Here is an updated video on the joule thief unity recharger. Its been running a week now so I did some battery test on the main batteries, and the recharging batteries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRUTDc33GSA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRUTDc33GSA)
At low currents an Energizer alkaline cell yields 2800mAh without difficulty. That's enough to go four weeks @ 5mA.
If you want to determine whether your arrangement is providing benefits then you need measurements of average power in and average power out.