How to Choose a Hearing Aid Battery
If you need to buy a hearing aid battery then you are soon going to find out that there are many different types of batteries on the market. This is similar to the fact that there are many different types of hearing aids on the market. Not all hearing aid batteries are the same. One hearing aid battery may last much longer than an equally priced battery. So anyone buying a battery needs to pay attention to how long the battery lasts.
It can sometimes be tough to know which hearing aid battery goes with which hearing aid. Luckily most of the batteries are color coded. For example, a blue battery is usually C size 675, yellow means C size 10, orange means C size 13, and brown means C size 312. These colors are found on a tab on the back of the batteries.
Once a person discovers which colored hearing aid battery is needed, then the person should consider how long each brand of hearing aid battery lasts. For the most part each battery should last one to two months. The life of the battery is determined by the brand and by how much or how little a hearing aid does.
One part of a hearing aid that can drain a battery is the hearing aid’s microphone. For years the problem with microphones is that they would pick-up sound but the person with the hearing aid has no way of knowing what direction the sound had come from. Now, with new technology, there is a microphone called Behind the Ear or BTE. This type of microphone allows the person to know which direction a particular sound came from. While this technology is great, it does drain the hearing aid battery more than some other types of microphones.
The amplifier in a hearing aid can also affect the life of a hearing aid battery. The amplifier takes the sound from the microphone (where the sound is captured) and sends it to the speaker (where the sound is projected). Amplifiers are classified in one of three classes - Class A, Class B, and Class D. These classes are determined by how much power they use, the gain, and output ability.
The speaker in the hearing aid is another part that determines the life of the hearing aid battery. Of course the speaker is what transmits the sound from the outside to the person needing the hearing aid. With the new technology with hearing aid speakers many of them are very small and fit right into the ear. The hearing aids with this type of speakers are called RITE (Receiver-in-the-Ear) and they are not much more expensive than other hearing aids with other speakers. They also don’t consume any more of the battery.
When buying a hearing aid, people should consider the price and everything the hearing aid can do. Too often the drain on a hearing aid battery is overlooked. This is a mistake because needing to buy a battery more often will be very expensive over time.
A hearing aid battery should be chosen based on price and how long the battery is supposed to last. People who wear a hearing aid should continue to test out different batteries until they find a hearing aid battery that is a good price and lasts a long time.