Managing a car battery during cold weather

[Ray Kinsella]

I drove our Edge on Thursday and had it stored in our garage until trying to start it Monday morning, and it wouldn't start. I had it jump started yesterday, and drove it around for nearly an hour to recharge the battery.

What should I do over the next couple of days when we have another cold snap? I get conflicting answers on the Internet. I thought maybe starting the car a couple of times would make sense, but I see that that would drain the battery more if I didn't recharge it by driving around for a half hour. Would starting it and keep it idling for a half hour work?

 

[ping72]

Buy a new one? I’ve only ever had that problem when the battery was on its last legs.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

Install a heater in your garage.

One of the best purchases ever.

 

[Hendy hawk]

Buy a new one if your battery is 4 yrs or older.
Buy a battery tender/trickle charger to keep it topped off.
Block heater in the engine block helps a lot.
Son's truck has to set outside. Said if not for the block heater he would have not gotten to work this week.

 

[jawatkins]

Get the battery tested, it’s probably about dead. Pay $150 to possibly save your life in the future.

 

[Rifler]

If you live in the upper Midwest, just plan to replace your battery every four years,.. that's all you have to do.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I would say you likely need to replace the battery. Cold snaps don't really cause issues with good batteries but they quickly reveal it if your battery is on it's last legs.

 

[BondHawk]

Replaced the batteries in 2 of our 4 vehicles in the past two weeks. The cars that sit outside, I've been running them for ~20 minutes every 12 hours or so on the super cold days - not that it is probably necessary for the one that now has a fresh battery.

I plan to be more proactive with battery maintenance in the future.