Thanks for looking. Here is the problem I am trying to solve. I have a garage currently with no power to it. I use it to store my boat. I currently light it with 5 motion sensing lights mounted in the ceiling. The lights are all powered by AA cells. 3 of them take 3 cells and the two larger ones each take 4 for a total of 17 batteries. The ceiling is fairly high, so I have to drag a ladder out each time I need to change batteries. My boating season is around 20 weeks a year. Over the last few years, I've found that alkaline batteries last just under 8 weeks. Which means to get through the season, I have to change all 17 cells twice. I tried Eneloops for the first time this year, but sadly found they lasted a bit less than the alkalines at right around 6 weeks. Although the light I put them in may be a bit more power hungry than the rest so will try them again in another light. I also tried Energizer Ultimate Lithiums in one of the lights, and they are still going strong past 8 weeks. However at $1.33 a cell I'm hesitant to make the switch over to them for all of the lights. So the reason I was interested in better alkalines was the hope of finding relatively cheap cells that could make it 10 weeks so I only had to change the batteries once at the midpoint of the season.
Thanks again for your interest! I may start looking at solar rechargeable shed lights as a better long term replacement. I'm also open to any other thoughts on the subject if you have other ideas that might work better for me.
This is clearly a problem with your lights, not your batteries. I have a motion sensing light that takes either 4 or 6 AA Eneloop NiMH batteries, and the reason I can't remember which number is because I only need to charge them once per year. The light gets used used several times per week. It may not be bright enough for your use case, but the point remains, the problem isn't your batteries, it's your light. You need one that holds more cells.
Why bother with all this hassle at all? Get a 6D Maglite with the 5000 lumen LED upgrade, and stuff it with 18 AA Eneloop NiMH batteries to brightly light up the entire area just by pointing it at the ceiling. It will probably cost about the same as what you're spending, and you can use it for more things. You can use one of the "moonlight" motion sensing lights I'm using so you can find it in the dark, and just put that next to the door, where you keep your Maglite too. Put several of them in there if you want, just so you have enough light to find your brighter light.
Here's the Maglite and the LED upgrades:
I can look around to find the motion sensing light I use. I will edit my comment if I can find it, but it's possible I bought it locally somewhere so there's nothing I can link to for it. It's just a night light, basically.
Flashlight. [...] I also picked one that uses AA batteries and not the fat D batteries or the C batteries you can never find.
Alternate light sources. I don't know how common blackouts are where you live [...] one was 3 weeks long. [...] I picked up some of those little cheap lanterns, that slide on and off, they take AA batteries.
Batteries. Seems trivial but nothing is worse than not having fresh batteries for tv remote; the electric toothbrush will still work without batteries. I avoid buying things that use anything besides double AA batteries, cept the remotes which uses AAA of course. [Are batteries internationally universal? I never looked that up] By keeping all the batteries to the same size, it is much easier to keep track of how many fresh ones I have on hand. [YES I would love to invest in rechargables, they are on my Amazon wish list the next time I give myself a gift.] I keep batteries in an clear plastic jar on top of the fridge. When it gets low I put them on my shopping list.
You are one of us: r/AAMasterRace. When you get rechargeable AA batteries, I recommend you get these ones (make sure your battery specifications match the packaging in this photo):
Get this package first to get the highest quality charger on the market:
You need that charger to get the full life out of Eneloops. If you take care of them, Eneloops will last at least a decade, maybe longer.
Another good option are AA Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries, which are not rechargeable, but they're lightweight, and they last longer than any other battery on the market, by far:
See also r/flashlight.
EDIT: I also recommend Zebralight AA flashlights, namely this one:
They have extreme battery life for extended power outages. On the lowest setting, the can last 90 days on a single AA battery. Since they only take 1 AA battery, you never have to worry about having enough of them, or matching them. You can use "dead" alkalines, and the DC-to-DC voltage conversion circuitry will boost the voltage enough to squeeze out every last drop of energy from them until they are truly and totally dead.
Also, for extended power outages, 3 D cell (or more) lights are awesome, and you can pack them AA batteries using AA-to-D adapters. I want to get a 6D Maglite with an LED conversion:
With the brightest LED module, it is bright enough to replace your normal home lighting. You can put any battery that will fit in an AA-compatible device, including AAA, AAAA, C, D, F, 14500, 18650, 21700, 26650, 32600, 32650, etc. Since it's a Maglite, you can upgrade it any time to whatever the latest technology is. It's a good investment.