Old timer at the supply house told me to use lithium batteries in wireless sensors

I had this old installer named Dave tell me to swap out all my wireless sensor batteries for lithium ones about 6 months ago. I thought he was just being stubborn about change, so I kept using alkaline like I always did. Well, I got called back to 4 different houses last month where sensors were chirping low battery after only 10 months. The alkalis were already dead. I finally switched to lithium in all my new installs and those same sensors are still reading full charge. Has anyone else seen a big difference in battery life between the two types?

3 comments

3 Comments

garcia.wren9d ago

oh man, I feel your pain on this one. Dave sounds like a guy who's been around long enough to learn the hard way, and honestly, I think he's got it right. I had a similar thing happen with a customer's motion sensors a few years back. I kept putting in alkaline batteries and they'd die in like 8 or 9 months, even with fresh ones from the store. I finally got fed up and tried lithium on a hunch, and those same sensors are still going strong after almost two years now. It's wild how much longer they last, especially in colder weather where alkalis just give up. So yeah, I'm right there with you, it's a night and day difference and I'm never going back.

ward.diana9d ago

Honestly @garcia.wren, I'm curious about something. Did you ever try checking the voltage drop on those alkalis before you switched? Ngl, I had a similar setup and noticed the sensors would start acting flaky around the 6 month mark even though the batteries still showed some juice. Tbh it's the voltage sag that gets you, not just the total power. Makes me wonder if cheap alkalis are even worth it for anything anymore.

aaronroberts9d ago

Did you ever check the voltage under load though? Because that's the real killer with alkalis, they show 1.5v sitting there but drop to like 1.1v the second you put any draw on em. My weather station did the same thing, acted dead after 5 months but the batteries tested fine on a multimeter. Lithium is the way to go for anything that needs consistent power, no argument there.