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@vic83 Thanks for sharing your experience with rechargeables. You mention my biggest fear with them - You had to send one back because of a problem with the recharge. Some rechargeables can be replaced by the audiologist, which I'm okay with, but not having a hearing aid during that send back period is a problem I don't want. I have custom molds so the audiologist would not be able to simply give me a loaner. Can I assume that your aid was out of warranty after 17 months? Finding out if the audiologist can replace a failed rechargeable may not be just swapping out a new battery. It could be the circuitry inside the hearing aid and in that case, would still have to be returned to the manufacturer. Until I get a comfy feeling with rechargeables, I'll stick with disposable batteries. I know a disposable is not "green friendly", but a failed rechargeable will end up in a landfill too.
Tony in Michigan
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Your fear is reasonable. I had to send back a rechargeable hearing aid that wasn't charging up properly. They sent me a new one, but it took a couple of weeks. In the meantime I used my previous pair of (battery) hearing aids. Not ideal, but it worked out for a couple of weeks. If you don't have another pair, it could be a real challenge. If you could tolerate some sort of interchangeable dome for that period you might be able to accept a pair of substitutes from your audiologist, if they offer them.
As far as disposing of batteries, check on Earth911.com for a mail-in recycling program. Mine were 312 zinc-air batteries and I was collecting them for recycling before my old hearing aids started failing. Anyone can look up what kind of batteries they are using and recycle them. Good thing to do if you can. Best of luck to you.