Your Battery Doesn’t Like the Cold

Here’s a tip just in time for the holidays. If you live or are visiting somewhere that gets cold this time of year, you might notice that your devices don’t last as long as they usually do on a single charge. That is, at least, if you spend enough time outside. Indoors, your smartphones, tablets, and laptops should behave as they usually do. But stand outside for too long, and you might notice your battery draining faster than it should. What gives?

What gives, is the cold air. Lithium ion batteries are designed to operate normally in a specific temperature range. That range is usually very forgiving: You can safely use a device with a lithium ion battery anywhere from -4°F to 140°F without worrying about damaging the battery. However, just because it’s safe, doesn’t mean it’s performing optimally. Both extreme heat and extreme cold have a negative effect on your battery, and since much of the country is currently cold, we’ll focus on that for now.

The cold air literally stops the ions inside your battery from moving as they should. As such, the discharge capacity drops: You may see your iPhone’s battery fall from 80% to 60% in a flash, just because you’re been outside for a bit. This is usually an issue starting around 32ºF: Once you put your lithium ion batteries in freezing or below freezing environments, their capacity takes a dive.

Again, that’s not going to damage your devices’ batteries. Unless you’re using them in below -4ºF environments, all that will happen is the battery will run out faster. However, resist the temptation to charge your devices while they are this cold. If you plug your iPhone into power below 32ºF, for example, that could very well damage the battery.

The best thing you can do is to avoid using your devices in the cold as much as possible to preserve battery life. Wait to charge until you’re back indoors, and allow your devices a short period of warm up time before plugging them into power. It’ll be worth the delay to reduce the risk of damage.