Let's be real. Every one of us use batteries – and lots of them. In reality the typical family spends about $200 annually on disposable batteries. In the no too distant past, making a move to smart batteries had not been practical for the reason that technology wasn'tt up to snuff. However, with the coming of professional zerowatt technology that actually works, you can now find the best rechargeable battery available that can replace virtually all of your throw-away batteries. This can readily help the bank balance yearly plus save our planet from 15 billion batteries that are thrown in to the land-fills year after year. The popularity is obviously far from disposable batteries. Before, the usage of rechargeables was discovered in niche markets – photography, pro-audio, and medical. Now, rechargeables are being used in just about every part of life – home, school, church and business.

The Smart Battery Club will soon offer a way for "offline" members to join.  While most of our members will still continue to join via online invitations, our program is expanding to "brick and mortar" businesses and organizations.  Through the use of invitation postcards, it is now possible to capture customers and families in an "offline" setting - such as health food stores, churches, chiropractor's offices, etc. Stay tuned for more smart ways to use smart batteries

Low Self discharge cells like Max E Batteries are usually stored on the shelf or maybe in a drawer for more than 12 months and still have 85% of their total power. While this is a big advantage over standard rechargeables, you may still find a few "house-keeping" details to make sure you're obtaining maximum power and life from them.

Rechargeable batteries need to be used, again and again. They're very much like a race horse - born to run. Although they have the ability to relax in the stall and eat hay, they much rather be running. The same holds true of all rechargeable batteries. With Max E Batteries, we recommend you pull them out from the stable every 6 months and charge them This keeps the chemistry active and definitely will help to increase the entire lifespan of these batteries.
In case you have already converted your household over to rechargeable batteries, do not forget that you want to get the maximum amount of recycles from your batteries. This will provides you with the most value for your money.  Max E Batteries are the highest-quality, highest capacity rechargeable batteries on the market today and will yield the greatest recycles - up to 1000 - when properly maintained. If you make an attempt to switch to rechargeables and use an inferior brand - you'll greatly diminish your savings and turn out disappointed.

Now - as to the charger. The battery charger is more like the exotic sports car you could have inside the garage. You realize it runs great, however for optimum care and safety, you merely take it out on special occasions.  Let's face the facts, the greater miles you apply to that car, the less vaue there exists.

Approaching your household battery charger ought to be looked at the same way. The greater you utilize a battery charger, the more the heat build-up in the circuitry. Heat is the enemy of all electronics. Now, here's the trade-off. With standard rechargeables you simply must use a charger in trickle charge mode. This really is acceptable in case you have certain applications that will need frequent use. We come across this with a lot of in our Pro-Audio clients who make use of wireless mics and need maximum capacity all of the time. The charger stays on continuously. This accumulation of heat even just in stand-by,  will increase your power bill a little bit.
For pretty much all families, though, utilizing a ZeroWatt charger is recommended for maximum charger life - and energy savings. What makes this charger so great is that you simply will no longer have got to remember to "take the batteries off the charger and unplug it." It's like taking your Ferrari out for a spin and having it park itself back in the garage automatically.  The Zerowatt battery charger "parks itself in stand-by" simply by itself. I don't know about you, but having at least one of my appliances that is smart enough to turn itself off and disconnect from the power supply is big. I keep forgetting to unplug the coffee machine - at least I don't have to worry about the batteries and battery charger. 

As we discussed, the low self-discharge feature of the Max-E battery makes it conducive to a large number of applications. Basically, anywhere you can use an alkaline battery, you can use a Max e battery - and use it up to 1000 times.

While this in itself is a tremendous savings, the real power of Max E technology is shown in the Ansmann 9V battery.  First, the 9V Max E cell has the same capacity as the standard rechargeable - 250 mah.  This makes the cell available for both high-drain and low drain applications. Max-E 9V's can be used in high power  RC cars, metal detectors, wireless mics, walkie-talkies, paintball guns, tens units and other medical devices, personal fans, as well as low-drain devices including smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, as well as guitar effects pedals, and audio visual equipment.

Many of us have heard the "warnings" concerning the use of rechargeables in smoke detectors due to the problem with self-discharge from standard rechargeables. While we would agree that a standard rechargeable battery should not be used for a smoke detector, etc. we would certainly advocate the use of the low-self discharge 9V cell -- as these batteries maintain 85% of their power in a year.  Smoke detector batteries are supposed to be changed every 6 months - well within the capabilities of a Max E 9V cell.

Finally because of the shift away from the use of 9V cells in electrical appliances, many times it is hard to find a battery charger that also accomodates the 9V battery.  The Ansmann Zerowatt Powerline 5 Battery Charger does allow for  the charging on one 9V cell and makes it a complete charger for ALL of your household battery needs.

