you and me both. I did not have any lithiums in the house, so I use the alkalines. It surprised me too, in fact it surprised as much as did the results from the enel3e tests! I would never have guessed that they would drain down soo fast in relatively cold conditions. . . I mean 15 dgrees aint exactly cold, but after about 45 minutes at 15% your down to about 15% battery. . . .