A Beginners Guide to the Best Batteries for Long Term Storage and Emergencies

Batteries are essential items to stockpile when preparing for disasters like power outages. But it isn’t as simple as getting a bunch of batteries and throwing them in a drawer.

There are many types of batteries, and not all are suitable for long-term storage. They can go bad quickly or lose their charge even when not used.

If you want to stockpile batteries, here’s what you need to know, plus the best batteries for emergency preparedness and bug out bags.

The Quick Answer

For disaster preparedness, you’ll need to stockpile NiMH LSD and non-rechargeable lithium batteries.

NiMH LSD batteries can hold 70-80% of their charge for up to 10 years in storage, so they will be ready to use when needed. Some can be recharged 2,000+ times. Ensure you have a good-quality smart charger and an alternative energy source like a portable solar panel.

Lithium primary batteries aren’t rechargeable but have larger capacities and hold almost all of their charge for up to 20 years. You can toss them in a bug-out bag and count on them years later.

Battery Terminology

Before we get into what the best batteries for disaster preparedness are, there are some essential terms you need to know.

Capacity

Battery capacity is measured in mAh. It refers to how much energy the battery holds. Most household batteries range from 800 to 2,500 mAh. Higher-capacity batteries are becoming available.

Voltage

Most household batteries have 1.2 volts. Some specialty batteries (like CR123A batteries) use higher voltages, though. You’ll need to ensure that the voltage of your batteries matches the device requirements.

Self-Discharge Rate

Even when batteries aren’t in use, they will lose some of their charge. How much charge they lose over time is their self-discharge rate.

Recoverable Capacity

When rechargeable batteries are stored for a long time, they will self-discharge. You can recharge them to regain the lost charge. However, not all of the charge can be recovered.

For example, if batteries are left idle for months at a hot temperature, they might only retain 60% of their listed charge. The amount of charge that can be regained is called recoverable capacity.

Battery Memory

Did you ever hear that batteries should be completely empty before being recharged?

This was because of the “memory effect”: A battery would “remember” the previous discharge amount and wouldn’t give more. Luckily, the memory effect only applies to older batteries like Ni-Cad.

NiMH batteries aren’t usually affected, and lithium batteries are never affected.

Charging Cycles

This refers to how often you can recharge a battery before it can’t be recharged. In other words, the battery loses some recoverable capacity after each recharge cycle.

Shelf life

When stored properly, this is how long you can expect the battery to last. Note that the shelf life of a battery is related to its self-discharge rate and number of charging cycles.

Low-Drain Devices

This refers to devices that require batteries but only use a small amount of energy. Examples include remote controls, smoke detectors, and clocks.

Certain types of batteries should never go in low-drain devices because they could self-discharge and never recover.

Types of Batteries

Batteries are named by the type of chemistry used in them.

The chemistry matters greatly!

It affects everything from capacity, performance, lifespan, and shelf life. The main battery options are alkaline, Ni-Cad, NiMH, lithium, and li-ion.

Alkaline

Alkaline batteries used to be the only choice for household batteries. Now, there’s no reason to buy alkaline batteries anymore. They might seem cheaper up-front, but you’ll pay much more over time for poorer performance.

To put this in perspective, you might only get 100-200 camera shots with alkaline batteries (compared to 800+ with lithium batteries). This breaks down to about 70 cents per 50 shots. The cost adds up quickly since you can’t recharge most alkaline batteries.

There are some rechargeable alkaline batteries, but their performance is terrible. You will get just a few recharge cycles out of them at best.

The only good thing about alkaline batteries is their low self-discharge rate. This makes them suitable for low-drain devices like clocks. A single alkaline battery can power a clock for years, whereas a battery with a higher self-discharge rate would quickly die.

NiCad Batteries

NiCad refers to nickel cadmium batteries.  They are rechargeable alternatives to alkaline batteries. However, NiCad has mostly been replaced by NiMH batteries.