The Zerowatt Powerline 4 Charger is the most advanced "on the go" charger available today. Most families are using this charger as a secondary charger to the Powerline 5 simply because we all use so many AA batteries.  It also allows for on the go charging of AA and AAA's with the included car adaptor. Let's look at  the features of this new charger:

• Intelligent plug-in charger with ZeroWatt technology
•  Automatically disconnects from mains power once the charging process is completed
•  For 1-4  AA or  AAA rechargeable batteries
•  Microprocessor controlled supervision of each cell with LED indicator
•  Multiple over charging protection by voltage detection (-ΔV, 0ΔV) and safety timer
•  Faulty cell detection / alkaline detection & reverse polarity protection
•  For worldwide use (100-240V AC)
•  Car adaptor included (12V DC)
•  Charging current:  AA: 800mA,  AAA: 400mA
•  3 years warranty.
  

Unlike other portable chargers, you do not have to charge the batteries in "pairs." You can mix and match the AA and AAA's in any combination. 

Many families that are using AA's for video game controllers find the Powerline 4 charger very convenient as it can plug right into the wall socket in any room of the house. 

When you're running out the door with your digital camera that uses  AA's, take the  Powerline 4 along with extra batteries and charge them with the car adaptor.  If you forget to unplug it  -- no worries - it will shut itself off when done charging because of the Zerowatt feature. 

Remember, only chargers equipped with ZeroWatt technology are automatically disconnected from the main power when switched to standby mode. This not only lowers energy costs, but also prolongs product life.

No, I'm not talking about car insurance.

I'm talking about ZeroWatt Rechargeable Technology. A simple, effective way to reduce your household battery budget.
With a short investment of your time, you can save money, save the planet and make money too. 

So let's not waste anymore time - just watch the video 

Max E Batteries are considered low self discharge batteries. (LSD) This means, unlike standard rechargeables that lose about 2% of their capacity per day, Max E batteries only lose about 2% per month.

This is very useful for household appliances and electronics because we rarely use our electronics non-stop. (unless your addicted to Wi or Xbox!)

Max E batteries are the batteries of choice for families because they can "stored up" just like alkaline batteries. I remember going to Cosco or Walmart and buying copious amount of batteries to store them up - so I always had fresh ones on hand.  With Max-E batteries, I accomplish the same thing -- except I'm not buying a mountain of batteries, just a handful to run my electronics and some spares so I have a fresh set ready to go.

That's the beauty of MAX -E Batteries.

The perfect marriage occurs with a ZeroWatt Charger.  Since the Zerowatt shuts off after charging (and disconnects form the power source) the recharging process becomes automatic. You don't need to think about taking batteries off the charger, or keeping the batteries on the charger for fear of self-discharge.

It's as simple as that.

Some have asked, what's the deal on using ZeroWatt chargers - Do they really use much energy?

Battery chargers - or any electrical appliance that is left plugged in - draw stand-by current when not in use. With a typical charger, this could be around $25-30 per year in just stand-by consumption. If the charger is being used - even in a trickle charge capacity, with batteries left on the charger, this adds up to more monthly expense - which will vary by how many cells are being charged, etc.  So, the first advantage of using ZeroWatt chargers is energy savings. Remember, we want to save you money - don't try to use cheap chargers that cook the batteries and run up your electirc bill needlessly.

The second and probably more significant benefit is prolonged product life. Electronic components that are left on - even in stand-by - will wear out sooner. The main enemy of circuit boards and resistors, transistors, etc is heat. As long as there current reaching the circuits, there is heat which, in time, will shorten the life expectancy of the battery charger.

Of course, both the Powerline 4 and Powerline 5 ZeroWatt battery chargers include a three-year replacement warranty, but we're talking about using something for a lifetime. So, it just makes more sense to disconnect the chargers from the power source. I don't know about you, but in my house, it is difficult to remember to unplug something, every time your done with it. With your ZeroWatt chargers, it's one less thing to worry about and keep up with. 

Now, go turn off that bathroom fan and the closet light that's been on for the last 6 hours.

The Smart Battery Club is pleased to officially take the program online to families throughout the United States. We trust you'll find this way of saving money worthwhile to share with others. It's a simple and effective way to do something positive for the environment.

We've just put the finishing touches on the website and members only area.  As the video explains, this is an excellent vehicle for generating extra income for you by simply sending others our way.  Besides the obvious financial benefits, the bigger picture is the opportunity to free families from the wasteful habit of throw-away batteries. In the even greater "big picture" - the sooner we reduce the amount of batteries in landfill the better we all we all be.

Remember, for every rechargeable battery you use, you take 1000 disposable batteries out of the dump.  That's a real good exchange -- and it's makes the 15 BILLION number a little more attainable.

Wishing the best for you and your family and friends.

David Schliep
Smart Battery Club