My Favorite Christmas Gift: Battery Charger

While I received many fabulous Christmas gifts this year, there is one gift that stands above and beyond all of the others. It may seem odd to you, but to me it makes perfect sense. My favorite Christmas present for 2008 is a battery charger. Not for a car, but for AA and AAA batteries. I received an Energizer Rechargeable Easy Charger and numerous packs of rechargeable batteries.

As the parent of three children ranging in age from 20 months to 14 years, batteries are an everyday necessity in my home. It seems like almost every present that the kids received for Christmas this year runs on batteries. And when you consider the price of batteries, then keeping these toys and items running can become very expensive over time. Each item takes between two and four batteries and the batteries range in price from $3-$6 per pack. So, these Christmas presents that my children received have the potential to cost me quite a bit over the next year.

My Mother in law gave me the Easy Charger which comes with 4 AA batteries and 4 AAA batteries. She also gave me to refill packs of batteries which include a total of 16 more AA and 8 more AAA batteries. All of the batteries need to be charged before use, but the charger is fast and easy to use. To charge the batteries, you just plug the charger in and press start. The total time needed to charge four batteries is four hours if they are completely dead. And, the charger has an automatic cut off so that you cannot overcharge your batteries. The charger is also an Energy Star product so it is not using too much electricity as it charges my batteries.

So far, I have charged batteries for several toys. The batteries work just as well as regular batteries and the items run fine. The best feature of this charger, as far as I am concerned, is that the batteries can be charged over and over. The rechargeable batteries that I received are E2 batteries that are better for use with high tech items. My daughters starter video camera will run longer and better on these batteries. And I will not be buying new ones every time she uses her camera!

Over all, while I received many great gifts in 2008, my favorite Christmas gift really is the battery charger and batteries that I got. The overall money savings that this will show over the next year is phenomenal. And the ease of use and short charging time make it ideal. My children may not appreciate this gift, but I do! Next time I would have planned to buy batteries, I may just buy a second charger instead. And then I can charge twice as many batteries at one time!