Battery Safety in Your Bear, DE Home

2/18/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Bear/New Castle can handle fire damage of any size. We can also service any water loss or mold remediation, so call us at 302-392-6000 now!

It’s National Battery Day! Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine where our lives would be without the day-to-day use of batteries. Despite the ease and comfort batteries bring us, there is serious danger when not properly taking care of them. Even commonly used batteries such as AA and AAA can cause a fire under the right conditions, so it’s crucial to be educated on how to properly handle them.

Important Battery Tips

• Do not store old and new batteries together; they could react and cause the newer ones to lose voltage faster.
• Do not store batteries in a metal container – either keep them in their original packaging or plastic/wood containers.
• Keep batteries away from humid environments.
• Do not puncture or damage batteries.
• Alkaline, manganese, and carbon-zinc can be trashed.
• Store them in a cool place (not fridge) to slow down the internal chemical reaction. Freezing or refrigerating will create condensation on the batteries and cause rust.
• Expiration date only means that the battery power is reducing, they still work!

Be Emergency Ready

Don’t let a crisis or disaster catch you off guard. When taking steps to be prepared, make sure you have reliable batteries for the following items so you can stay safe and informed:

• Flashlights
• Power bank for phone
• Backup battery for computer
• Smoke & Carbon Monoxide detector
• Portable generator
• Emergency radio
• WiFi hotspot
• Solar panel charger

Also consider purchasing as many of these items that share the same type of battery as possible; that way you switch the batteries between the items as needed.

Types of Batteries

Familiarize yourself which which type of batteries you can reuse over and over versus which ones are for one time use

Rechargable

• Lithium-ion
• Nickel-Cadium
• Nickel Metal Hydride

Non- Rechargeable

• Alkaline & Zinc Carbon
• Lithium
• Silver Oxide
• Zinc Air

Don’t forget that most batteries can be recycled, Delaware currently doesn’t have state laws to regulate the recycling of batteries, but you can read up on the federal requirements here. You can also use the Call 2 Recycle website to find the nearest drop-off location to you. It’s amazing to think that all the components of your old batteries can be recycled down and made into brand new batteries!

Why SERVPRO of Bear/New Castle?

Even the most minor fire can leave extensive damage in its wake and become overwhelming to deal with. That’s where we come in. SERVPRO of Bear/New Castle will evaluate the damage to determine what the next steps are, which can range from boarding up and securing your home to mitigating water damage caused by the loss to packing your affected belongings so they can be later restored in our facility. If you want to take some action yourself, read our fire damage emergency tips to learn what you can do before SERVPRO of Bear/New Castle arrives to the scene.