Lithium AA batteries?

[TNReb]

In the past I've always ran the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries in my cameras. My old ones required 8 batteries. My new ones require 12 batteries.

I ordered some off Amazon yesterday. They were delivered this morning and I realized I bought AAA instead of AA.

I'm putting the cameras in a place that's nearly 3 hours from where I live. I'm not going to be around to constantly change batteries. Are the lithium my best bet? Where are y'all finding the best prices?

 

[UCStandSitter]

Cheapest seems to be Amazon. However, I've noticed that the batteries that don't come from Amazon sellers and instead 3rd parties tend not to hold up. Not sure if they've been improperly stored or what but it's happened twice lately. Lasting less time than alkaline

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Energizer lithium AA's off Amazon is your best bet, imo. Those batteries should get you easily through 1 season.

 

[TheLBLman]

Are the lithium my best bet?

IMO, lithium is your only bet with cell cams.
I buy my AA lithiums mainly from Sam's in packages of 18.
Occasionally, they will have a "special", such as $2 off per package,
but day in and day out, their price is competitive.

Yep, when you're having to stock up on lithium batteries,
makes you more greatly appreciate those cams that operate
on only 6 or 8 batteries

 

[TNReb]

As soon as I posted this I thought about checking Sam's Club. They had the best price I could find - $1.83 per battery.

I had someone with a membership order them for me so I could pick them up today. Worked out.

 

[Andy S.]

What make/model camera? Lithium batteries (make sure they are authentic, be careful with eBay), or a solar panel if camera is compatible and will be stationary for several months or longer. Also, Tactacam just came out with a rechargeable lithium battery pack if you have a Reveal. I have no experience with it, but you might want to research it if you run Reveal cellular cameras.

Tactacam Lithium Cartridge Rechargeable Battery

*** On a side note, I have historically purchased Lithium AAs at Sam's Club at the best price available. In the last 6 weeks, they have increased price twice. This is the latest price in my neck of the woods. ***

 

[tellico4x4]

Needed some Lithiums for new cam last week & just stopped at Batteries Plus on way to camp. Bought two eight packs of Energizer for $53.00 ( $25+ ea) !!
Didn't even get kissed, as I dang sure got screwed...

 

[BSK]

I buy my Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries in bulk. If I buy enough I can often get them as cheap as $1.60/battery.

 

[TheLBLman]

I buy my Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries in bulk. If I buy enough I can often get them as cheap as $1.60/battery.

I'm afraid those days are gone now
Lithium prices are about to sky-rocket just as has oil & gas over the past year.

But most costly way to buy them will remain in small quantities, such as the common 2 - 4 packs.

 

[BSK]

I'm afraid those days are gone now
Lithium prices are about to sky-rocket just as has oil & gas over the past year.

Wow, just checked the places I usually buy from, and even in bulk it's hard to find them under $2.00/battery. Found just one place at $1.80/battery.

 

[KPH]

I get Harper Freight's best batteries and they do very well plus I am not paying a arm and a leg for them.

 

[TheLBLman]

About half my trail cam arsenal remains "traditional" trail cams (not cell cams), most of which work well in the winter months on rechargeable batteries (I already have). But the cell cams, they NEED lithiums, not only to get thru a deer season, but also to perform as they should, especially in colder weather.

Meanwhile, the demand for lithium batteries is soaring, and our primary supply source is China.

 

[Andy S.]

At a local Sam's club, I paid $1.69 per Energizer Lithium AA battery on 18JUN22, and they are now $1.96 per battery at same location today, as denoted by pic above.

 

[TheLBLman]

At a local Sam's club, I paid $1.69 per Energizer Lithium AA battery on 18JUN22, and they are now $1.96 per battery at same location today, as denoted by pic above.

$1.96 minus $1.69 = $0.30 price increase

May not initially sound like a whole lot, until you put the inflationary math to it.
But going up this 30 cents is an actual increase of 17.75% in less than a month!

If these batteries increases an average of $0.30 monthly for the next 12 months,
each battery becomes priced at $5.29.

And that 18-pack of lithium batteries from Sam's becomes $95.22.
The sales tax also gets tripled! So with a sales tax rate of 9.25%,
that 18-pack of lithium AA's will be costing $104.03 !!!

This would mean an annualized "inflation" rate of 313% on these lithium batteries!!!

Let's hope it doesn't continue increasing like this,
but so far, "hope" has not been a good plan.

 

[TNJones4530]

Hottest Toddy. Lithium are 100% worth the price. I used regular and then went to Lithium and my Lithiums are still at 100% for months and thousands of pictures. Regular batteries would have already been down to about 70-80% easily.

 

[TheLBLman]

Lithiums can save you special "costly" trips for the sole purpose of replacing batteries in trail cams. In part because of this one reason, they can actually save you money (and time) over other batteries.

There is also the issue that you'll typically get more wildlife pics the less you disturb the areas around your cams.

Keep in mind many trail cam battery meters become essentially worthless with lithium batteries. Your trail cam battery meter may show 100% on the battery reading until the day it suddenly shows 0%. SOMETIMES, you may have a day or two of it dropping below 100% before the lithium batteries are totally dead.

I've generally found trail cam battery meters to be somewhat as worthless as trail cam temperature gauges, as in unreliable accuracy.

 

[BSK]

Lithiums can save you special "costly" trips for the sole purpose of replacing batteries in trail cams. In part because of this one reason, they can actually save you money (and time) over other batteries.

There is also the issue that you'll typically get more wildlife pics the less you disturb the areas around your cams.

Keep in mind many trail cam battery meters become essentially worthless with lithium batteries. Your trail cam battery meter may show 100% on the battery reading until the day it suddenly shows 0%. SOMETIMES, you may have a day or two of it dropping below 100% before the lithium batteries are totally dead.

I've generally found trail cam battery meters to be somewhat as worthless as trail cam temperature gauges, as in unreliable accuracy.

Learned this the hard way. Don't remember which TNdeer user turned me on to how to actually check the effectiveness of lithium batteries, but I now carry a cheap volt meter with me when swapping cards in my cams. If an individual lithium AA reads in the upper 1.6 volt range (1.67-1.69), it's about to die. I swap them before they fall below 1.60 or else it WILL be dead before I get back the next week.

 

[BSK]

$1.96 minus $1.69 = $0.30 price increase

May not initially sound like a whole lot, until you put the inflationary math to it.
But going up this 30 cents is an actual increase of 17.75% in less than a month!

If these batteries increases an average of $0.30 monthly for the next 12 months,
each battery becomes priced at $5.29.

And that 18-pack of lithium batteries from Sam's becomes $95.22.
The sales tax also gets tripled! So with a sales tax rate of 9.25%,
that 18-pack of lithium AA's will be costing $104.03 !!!

This would mean an annualized "inflation" rate of 313% on these lithium batteries!!!

Let's hope it doesn't continue increasing like this,
but so far, "hope" has not been a good plan.

As fast as the price is going up, I think I'm going to buy what I found today at $1.80/battery. I need a couple hundred.

 

[Omega]

Anyone run rechargeables in their cameras? I have switched to rechargeables in a bunch of my electronic gadgets, but have yet to do so in the cameras, I use lithium, but have wondered how well they would work in them. I usually don't run them but a few months, if at all, so wondering if anyone had any idea as to how long they would effectively run a camera.

 

[@fulldraw]

Office supply online has 24 pack lithium for $29.99. Better hurry.