Like with alkaline, there’s no good reason to get NiCad batteries anymore. The main downside is that they self-discharge quickly – around 10% per month! Their shelf life is also pretty bad. While some can last 5+ years, they generally lose much of their capacity within 18 months. So, these are NOT suitable for disaster prepping.

NiCad batteries also suffer from the memory effect, so drain them completely before recharging. This makes them unsuitable for situations where you might need to use the battery, recharge a bit, and then use it again (such as recharging with a portable solar charger on the go).

Standard NiMH Batteries

NiMH is the most common type of rechargeable battery you’ll find. They have better capacity and performance than NiCad batteries. However, there are a lot of downsides to these batteries.

The main downside is that NiMH batteries have a huge self-discharge rate. Within 24 hours, they will lose about 20% of their charge. Afterward, they lose about 10% per month. This high discharge means they are terrible for low-drain devices like smoke detectors.

Another significant issue is that NiMH batteries shouldn’t be allowed to sit idle. They need to be regularly charged and recharged. They can discharge beyond a recoverable point if you don’t do this. This makes them unsuitable for stockpiling for disaster preparedness.

NiMH LSD Batteries – Best for Disaster Prepping

This newer type of battery solves the problems with standard NiMH batteries. Also called “hybrid” or “ready to use,” the LSD stands for “low self-discharge.”

As the name implies, NiMH LSD batteries don’t have a high self-discharge. When stored properly, they will retain up to 85% of their charge after 1 year of storage and 70% of their charge after 5 years. Lower-quality NiMH LSD batteries might only retain 80% of the charge after 6 months, but this is still better than standard NiMH batteries.

A weird catch about NiMH LSD batteries is this: The higher the capacity, the fewer times you can recharge it.

For example, a 2500mAh NiMH LSD battery might only get 500 charging cycles. By contrast, a 2100mAh battery could get 2,100 cycles. This means that the lower-capacity batteries pay off over the long run.

Of course, there are situations where you don’t want to constantly recharge or carry lots of spare backups, so it still might make sense to buy some high-capacity NiMH LSD batteries, too.

Beware of Overheating and Overcharging

Note that NiMH LSD batteries are sensitive to heat and overcharging. You’ll need to get a good smart charger to use with them. We recommend the Opus BT smart charger.

Lithium (Non-Rechargeable) – Great for Bug Out Bags

Lithium batteries are the best in every aspect – from capacity to shelf life. They come with huge amounts of capacity. The weight-to-capacity ratio is also fantastic, which makes them great for situations like backpacking or bug out bags where you want to keep weight down.

The quality of lithium batteries is generally very high, so you can get a lot longer running life out of the batteries than other types like NiMH LSDs.

Lithium batteries also have a very low self-discharge rate. They will hold 80% of their charge over 15 years. So, you could toss them in a bug out bag, and they’d be ready to power gear even years later.

But, yes, there are some downsides. The main one is that lithium batteries are not rechargeable. They are also pretty expensive, so the cost adds up quickly if you use only lithium batteries.

Until recently, lithium batteries were only available in specialty sizes. Now, you can find AA and AAA sizes of lithium batteries. Just check the voltage of the batteries to ensure they match the device you are using. High-voltage lithium batteries could fry certain devices.

Li-Ion

Li-ion is the rechargeable version of lithium batteries. They have the benefit of coming in high capacities, so they are an excellent alternative to NiMH LSD batteries for high-drain devices. Li-ion batteries are even used to power the Tesla electric car (it uses over 7,000 Li-ion cells)!

Unfortunately, Li-ion batteries still have many problems that make them unsuitable for most uses, not to mention unsuitable for disaster prepping.

The first issue is that Li-ion batteries shouldn’t go down to zero charge. The battery can be permanently ruined if it drops below a certain capacity.

Since li-ion batteries have a reasonably high self-discharge rate (15-20% per year), you can’t just leave them sitting around. They could self-discharge to a point where they are beyond recovery. So, these aren’t an option for disaster prepping.

Li-ion batteries also have specific storage requirements. They need to be at approximately 40% charge when stored.   If you keep them at a full charge, they will self-discharge faster!

