Lithium Battery Storage / Temperatures

[Jtels85]

I dug up an old thread on this subject from 2013, but I also realize there have been advancements in battery technology since.

I’m currently on the Craftsman V20 battery platform, not that it matters. My current workshop space is in our basement laundry room/furnace area. I have plenty of room for tools boxes and a workbench, but my wife is wanting to use the space for something else.

Our house is built into the side of a hill, which means the basement garage around back is also built into the hill. Today’s current temperature is 31 degrees, and it’s about 40 in the garage right now. We really don’t see extreme heat during Ohio summers, but we can get well below freezing during the winter. -1 temps are coming Monday, which means I anticipate the garage being around 20-30 degrees.

That being said, my question is regarding battery storage. Will the battery lifespan significantly decrease if I store them in the garage with the rest of my tools, or is it best to keep them in the house where the temperature is 68-70 degrees year round? Or does it not matter?

Thank you

 

[zendriver]

They will work in cold just, in diminished capacity.

Basement seems like the best spot, where mine are (I think)

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

If my temperature conversion is right, I’d suggest keeping the batteries & charger/ charging operation in the house to get the most life out of them.

How many batteries are we talking about? I’d keep them in one of those metal tool/ lunch boxes and carry them over when you work in the garage.

Depending on how “electronically advanced” those Craftsman batteries are, you might even run into trouble trying to charge them in the garage at those temperatures after some hours in the garage.

Most pro’s I know, don’t keep the batteries in their vans once it‘s freezing at night. Some even place a “cooler” in their van to keep the batteries from freezing temperature during the day on site.


Kind regards,
Olli

 

[theoldwizard1]

I moved all of my Milwaukee M12 and M18 batteries inside.

 

[Jtels85]

Thanks for advice guys!

 

[Skyman]

All batteries for my red and yellow tools live in the basement workshop when they are not being used in the garage.

 

[AEAdam]

I dug up an old thread on this subject from 2013, but I also realize there have been advancements in battery technology since.

I’m currently on the Craftsman V20 battery platform, not that it matters. My current workshop space is in our basement laundry room/furnace area. I have plenty of room for tools boxes and a workbench, but my wife is wanting to use the space for something else.

Our house is built into the side of a hill, which means the basement garage around back is also built into the hill. Today’s current temperature is 31 degrees, and it’s about 40 in the garage right now. We really don’t see extreme heat during Ohio summers, but we can get well below freezing during the winter. -1 temps are coming Monday, which means I anticipate the garage being around 20-30 degrees.

That being said, my question is regarding battery storage. Will the battery lifespan significantly decrease if I store them in the garage with the rest of my tools, or is it best to keep them in the house where the temperature is 68-70 degrees year round? Or does it not matter?

Thank you

I saw a YouTube video report of testing on EV battery life based on several factors including local temperature, frequency of the use of fast chargers.

The result was, EVs operated in colder climates had much better battery life than those in warm climates. Further, fast charging significantly degraded EV range. So while the batteries perform worse in cold weather, being hot seems to hurt them.

That said, I have Husqvarna batteries that I left in my unheated barn for several years and they are shot. My new $150 Husqvarna batteries are inside the house. I should do the same with my $75 Milwaukee batteries

 

[gtae07]

Charging them when they're freezing cold is bad. Most EVs will warm the battery first to get above freezing before charging. The batteries also don't work well when cold. But just storing them in the cold shouldn't hurt, as long as you let them warm up before charging or using them.

In reality it's probably just easier to store them indoors. And it'll be better for them come summer when you won't want them baking in the heat.

 

[MichaelP]

This is my main concern when I'm thinking about all those chargers, jumpers, tire inflators and battery banks that need to live in the cars.

 

[L.Cheapo]

This is my main concern when I'm thinking about all those chargers, jumpers, tire inflators and battery banks that need to live in the cars.

My Noco GB150 has been living under the back seat of my commuter mobile since 2016. We see the occasional below 0 and above 100 F here. Still works as designed. Currently 19*F outside.

Most of my DeWalt batteries live in an unheated workshop in the same climate. I'm about to lose my last two NiCads, but havent had any issues with the "20v" batteries yet.

 

[dcg9381]

That being said, my question is regarding battery storage. Will the battery lifespan significantly decrease if I store them in the garage with the rest of my tools, or is it best to keep them in the house where the temperature is 68-70 degrees year round? Or does it not matter?

I own "a lot" of lithium batteries, not counting the car. They'll be fine. What you DONT want to do is charge them below freezing. That's the no-no. Storing them at or below freezing is fine.

 

[seber]

In theory, very high temperatures is bad but cold should not be a problem. My original Milwaukees lived in a detached garage in Colorado for ten years before my move to Texas. No problem. The Texas heat may have killed them but they were already old so no real way to know.

