Electrical energy has become a necessary aspect of our lives and batteries have let us live “wirelessly” making it more convenient and aesthetic. Unfortunately, the tradeoff is that the energy that batteries provide is exhaustible meaning that they have to be periodically replaced. Battery technology is constantly evolving but even so, we often find that they don’t last as long as we’d like them to.
There are usually multiple ways to solve a problem, and in extending battery life there are 3 approaches:
- Higher capacity/more efficient batteries
- Regenerative or augmentative energy technology
- Energy use optimization
In the case of approach #1, higher capacity batteries provide more life through a higher capacitance in the cell. This is like a brute force method for longer battery life. More efficient batteries like lithium batteries help extend battery life by being more efficient with the natural discharge due to chemical reactions with the battery. The main downside is that these batteries are more expensive than the typical alkaline battery and may offer a worse energy to cost ratio.
Regenerative and augmentative energy technology have been quite popular in sensor plumbing industry as a way to extend battery life. Regenerative energy relies on an internal turbine or solar power to recharge a rechargeable cell. While this provides extended battery life, regenerative technology doesn’t fully replenish cell after each use and the rechargeable cell that eventually needs to be replaced is usually very expensive.
Augmentative energy technology basically reduces the amount of energy needed from the battery per cycle. Currently, solar cell integration is the only example of this technology. Our solar faucets and flush valves like the 7000SLE and the HB8000SLE, which are an example of augmentative energy, are able to almost double the battery life of a set of AA batteries compared to the non-solar models!
Finally, we come to energy use optimizations, which is what Enduratek is based on. We have found that many designs often use more power than what is actually needed leading to wasted energy every use cycle. By using more energy efficient components, and meticulously researching exactly how much energy is actually needed, we have made many small optimizations across all of the electrical components that add up to HUGE savings. We’re talking about extending the battery life almost 4 fold to 1.5 MILLION cycles! What’s even better is that this was all done without changing the cheap and convenient power source of a set of 4 AA alkaline batteries. Based on our typical use calculations (factoring in variables like passive energy components like the sensor and natural chemical breakdown of battery chemicals) of 100,000 cycles a year, you can potentially get 10+ years on a set of AA batteries with Enduratek.
Enduratek is now available on the current Hydrotek faucets:
For more information, you can contact us through our contact page.
