“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone?”
“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone?”We can apply Joni Mitchell’s timeless lyric to most experiences in life, including the experience of hearing aids. You may be in the middle of a conversation when sound begins to fade – and then you remember that you did not bring an extra set of batteries for your hearing aids.
Hearing aids are remarkable, life-changing devices that restore our access to the world, and they instill in us a sense of confidence. This confidence should not disappear just because you’ve forgotten to bring replacement batteries with you! With rechargeable hearing aids, you won’t have to.
Traditional Hearing Aid Batteries
Batteries of various sizes have long been the trusted power supply for hearing aids, but as technology continues to advance, consumers have called for a rechargeable option for hearing aids. For one, the more advanced and powerful your hearing aids are, the more energy the require, and as such, batteries must be replaced more often. In the past, with analog hearing aids, batteries were changed once or twice a month. These days, with sophisticated digital hearing aids that offer wireless streaming capabilities, batteries don’t last quite as long.
Some wearers find they are spending up to $150 a year on hearing aid batteries alone. At the same time, there is less confidence in the lasting power of batteries. Instead of feeling confident that your hearing aids will work for you anywhere you go, you must remember to bring an extra set of batteries with you, just in case. If you lead an active lifestyle, or find yourself often in louder settings, your hearing aids work harder to process more auditory information, which drains your batteries faster.
Consider the math: if you wear two hearing aids, you are replacing two batteries every few days or once a week. Annually, 150 billion zinc air batteries make their way to landfills. As these batteries are not recyclable, they become waste product, which run the risk of seeping lead and acid into underground water supplies and become an environmental hazard.
A Rechargeable Solution
Over the past few years, as hearing aids become more advanced technologically, hearing aid brands have heeded the call for a rechargeable hearing aid. To be clear, rechargeable hearing aids are different than hearing aids that use rechargeable batteries (which still require annual replacement).
Rechargeable hearing aids use lithium-ion batteries – the same long-life, rechargeable batteries that power your smartphone and laptop – which means you do not have to replace the batteries for the life span of the hearing aid. Hearing aids tend to last an average of five to seven years, which means you don’t have to worry about replacing your batteries – nor do you have to worry about unexpectedly running out of juice when you need it most!
Beyond the lifespan of the battery and the financial and environmental benefits of rechargeable hearing aids, there’s another silver lining. For people with limited dexterity, rechargeable hearing aids are a great option. People who suffer from arthritis or people with difficulties with fine motor skills no longer need to struggle with the small mechanisms of the hearing aid battery door. With rechargeable hearing aids, wearers simply remove their hearing aids and place them into a recharging station, which will begin to charge their devices immediately.
An Overnight Charge Guarantees Confident Listening All Day
Before bed, hearing aids are simply removed from your ears and placed into the charging docket overnight. Wake up from a good night’s sleep eight hours later – and your hearing aids are charged and ready to go in the morning! Charging times vary slightly between different manufacturers, but on average, a six to eight-hour charge provides, on average, 16 to 20 hours of unlimited listening. (If you use wireless streaming more frequently, the battery life may be reduced a few hours.)
With wireless connectivity, you don’t have to be in the dark anymore about the battery life of your hearing aids. You can simply check your battery life on a smartphone app connected to your hearing aids. And, if your rechargeable hearing aids should run out of batteries, most hearing aid brands provide a travel recharging station that provides a quick re-up of energy – usually a 30-minute charge for about six hours of listening.
Visit Us at Hearing Consultants
At Hearing Consultants, we offer a number of rechargeable hearing aid options, from leading manufacturers such as Phonak, Signia, ReSound, Widex, Unitron, and Starkey. Ready to solve the energy crisis of hearing aid batteries? Contact us today to learn more about cost-effective and environmentally-friendly rechargeable hearing aids.
