With a lot of rechargeable batteries and charges on the market we had a lot to choose from. I felt we tried to do the best research that we could at the time, and I can say that we are overall pleased with what we got. For just under $40.00 we purchased the Energizer Family Battery Charger.  It wasn't the sleekest, or the fastest, but our idea was that it would be the most durable and longest lasting.

We've had this charger over a year now and it's still going strong. In many instances we are on the same initial pack of rechargeable batteries ....

so I'd say we did something right.

The Energizer Family Battery Charger is rather plain looking, like a medium sized rectangular box. It has a long black cord that plugs into the outlet. The charger itself has a plastic, clear top that lifts open.  Inside are various "contact" points (on opposite sides) to fit in the size battery that you need charged.  One side has adjustable (spring-based) ends as some battery sizes are not as long as others. The outside of the charger basically only has 2 light up areas - one for each side of the charger, and these light up when charging. (they go off when finished)

Features from the company:

"Features built-in safety timer to avoid overcharging batteries. Trickle charge technology keeps batteries at full capacity. Charges eight AA, AAA, four C or D or two 9V batteries. Recharges either NiMH or NiCad batteries in three to seven hours. Contacts auto-adjust. Includes convenient LCD charge-status indicator. Battery Type: Rechargeable; Battery Size: AAA, AA, C, D, 9V"

The Energizer Family Battery Charger is always ready to go. We don't keep it plugged in until we need to use it. Typically we place the batteries to be charged in the charger first, then plug it in. (so the red LED light goes on)  We noticed that when we did it the other way around (plugged in and then put the batteries in) often the red LED light wouldn't come on. 

One of the biggest factors families seem to have in time. This is not a charger that will have your batteries ready and back to you within minutes, or even within the hour.  This can make a product like this seem like not a good choice or purchase to make. I believe it's all in how you think about it. With careful planning you can always have a back up set of batteries charged and ready to go if it's for something you need to use at a moment's notice. We felt that if we used a faster charger we would be compromising the rechargeable battery and wearing out its life. Since the reason why we purchased rechargeables was to save on money (and help the environment) we felt that we wanted to get the maximum value out of each battery that we could. We felt that as a family we could plan around a set of batteries needing to basically recharge overnight.

With that in mind, we have been thrilled with our purchase of the Energizer Family Battery Charger!  It's still going a year later, and as mentioned we are often still on our initial packs of rechargeable batteries. We feel the initial investment has been worth it in the long run, and I love that we haven't had to purchase any batteries in a year!

Batteries that we've recharged:

Energizer Size AA Rechargeables

Energizer Size D Rechargeables

Recommended: Yes