Batteries react differently in different temperatures.While some batteries are engineered to work well in colder temperature, most have decreased output in colder temperatures. This is because of the nature of chemical reactions. In a reaction, you can change the speed of a reaction by adding heat. Alternatively, you can do the reverse by cooling it down. By adding more heat to a system, the particles move faster and collide more often, making it easier for bonds to break and reform. With the chemical reactions progressing at a slower rate, less current is produced. As voltage and current are directly proportional, the amount of voltage supplied is also decreased.

To avoid this energy loss, you simply have to heat up the battery before use in colder weather. If the battery is already warm, it will continue to stay warm to some extent, since heat is produced as a waste product. The lower the temperature, the less effective this is. Some electronics are designed to output heat to keep the battery warm. Most are not.
On a side note, cars have this same problem at times. In Europe, many cars are built with the battery inside the vehicle to help keep the battery warmer.

Cold weather also effects batteries in another negative way. In cold temperatures, the connections will actually contract, leaving the battery with less contact area at the battery terminals. As a result, there is voltage loss between the terminals.


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In extremely cold temperatures, batteries will freeze, resulting in zero output voltage.

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