Explainer: Why your phone and other gadgets can lose up to half their
battery life in cold weather
Eoghan Moloney
As Ireland experienced its longest cold spell in more than
four-and-a-half years, everything has started to slow down.
It’s not just pedestrians tip-toeing across glistening footpaths or cars
cautiously cruising along icy roads, technology itself also plunges into
a go-slow.
A multitude of tech gadgets and electrical appliances suffer when
temperatures plummet in winter and Independent.ie is here to explain why.
Phones, tablets and laptops
While there have been mind-blowing advances in the realm of handheld
tech in the last decade or more, the advances in battery capacity have
not advanced as quickly.
Your phone today uses largely the same lithium-ion battery it did 10
years ago and unfortunately, it does not like to get cold. The same can
be said for the battery in your tablet or laptop.
Lithium-ion batteries like to operate in an “ambient” temperature
between roughly five and 40 degrees. If a device is exposed to extremes
beyond either threshold, it begins to struggle and the temperatures
adversely affect the chemical reaction that powers your phone’s battery.
Another negative is that cold has a more detrimental impact on battery
life than we might think.
Smartphones can lose up to 50pc of their battery life if exposed to very
cold temperatures, such as the ones we are experiencing in Ireland this
week.
This is according to Colin Baker, Gadget Guy on Ireland AM and owner of
Back from the Future tech repair stores, who says it is wise to keep
your devices out of the cold this week.
“People who have maybe been skiing and brought their phone with them
would have noticed this phenomenon, that they got half of a day from
their phone when ordinarily they would get double that.
“In colder temperatures, batteries will have lower endurance and will
often see significantly reduced output of up to 50pc.
“Keep your phone in your pocket. Having it out while you’re walking
along in the cold is going to drop the battery life significantly.
“Wait until you’re sitting on the bus or train, or back at your home to
take calls or to text. Or, use your headphones to take a call if you
really need to,” Colin said.
It’s not just battery life draining more quickly than usual phone users
need to worry about, the phone going dead despite saying it has plenty
of battery life can also occur.
“You also get cases where someone’s phone says they have 30pc battery
left and then all of a sudden it goes dead. This is due to the fact that
the device’s ability to detect what power remains is countered by the
temperature,” Colin said.
Smart solar panels, CCTV and other smart devices
These devices also experienced battery life decreases in a cold snap and
commercial premises use CCTV cameras that have micro-heaters installed
within them to ensure they continue running on cold nights.
Smart cameras and doorbells which may be connected to a homeowners’
phone or other devices are at increased risk of going dead, as are smart
solar panels. It’s important to check the battery of these more
regularly in winter.
Indoor and outdoor appliances
Items such as washers, dryers, fridges and other appliances kept indoors
and outdoors can be affected by cold - especially if stored in a shed
with electricity or a cold garage - but it’s highly unusual that Ireland
experiences temperatures cold enough for this to occur.
Unfortunately, what can occur though are frozen pipes to these
appliances, especially in cases where insulation is lacking.
In the government’s ‘Be Winter Ready’ campaign, it advises people who
are concerned about pipes freezing to open the attic trap door to leave
in heat or leave heating on at lower settings for longer than usual to
maintain a certain temperature in the house at all times, where possible.
It’s also advisable to wrap a towel around outside taps to avoid them
freezing over.
Irish Independent Technology
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