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It’s February, which means that winter is still in full swing here in northern Virginia. You’ve probably heard at some point in your life that cold weather will kill your battery or make your car more difficult to start in the winter. If you’re unlucky enough, you may have even found yourself unable to start your car on a cold morning – but why did that happen? Basically, there are three main factors at play: weakened battery capacity, increased energy required from the starter, and increased energy required from car accessories.
The capacity of your lead-acid battery can be reduced by as much as 20 percent in freezing weather. When temperatures sink down to -22 degrees Fahrenheit, your battery’s capacity could shoot down to fifty percent. If you consider the fact that batteries already lose capacity as they age, you begin to see why your battery just isn’t getting the job done like it did back in September.
When the weather is really cold, the amount of energy a starter motor requires can be higher than normal. Cold motor oil is much thicker than warm motor oil, which makes the engine more difficult to turn over. As a result, the starter motor requires more energy to turn the engine. If the starter motor needs more energy and your battery has less to give, sometimes that gap cannot be bridged and you’re left sitting cold in the driveway!
The other cause of your cold, dead battery could be the increase in accessory use. Your interior lights aren’t doing serious damage, but your charging system may struggle to keep up with the increased use of your headlights and windshield wiper. If your battery is already a bit outdated, this uptick in accessory use could be too much for it to handle.
Fortunately, you don’t have to end up stuck in the cold this winter. Community Car Care in Alexandria, VA offers battery checks, and if you need it, we sell and install batteries as well. Call us today to schedule your appointment!
Community Car Care
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