This video is so depressing.
They conclude mains “could” be cheaper almost like it was a fine balance rather than “don’t even think about using disposable batteries to light your rooms”
A 4 watt mains LED (which must be brighter than a string of Christmas tree lights) would take 250 hours to use 1 Kwh so even at 32 pence per Kwh that’s 0.128 pence per hour x 200 hours = 25 pence. The true comparison must be an order of magnitude – (I must measure how many m Amps my battery Christmas lights take)
What is depressing is this is the same BBC which is supposed to “entertain and educate” and gives us advice on “Climate Science”. If this is the analysis they give on a really simple question, how on earth can they report on complex issues?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-63910430
I’m about to pop out and fly for a couple of hours now. I must work out how long the embedded energy of the 70 litres of 100LL I am about to burn would power those cheap Aldi battery powered lights – maybe I could ask the BBC!
The truth is most mainstream media outlets are terrible at reporting on anything complex. If you watch reporting on any subject in which you have expertise, you see how bad it is. Translate that into a subject you don’t know and you can assume the same. There are exceptions of course (Ashley Strickland of CNN reporting on space-related subjects comes to mind), but they are definitely outliers. I try to get most of my news from sources that do really in-depth analysis using people who know the subject well, like The Economist or similar outlet.
I am rarely noted for subtlety, but that video is primarily an advertisement of BBC’s political correctness and racial equality credentials.
The rest is BS. Start by checking the prices of batteries (and I don’t mean counterfeit chinese trash ones) 
Most calculations of primary battery versus mains come out at (order of magnitude) 100x difference in cost.
dutch_flyer wrote:
The truth is most mainstream media outlets are terrible at reporting on anything complex. If you watch reporting on any subject in which you have expertise, you see how bad it is. Translate that into a subject you don’t know and you can assume the same.
Funny, I do exactly the same. Also for the less complex matters BTW.
An AA battery is around 2Ah which at 1.5V is 3Wh and costs about a quid.
Mains electricity has varied lately but is around 30p/kWh this winter.
That’s a difference of 1000×. I had previously seen 500x published which is feasible for off-brand batteries (Duracell are expensive).
You can get 12xAA for a quid but these are trash, and anyway it hardly changes the equation.
Thank you Peter, it saved me getting by ancient Avo model 8 out and waiting 50 hours
