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Today on Facebook and Twitter I posted, “Extreme cold will quickly run down your cell phone’s batteries. Keep your phone close to your body rather than in a backpack or outside pocket.”
Then, one of my friends on Facebook asked this question: “How does cold affect the overall life of a battery? I know heat is bad for them; is cold just as bad?”
Well, I have good news for you: you can store your batteries just about as cold as you want to: at least -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit), and in most cases down to -40 degrees Celsius (which is also -40 degrees Fahrenheit).
For the technical types, here’s some more information.
All batteries generate electricity as a by-product of a chemical reaction. The chemical reaction, regardless of the battery type, is temperature dependent. When a battery is cold, the chemicals have more difficulty exchanging electrons, and less energy is available to do work. A cold battery will have lower voltage output AND lower current output, and the battery will appear to be discharged sooner than it really is.
The good news is that when the battery is warmed back up it will operate normally.
Suppose you’re out shoveling snow and you drop your fully charged phone in a snow bank. You search frantically and find it about…