I bought a DAB radio for use in the bathroom. Obviously not run off mains so it is powered by 6x 2500mAh C cells (Energiser rechargeable). The batteries last about an hour and that’s an hour set to a lowish volume level.

Is this normal? And if so, why do DAB radios consume so much power?

that sound excessive i have one for fishing and i get about 20 hours or so from 4 aa rechargables

Derek and his radio earlier

The DAB radio in our kitchen uses about 2-3 watts depending on how loud we’ve got it on, which doesn’t seem like a lot.

I remember seeing a wind-up DAB/FM radio someplece. DAB – 30 minutes per 3 minutes winding, FM 3-4 hours.

Roberts Solar DAB radio FTW. Batteries last ages. Charge on a windowsill. Might need to source from ebay as it looks discontinued. I bought one for the family boat and it was excellent.

Roberts DAB ecologic 1
I guess different components have different power consumption levels, themore expensive the kit the less power hungry it is? Roberts have a range of “eco” radios which are allegedly frugal. Used to have one similar to that which you describe and the battery useage was not an issue.

What state are the batteries in? If they’re five years old and have spent most of their life on fast charge, they’re almost certainly knackered.

The radio is a Bush TR2003DAB.

Batteries are on their third charging cycle in an “intelligent” charger from the same manufacturer as the batteries.