Lithium vs Alkaline for emergency

Every time I go through my emergency supplies I'm almost always guaranteed to find some leaking alkalines. This time I found many more than usual. I think I threw away 200 batteries today. I'm starting to realize that perhaps I'm being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

I'm thinking of moving to just storing lithium primaries. I have read that there is a much less chance of them leaking. Also, that they supply more constant power and have a much longer shelf-life.

Curious as to what people think. I have found that the lithiums are about 3x the price. However, if they aren't prone to leaking, and have a much longer shelf-life then it almost becomes a no-brainer. Thoughts? Am I missing anything?

Btw, I use Eneloops for everyday use, so I'm not rotating my batteries. I'm simply storing them in case there is no power.


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For emergency use, no doubt in my mind that fewer lithium cells is better than more alkaline cells.

I haven't heard of anyone who has claimed to have a substantial lithium primary battery leak at all, only rumors of them leaking and then no claims that the leak was damaging so I would say that lithium leaks are in the 1% or less area of thought. I used to have a lot of alkalines in case of emergency and when there was higher quality non LSD nimh batteries and I got some and a fast smart charger with a car cord the last major power outage lasting a record 4.5 days (record for me) I used no alkalines up at all just recharged AA and AAA nimh cells about 24 of them. I would suggest instead of investing in such a huge amount of alkalines consider investing in a car charging system as unless you have no access to 12v power at all then you can use eneloops and recharge them endlessly once in awhile starting the engine to recharge the car battery.
Lithium primaries make excellent backup for sure lasting in storage beyond 10 to even 20 years with perhaps some capacity loss by that time but even if they only give 80% of full power at that time they would still be doing their job. As for not rotating alkalines my advice is to mostly do away with them and buy more eneloops and rotate them as alkalines stored over a year or two IMO is just asking for them to leak on you. For the price of 200 batteries you could even consider a solar charger.

Definitely don't use alkalines for emergency use, unless you keep a fresh supply of them and don't store them in your devices. Lithiums will get the job done, but are expensive.

Since you already use Eneloops, why not use them? They keep 70% charge for 5 years, so should be good for emergency use as long as you charge them up every few years. And, they won't leak, so you can store them in your devices (as long as they don't have a parasitic "stand by" drain).

My emergency batteries are a drawer full of AA and AAA Eneloops.

- How many cells are you generally keeping in storage, and what is their intended purpose?

- Whatever device or devices you are attempting to keep in power, how long are you hoping to keep and use your cells after the electric grid goes down?

- Do you live in a cold enough climate such that you might need your cells to function at sub zero temperature?

- Are you keeping so many cells in storage because you are thinking to use them as some kind of "currency" in trade?

Depending on the answers to the above questions, you may find that Eneloops with their ability to retain "reasonable" capacity after 5 or more years of storage to be the most cost effective solution.

In my own personal case, almost everything I have purchased is powered by either AA or AAA Eneloops. And, I have plenty of low cost adapters to convert AAAs to AA. (Also adapters to convert AAs to C and D, even though I don't actually own any devices that use C and D cells.)

This results in an enormous number of Eneloops around the house at all times in "non-essential" applications ranging from clocks, remote controls, wireless keyboards and mice, timers, thermometers, scales, etc. etc. (Not to mention a substantial number of flashlights.) Every now and then (at least once a year) I make certain that everything has a full charge. In the event of a long-term power failure, I believe that I can rob enough cells from "non-essential" devices to keep two or three efficient flashlights functioning for weeks, or even months. I also have DC chargers that can be easily powered by any automobile battery. So, for as long as gasoline were available, I could continue to recharge when desired. Beyond that, I would assume that I would be heating my home and cooking over an open fire, so that the primary light source would likely be such a fire.

There is the issue of initial investment costs, but Eneloops should eventually pay for themselves (often several times over), and I have not had to purchase a single Alkaline cell in many years.

At this point, I have transitioned away from alkaline batteries to various alternatives, for about 99.9% of all purposes....

I confess to not being an expert,but for me eneloops make best sense its what i have stored anyway............

