially when bulk buying.  These packs could have been hanging around for some years already, for all I know.

EDIT: Date on batteries now found: 2021.

[Charlotte]

I saw them in my local store, but decided against buying on that basis.  Anyone tested one yet?

[Biggsy]

I briefly tested a pair.  Seems ok, but you can't tell much from that.

Only bought five packs instead of filling my panniers.

[Jules]

They work well for me in a digital camera and at that price I'm not desperately worried if they slightly less than fresh.

Don't forget that you can probably get the 99p back on the 'bay by selling the chargers considering they come with two leads, one of which is a mini-usb which can be used to charge lots of stuff - not just Motorola phones

[Biggsy]

It's going to be hard to get anything back for a charger without batteries because lots of the chargers with batteries are already listed on eBay, and it will cost £1.08 to post thanks to the 25mm rule from Royal Bastard Mail.

[rogerzilla]

Lithium batteries have a shelf life of about 10 years, and I don't think the Energizer ones have been on sale for that long.

[Biggsy]

But I would expect the capacity to gradually drop rather than remaining the same for ten years.  I'd want them as fresh as possible if buying a very large number (but I'm not complaining for just a few).

Regarding the resale value of the chargers:  This one failed to get a 99p bid despite batteries and free post being included!  The seller didn't mention the USB thing, but still it's not hopeful, is it?

[hubner]

I've seen the mobile phone rechargers in the local pound shop. I'll probably get one or two as backup to keep in the saddlebag but I'll carry on using rechargables. At £1 for two, they might be cheap for once use only batteries, but overall they're still probably a hundred times more expensive than rechargables.

[toontra]

I have now raided my nearest 99p Store.  Yes, it seems a good deal!

My only concern is that neither the pack or the batteries are marked with a Use By date.  Lithium batteries are famous for their long shelf life, but still it's nice to have them as fresh as possible, especially when bulk buying.  These packs could have been hanging around for some years already, for all I know.

Just bought a few packs and the batteries are marked (near the top in small numbers) as sell by 2021.  From other lithiums they seem to have a shelf life of 14-15 years, so these were probably manufactured in 2006-7.

Should be fine for a good few years.

[Biggsy]

Lithiums are more expensive, but your lights are brighter and lighter with them.

I have two sets of the same lights for the same brackets.  One with NiMH to save money when I know I'm going to be using the lights a lot, and one with lithiums otherwise.

No Sell By dates on the packs I bought.

[Zoidburg]

The date is printed on the batteries, mine were 2011 IIRC.

[toontra]

The date is printed on the batteries, mine were 2011 IIRC.

I doubt it - more likely 2021 for the reason above.

[Biggsy]

I looked at the batteries and didn't see a date.  Now I've looked again and can see "2021"! 

Thank you!  I'm going back to the shop with a wheelbarrow.

[Greenbank]

25% off at Maplin too. Just bought 5 packs (12 AA and 8 AAA) for LEL as I'm leaving the SON hub and Solidlights at home.

[JonBuoy]

A bit of an old thread but...

I was after some backup Energizer Ultimate AA Lithium cells and keeping my eyes open for any deals as I wince a bit at the usual price of £5.50 for a 4 pack.

Spotted that Boots had them on offer for £4 but only available in store so popped into the one in town on Monday evening which allegedly had them in stock.  The helpful store assistant explained that their stock control system was rubbish and that they didn't actually have any 

Yesterday I planned my evening exercise to pass the next nearest Boots expecting a similar tale and sure enough there were none on display.  When I enquired I was shown a container with a random assortment of batteries that had literally just been cleared off the shelves as Boots are stopping selling them.  There were a few shiny Lithium blister packs in there and when I checked on the price I was told that they were £1.75 a pack     I bought 'sufficient'.

Squinting through the blister pack the use by date appears to be December 2041.  If anyone is after some it is worth asking in store but I wouldn't hang about.  I wouldn't bother with the Loughborough or Thurmaston branches...