What is a Leisure Battery ?

The term "leisure battery" has become an all encompassing term that relates to a battery that has better discharge and recovery ability to that of a general battery used for engine starting.

However the performances vary so much that we have seen some high quality starter batteries built to a better and more robust standard than some batteries carrying a leisure label.

Unfortunately the spectrum of quality, performance and longevity for leisure batteries vary hugely in the UK market place. This also is further compounded by the variety of use the batteries are subject to, making the choosing of the right product for your application even harder.

Below is a list of general internal features one would expect of a good quality Deep Cycle Battery to improve cyclic stability, performance and longevity :

• Thicker plates

• Specially formulated active material

• Glass matt separators

Some leisure batteries will of course have other features such as handles, central venting, twin/dual terminals etc to ease portability and allow installation in various places. But remember it is the internals of the battery that provide the power you have paid for.

At LeisureBattery.net we aim to offer a range of product to suit all types of uses. We have classified the uses below to try and make sense of the plethora of different batteries available in the UK market.

• LC - Light Cycle use - a caravan owner that uses their caravan 3 or 4 times a year and tends to visit sites with mains hook-up only.

• MC - Medium Cycle use - a user which might require off grid power a few times a year along with using mains hook-ups regularly.

• HC - Heavy Cycle use - a regular heavy discharger of batteries that is off grid for extended periods of time and discharges their batteries regular such as a live aboard boat or off-grid renewable energy installation.

It is important to classify your use of the battery to ensure you get the right battery for the job, thereby giving you the required power and a good lifespan (measured in years, not months)