The advantage of Lithion-ion and Alkaline primaries have over NiMH batteries in voltage (1.5 vs 1.2) and capacity (3000 and 2700 vs 2000 mAh far AA). Conventional battery sizes over AA are not available as lithiums, and scarce in NiMH.

In regards to replacing the alkalines; AA to D cell adaptors are easy to find. But, for a long duration household light, they represent a huge loss of capacity. It drops from 12,000 mAh down to 2,000-3,000, and cuts run time from 50+ hours down to 10.
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