Although there remains a large number of lead-acid battery aficionados in the more traditional marine electrical businesses, battery technology has recently progressed in leaps and bounds. Over the past couple of decades, the world’s top battery experts have been concentrating all their efforts on the development of more efficient energy storage, both on land and at sea. But despite this, there remains a great deal of confusion among boat owners, marine businesses and chandlers as to which batteries are safe to install into sea-going vessels.
Traditional batteries
Most interested parties have their own theories and experiences of which type of battery is best for use in the marine environment, particularly boat owners who live aboard for extended periods. In the past, the choice was inevitably big and heavy, open flooded lead-acid batteries if you wanted them to last and handle a certain degree of mistreatment. Many still swear by this simple, flooded lead-acid technology, where you can top them up with distilled water every month or so and regularly test the capacity of each cell using a hydrometer.
There’s a certain amount of truth in the old saying ‘heavy is best’, referring to the fact that the heavier the battery was the thicker the plates were likely to be and the longer they would last. Indeed, they’re still easy to source and less expensive initially than newer tech batteries. However, their main
