Batteries at Home Depot: When a Higher Ah Rating Doesn't Mean Better Value

Walk into Home Depot's battery aisle and you'll find three packs sharing the same peg. All are labeled as 18V, but only two display a 5Ah stamp. This is where things get interesting, especially when you see the price difference between them.

The Ryobi pack doesn't even try to match the others in terms of Ah rating on its label, which is a hint that this figure might not be entirely accurate. When you check the receipts, the gap becomes clear: $60 for Ryobi, $110 for DeWalt, and around $170 for Milwaukee.

The '5Ah' label is misleading because it only indicates capacity, not output or price. In fact, most of what separates these packs is their construction, warranty, and service network, not the chemistry inside them.