I like other people above, I've moved (or am moving) to Eneloops for the vast majority of things. However, I still feel more confident with lithium primaries for a couple of 'real' emergency fall back things.

As someone above said, Eneloops can quickly pay for themselves so make sense financially for most things. If you're happier keeping a few lithium primaries around as well, as I am, then it's easy enough to just buy small numbers when they are on sale. It's not like they need replacing very often! Between the two, you're sorted.

Thanks everybody. I think you solidified my thinking.

I think I'll probably split between Eneloops and lithium primaries. In the long run, the money I save not replacing alkalines more than justifies the cost. I have always thought about going "all Eneloop." However, the reason I still want primaries is because I have some elderly relatives and some always unprepared neighbors that need batteries from time to time. I'm certainly not going to give them my Eneloops... Hahaha


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My stance on Alkaline is well known and they never cause an issue to me but i would never even consider them for long term emergency use,personally i would go the Eneloop route and adopt a strict code of say every 3 to 6 months give them a quick top up charge,just pot a reminder on your mobile phone to check your stash in 3 to 6 months time.

Yeah, that's what I do. About every six months I top off all of my batteries.


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Right now Battery Junction is doing an 'as long as they last' deal on lithium AA and AAA primaries. I don't remember the exact prices, but I do know it was about a dollar and a half for AAs in batches of 20.

Timothybil said:

Right now Battery Junction is doing an 'as long as they last' deal on lithium AA and AAA primaries. I don't remember the exact prices, but I do know it was about a dollar and a half for AAs in batches of 20.

Click to expand...

Personally i find Lithium ok ish but nothing special considering they run away with your pants when you buy them here in England.My glove box light has Lithium in but do not use them any more in other lights due to cost.

As far as i know lithium AA offer better performance and offer a weight advantage being lighter along with better storage over alki. But its not for an edc(reg weight) so in an emergency,and depending on what that is your possibly not going to be thinking 100%. So for me the simplest solution is the best,still to me loops offer that. As said just every 6 month,even annual top ups should be more than sufficient imo .................just what ever works best for you

If everything is loops, it certainly keeps things more simple............and i would prefer the easiest option come time of any emergency. With you having loops,and know you can depend on them,it takes away another concern other cells can bring long term.

I plan on keeping Eneloops as emergencies and topping them off as needed. I probably won't ever need alkalines but i keep a couple D sized Duracells in their original packaging just in case and taking note of the best used by date. I haven't set it up yet but i plan on putting a checklist together and then regularly checking the Eneloops monthly when stored and after 8 months checking them weekly to make sure they still have a charge. With that being said, the easiest way of making sure they are charged is by rotating the batteries every so often to ensure they are charged and ready to go in an emergency. Keeping an extra stash of Eneloops will ensure you will have power no matter what happens.

For me, I use rechargeable li-ions & Eneloop NiMH in my lights but I also have their equivalent sizes for spare & a handful of CR123A primaries as backup for the 18650 & 16650 powered lights. Of course, i also have new AA & AAA Eneloops on stock for emergency purposes.

Btw, the only time I use the Alkalie batteries is when they are packaged together with the light when bought. Other than that, I prefer to use the li-ions or NiMH. That is why, I do not buy lights that doesn't support there battery chemistries.

Day to day, I use 14500s and Eneloops for my lights, and rather than stock pile primaries, or pre-charged Eneloop, I just have a couple of solar chargers and 12V chargers. My back-up for my back-up plan is just scavenging half used Alkalines (AA, AAA, and 9Vs) from the myriad of household devices. As a sub-/low- lumen fan, I could last an awful long time just on that.

Yeah, alkaleaks for emergencies could result in no power for emergencies, and the device they were in not working when needed either due to the destructive corrosion, etc......so, not Plan A for sure.

The Eneloops and primary li-ions have 5-10 year shelf lives, and are a safer bet.

A lot depends on what "emergencies" you are preparing for of course, and, of course, what light's (Or other items) you'll be using the cells for, etc.

If rotating anyway....my 18650 seem to be holding 90+ charge even a year later for some I let go to see.

Li-ions and NiMHs are way to go for emergency purposes . . . . .:twothumbs