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How many battery-operated devices do you have in your home?
A student asked me this question today. They were looking into lithium batteries and e-waste and whatnot.
My initial response was something low, like maybe five or six, but the more I thought about it, the higher the number kept climbing — old phones, key fobs, wireless mice, flashlights, a food thermometer, etc.
I’m not sure I have an official count yet, but the number is WAY higher than my gut reaction. I also thought it was an interesting thought experiment, so I figured I’d ask here to prompt people to do their own inventory.
How many battery-operated devices do you have in your home? (They don’t have to specifically be lithium batteries, but if you want to limit it to just that, feel free).
Enough that I buy rechargeable batteries.
This is by far the best response and the best we can do considering each of our individual abilities
I have one keyboard that uses an entire pack of AA batteries alone.
If you have kids, the number of battery-powered devices climbs exponentially, often against your will.
I don't have enough devices that use (standardized) user-replacable batteries to justify buying rechargable batteries.
I have things like TV remotes, but modern remotes use so little electricity that the alkaline battery that comes from the factory is likely to outlast the TV itself. Beyond that the remote I generally use the most is the Siri Remote which comes with the Apple TV and it's got a non-user-servicable lithium battery that you just recharge by plugging it in, like the majority of my devices.
Then there are small devices like my key fobs that use non-rechargable lithium button cells, but AFAIK there are no rechargable alternatives to them.
The only vaguely modern device that I have that uses those kinds of batteries is a Logitech bluetooth keyboard which I practically never use - I got it for a tablet which I no longer own and only use it occasionally when I started writing something long on my phone and wanted to write it all out. I've owned it for at least a decade and I think It's gone through something like two sets of batteries.
I suppose this isn't really true; I have collected a handful of retro toys that have user-replacable batteries, but I generally avoid using rechargable batteries on them because they don't see enough use to bother with them. And in one specific case - my Sega Game Gear - rechargables simply don't cut the mustard. People joke about how bad the battery life on this thing is specifically because they use rechargables, which the Game Gear was not designed to use. The manual literally says to use Alkalines and to avoid rechargable batteries. Rechargable batteries generally undervolt too soon and that causes the Game Gear to shut off - not great during gameplay.
(I should mention I don't play with the Game Gear that often, and when I do I'm much more likely to plug it into the wall than bust out six AA batteries).
General: Cellphone, wireless landline phone, ceiling fan remote, key FOB, hand vacuum, robot vacuum, voltage tester
Gaming: Game controller, VR headset + controllers x2, motherboard CMOS
Bathroom: Electric toothbrush, nose hair trimmer, scale
So that's 15 items altogether. Everything else that I can think of is wired. I expect I'm forgetting a few, but I tend to live pretty minimally. Some gaming electronics being the exception to the rule.
iPhone, Android Phone, Quest 2, Macbook Air, Macbook Pro (work), Macbook Pro (personal), Gaming Laptop, Onyx Boox (e-Reader), Airpods Pro, Airpods Pro (1st gen), Sony XM-3000, Logitech g602, Logitech MxMaster, Kechron Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, Xbox One Controller, Dualshock 4, Dualshock 5, Switch Pro Controller, Joycons, Switch, Flashlight, Airtags x4, Apple Watch, Apple Watch (night), Anker Battery Pack / Wall Charger, Digital Scale, Digital Bodyweight Scale, Car Keys, Meat Thermometer, Infrared Thermometer, Hand Blender, Electric Toothbrush
So, like 38 items there, I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, I didn't even think about car keys until I thread the thread body.
All those non-Switch consoles have internal batteries as well btw. As does any desktop PC if you have one of those.
Good shout on the thermometers, I'd forgotten those. I have like ten of the things!
That gets into semantics about battery-equipped vs the original question of battery-operated. Arguably I shouldn't have counted the UPS I have as it's not battery-operated, but should the power go out whatever is plugged into it would be.
I think that considering the question came about because of the idea of e-waste and lithium batteries, I think that counting "things that have a battery in them" is fine, especially given the context of the initial response being something low, but the number climbing the more thought was given to it, and batteries being in surprising places.
Yup! I didn’t think too deeply about the wording and meant the question more as a broad “count the batteries” thought experiment. I’m also fine with people applying whatever specific parameters they want.
I stopped counting at
8392. I'm sure I've missed some.Including but not limited to: remote controls, work lamps, cameras, phones, laptops, speakers, tools (I counted tools not batteries for tools because the question was devices, but there are slightly more batteries than tools), radios, a car, key fobs, the actual house itself, various toys, thermostats and more.
There is at least 50kg of lithium inside the house and another couple of hundred kilos outside it.
Yeah, I started a quick tally, realized "dozens, probably over a hundred" and stopped as well. There's are also some things that unexpectedly have batteries (our stove, washer, dryer, fridge, barbecue / grill, that sort of thing), and then a number that I'd expect, but not think about, like a few different board games, UPS, etc.
I think well over a hundred here.
I was at 9 counting only physically removable batteries: mice, remotes, a few useless gimmicks, a carbon monoxide detector, scale.
But with built-in rechargeable batteries I probably have to triple that number (2x cell phones, 3x laptops, 6+ game controllers, the Switch, a wireless keyboard,...). I mean, a lot of it is junk in some dusty boxes, too, but nevertheless relevant for a survey about e-waste, lol.
Without physically going room to room, I'll try to tally this mentally and worth noting that I rarely dispose of old electronics unless they are truly dead so there are a lot of unused devices in my office/around the house waiting for a project to suit them:
My office
Used:
Unused:
Wife's office with ensuite
Hall bathroom
Bedroom
Kitchen/Dining
Gym
Living room
The garage, workshop, and general outside a specific room
Smoke detector
So...
...at least 100 items. Which is more than I'd have guessed if I had to just spit out a number in a few seconds.
I have rechargeables, NiCad and LiPo/Ion, for everything that has replaceable batteries except the smoke/CO detectors, wireless trackballs, and stuff that uses button batteries. I tend to buy things that plug in over battery powered as they last longer and are more powerful, but that's not really possible with a lot of things. Tools for example, while there are at least 10 battery powered, I have at a minimum double that in fully electric or air powered examples. Every laptop listed above that isn't work related or my wife's personal laptop is a hand me down from others to use as projects and whatnot.
Hmm.
2 cell phones, 1 tablet, 1 steam deck, 1 switch, 4 xbox controllers, 1 steam controller, 1 pair of VR headset controllers, an FPV drone with 6 lipo packs, radio receiver, robot vacuum, 3 battery chargers packs, 5 or 6 flashlights, an electronic rifle scope, Tesla model 3, 5 ego battery packs to power lawn mower, leaf blower, etc, 3 various packs that power tools, 1 scale, 2 electric toothbrushes, and way too many battery operated kids toys.
I may be forgetting some things, but so far 13 items
This is a great question! I saw it this morning, guesstimated around 15, and now I’ve spent all day noticing batteries and it’s up to fortyish at least.
Seems like three main groups for me, which I imagine have quite different impacts on waste:
Internal lithium batteries - fewest in number, by far the biggest in stored energy. All the usual suspects here: phone, old phone, laptop, watch, headphones, couple of power banks, maybe one or two others I’ve missed.
Good old AAs - quite a few around, but I very rarely throw them out. Game controllers and anything else high draw has rechargeables, TV remotes don’t but they seem to last basically forever anyway.
CR2032s - yeah, there are a ton of these around, although that’s probably partly because I have a decent amount of zigbee/BLE devices around. They last a decent time, but I do feel like it’s generating more waste than I’d like. I should look into rechargeables here…