 

[bassJAM]

I'm in southwestern Ohio, my Bosch 18v batteries have been stored in my garage since 2013 and not one has died yet.

Now my garage is partially below grade so my temperature swings aren't bad. In the summer it stays in the mid 70's as long as I keep the door shut. Right now we're sitting at -1°F outside and my garage is at 48F.

 

[duneslider]

Technically speaking, yes repeated freezing of lithium batteries will have an impact on the life of the battery. However, I have had batteries that I kept in my work truck that would regularly see some cold temps in the winter and I haven't been able to see what I would consider a diminished life, I am still getting a lot of years out of batteries.

It also sounds to me like the OP's garage is not even going to be cold enough to freeze a lithium battery anyway. I keep all mine in the garage and it just doesn't get cold enough in most garages that are attached to a house to even be something to worry about, especially if you can keep them close to one of the house interior walls.

 

[sparky 1971]

My batteries are in either an unheated garage or the back of a van, bot of which see temperatures of -20 to a little over 100. The batteries are constantly in use and I don't remember buying any in the last five years or so. The only issue I have is that they won't charge when super cold so the dead ones get put on the floorboard of the van for the ride home; that way they are nice and warm when I put them on the charger.

 

[Jtels85]

I'm in southwestern Ohio, my Bosch 18v batteries have been stored in my garage since 2013 and not one has died yet.

Now my garage is partially below grade so my temperature swings aren't bad. In the summer it stays in the mid 70's as long as I keep the door shut. Right now we're sitting at -1°F outside and my garage is at 48F.

Hey fellow Cincinnatian! We're dealing with the same weather, -1 today and 57 with rain this coming Thursday. Absolutely wild. I'm in the Monfort Heights area of Green Township.

 

[bassJAM]

Hey fellow Cincinnatian! We're dealing with the same weather, -1 today and 57 with rain this coming Thursday. Absolutely wild. I'm in the Monfort Heights area of Green Township.

Yeah it's been a weird early winter so far, it's so rare for cold weather and more than a half inch of snow before Christmas and I've already had to plow my driveway on 2 different occasions! I'm east of Batavia, out at the edge of where it becomes the country.

 

[Jtels85]

Yeah it's been a weird early winter so far, it's so rare for cold weather and more than a half inch of snow before Christmas and I've already had to plow my driveway on 2 different occasions! I'm east of Batavia, out at the edge of where it becomes the country.

It's definitely been weird! I don't recall snow accumulation before Christmas in recent years. I haven't been to Batavia in in a long time. The closest I've driven to there was back when Sears @ Eastgate Mall was going out of business.

 

[lund]

One comment: You may want to be careful about storing/charging a lot of batteries inside a house or garage. If you do, you should consider keeping them in a metal cabinet without combustibles nearby. Some batteries, when they fail, can generate a lot of heat and burn hot. It is a big fire hazard. Some large packs (like in cars) have cell control and monitoring. But even with such, I worry about electric cars and home power buffers (like to solar etc) within a home/garage or on the side of a house. Things do not always go to plan in failure modes. This kind of stuff is why airlines are phobic about batteries packed in checked in luggage. You do not want fires in enclosed areas in an airplane. And if you have a lot of batteries, that is a big risk over time.

Generally speaking, higher temps result in thin, layered materials like batteries having less life. But in the opposite side, you have to worry if materials have a phase transition (liquid to solid, say like water at zero centigrade) that would change the material properties (and possibly destroy). Issues like that would depend on the specific chemistry and materials of the battery. Keep in mind that -20 to +40 degrees centigrade (our usual environmental temp ranges) are not large in a materials science sense (zero centigrade is about + 273 degrees from zero on an absolute Kelvin scale) and the issue would be undesired material phase transitions. Hopefully those would, by design choice, not happen with any usual batteries used in usual range conditions.

 

[mobiledynamics]

All of mine sit in my un-heated garage. Temps....it's not that much on my concern. The only thing that matters to me...is just the SOC if I don't plan to use them for longer periods of time. I pretty much have all mine P Touched 1----> 50, etc, so I tend to rotate them. When they are destined to be sitting for longer periods of time, I just make sure their SOC is somewhere...around the 50-75% range....generally 2 or 3 bar on my Milwaukee batteries, I

 

[JohnX14]

As others have said, most of mine are in unheated vans overnight, without any issues. And the temps vary from at or above 100 in the summer, down to about 0 right now. Doesn't often get sub-zero here in central MA. I've had no problems with any of the batteries, and there are 6-9 in each van. The one battery that did die way prematurely (barely used) was a 12 AH that sat in a rarely used table saw in a heated garage.

 

[bluedog225]

Human comfortable temps are best. Don’t charge when freezing.

otherwise, run them.