On 10/01/2014 12:28 PM, trader_4 wrote:
....

The point is there is no good reason to be drawing down the battery at
all. And why not put in rechargeables? Duh! That's what they do in
those other examples.

The answer as outlined above is more than likely "initial cost".

Again, if these bug you so much for that reason, the obvious alternative
is to do some research and replace them with ones which do have an
extended battery life and/or rechargeables.

Different device/design but the outdoor unit on the local weather
station has started indicating "low battery" at night...it's got a solar
charger and I replaced the initial battery just a month ago but it
showed the missive the other night again already. I suppose the solar
cell is now starting to fail/losing its "oomph" after 2-3 yr in the SW
KS sun...

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