From providing power to household devices and electronics like remote controls and phones to powering up complex things like cars and machinery, batteries have become an important part of our lives as we rely on them to do just about anything with our daily lives. When it comes to buying batteries, they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes on top of the type of battery.
Lead-acid and lithium batteries are the two most common and popular battery types as they offer the best output in terms of power. Choosing the right type of battery to buy is important as it determines how you’ll go about using and replacing it. For example, when buying a deep cycle battery, getting a 12V deep cycle lithium battery is worth the investment over any lead battery despite the cheaper price.
Knowing the advantages and disadvantages is key in knowing what kind of purchase you will be making when buying any type of battery. Let’s go over the pros and cons of both batteries and see which one is best for you.
- Life Span
The immediate difference between these two batteries is their life span. Between the two battery types, lithium comes up on top with a noticeable difference in terms of its lifespan. Lead-acid batteries tend to get replaced as often as they need maintenance to perform properly.
Lithium batteries naturally have longer life spans than lead-acid batteries attributed to their low discharge rate. It is also the reason why it is the most popular battery choice for mobile phones as the battery’s lifespan can sufficiently match the lifespan of the phone’s additional hardware.
- Charge Cycle
All batteries have their own set of charge cycles which determines their lifespan and the number of times the battery can get recharged. Additionally, there is also a separate charge cycle where they can only be drained to 0 and recharged to 100 a certain number of times before their performance starts to degrade.
Between the two, lithium has a better battery life overall as it can easily reach the thousands in terms of charge cycles. In the case of lead-acid batteries, they need to be properly maintained to be in top performance and failing to do so will not only degrade the performance but also shorten its battery life.
- Upfront Costs
One of the biggest differences between lithium and lead-acid batteries are the upfront costs you have to pay to buy the battery. No matter the kind of battery you buy whether it might be simple AA or AAA batteries or deep cycle batteries, the upfront costs between the two types are drastically different. Lead-acid batteries cost significantly less than lithium batteries making them the perfect choice for one-time or short-term usage. However, it has extra costs such as the maintenance fees you’ll be paying to keep it running at top performance.
On the other hand, lithium batteries are considerably pricey when you first buy them but come with the benefit of having a longer lifespan and no maintenance fees to worry about. These make lithium batteries the perfect choice for emergencies as they can be ready at any given time.