You must also keep them around room temperature, or they will get damaged permanently. If kept at 77F for a year, they will retain almost all of their capacity. At 104F, they will permanently lose 15% of their capacity.

Because of all these flaws, li-ion batteries are only suitable for electronics with high energy requirements and which are used daily. You probably don’t need them for any of your emergency preparedness gear.

Which Batteries to Use with Emergency Gear

For emergency gear, we only recommend using NiMH LSD batteries or non-rechargeable lithium batteries. Here are the guidelines:

Flashlights, Lanterns, and Other General Emergency Gear: NiMH LSDs with Lithium Backups

This gear tends to get used fairly often, so it will save you money if you choose rechargeable batteries. However, you should still have some lithium primaries as a backup in case you can’t recharge, such as during a long-term power outage or while waiting for the NiMH LSDs to recharge with a solar panel.

Recommended:

• Nimh LSD – Eneloop batteries – Check on Amazon
• Lithium Backup – Energizer 3500mAh Ultimate – Check on Amazon
• Best Emergency Lantern

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Emergency Radios: Lithium Batteries

We recommend getting an emergency radio with the SAME feature, which triggers an alarm during a disaster in your area.

Your radio must be constantly turned on for this feature to work. You can keep it plugged into a wall outlet, but the batteries will serve as a backup energy source, so you hear the alarm even during power outages.

Because emergency radios are so important, you want to ensure the battery doesn’t go dead when needed. That’s why lithium batteries are a good choice.   They can sit in your emergency radio for years and still provide power when needed.

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Gear in a Bug Out Bags: NiMH LSDs with Lithium Backups

Even though it is good practice to check the contents of your BOB kit regularly, most people will forget to do this.

Since the gear in your BOB is essential, you want to ensure the batteries will be ready when you need the gear.   Thus, high-capacity lithium batteries are the best bet.

It’s still good to have some NiMH LSD batteries in your BOB, too, but only if you bring a portable charger. Solar chargers and solar power banks are a good bet. There are also hand-crank chargers, which, while a pain to use, will work in any condition.

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Car Emergency Kits: Lithium Batteries

Car emergency kits usually get stored in the trunk of your car. The temperature there can quickly get to over 110F.

NiMH LSD batteries are much more susceptible to heat damage than lithium batteries, so choose lithium batteries for gear stored in your car.

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Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detectors: Lithium Batteries

These are two pieces of emergency gear you never want to go dead! If you are diligent about checking battery life at least twice per year, you could use NiMH LSDs. However, NiMH LSDs tend to keep their charge for a long time and then suddenly drop. That means you might not realize the batteries are dead until too late.

To play it safe, it’s best to use lithium batteries on this crucial low-drain gear. Lithium batteries last a very long time because of their high capacity and low self-discharge.

Battery Tips for Emergency Prepping

#1: Use the Same Type of Batteries for All Your Gear

Whenever possible, choose gear that uses the same size of batteries. For example, my headlamps, UV water filter, and emergency radio all use AAA batteries. If one piece of critical gear dies and I can’t recharge, I can take the batteries from another device.

#2: Never Mix and Match Batteries

You shouldn’t use different types of batteries together, such as NiMH with NiMH LSD batteries. You shouldn’t mix different capacities even if the batteries are the same chemistry. Some say not to mix and match different brands – even if they are the same type and capacity.

The reason for this is that the gear will only perform at the level of the lowest-charged battery. Adding a full battery with a half-charged battery will not help the device run at a higher capacity.

#3: Get a Good Charger

Even good rechargeable batteries are susceptible to overheating and overcharge. Unfortunately, almost all rechargeables come with really cheap chargers.   Invest in a smart charger that lets you know the actual charge and stops charging when full or at a specific temperature. Otherwise, you won’t get the full lifespan of the batteries.

#4: Store Batteries Properly

Batteries need to be stored in a cool, dry place. Their ends should never be allowed to touch each other or metal. Certain batteries should be stored at a specific charge level. For more, read my post on How to Store Batteries Properly.