Sense and scan battery alternatives

[Art]

Plugwise Sense and Scan units are powered by a single 3.6v AA battery. In my home these pricey buggers last less than a year, negating any power savings I might accomplish.

Obviously I'm looking for alternatives. The manual states the units will function between 3.2 and 3.6 volt. I have thought about regulating down the output of a 5v usb adapter and hooking that up, but a rechargeable battery would be more elegant. Is there such a thing as a rechargeable 3.6v AA battery?

[Post-IT]

I found some:

http://www.lightinthebox.com/nl/Populai ... rijen.html
http://www.accu-company.nl/nl/batterij/ ... 35030.html


I would expect you need a special charger, and it seems most of these don't have any overcharging prevention built in.

[Verkenner]

Thanks Post-IT

Indeed these 3.6v 2,1 Ah AA Lithium batteries are very expensive and work only (max) one year.
In Groningen I bought one of these: 16,90 euro !!!

Alternatives are welcome

[dorenberg]

Well I tried other brands in the past. No success. Sense and Scan were not working anymore. Only the original brand worked for me. I bought them for around 4 euros a piece.

Just buy them here: http://www.nkon.nl/saft-sl14500-aa-lith ... -3-6v.html

These were not working: Xeno ER14505 XL-060F 3.6V AA Lithium Thiony Battery Li-SOCl2 XN0001

[esschenk]

http://dx.com/p/ultra-fire-aya-215-3-7v ... yNQH_l5MsY

ed

[mhn]

That's a 18650 they are big. It's the 14500 that's AA size.

I use 14500 in flashlights but i don't know about Plugwise.

Regards
Morten

[esschenk]

Sorry wrong link

http://dx.com/p/uranusfire-14500-1000ma ... yNWY_l5MsY

[Art]

In spots where it's no aesthetic problem to use an external power source I might try one of these. 3 x NiMH AA should equal one 3,6 volt battery, right?

A cost effective solution, since NiMH batteries are relatively cheap and easy to come by and I already own a charger.

[Art]

@ Post-IT: Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I ordered a couple of these and they've replaced the regular batteries as of yesterday evening. No problems so far. If things change I'll report back here.