Fact or fiction about life of batteries in hot areas

Batteries only seem to last 5 or 6 years in the cold Northeast winters.

I think most batteries only seem to last 5 or 6 years period.

How long do batteries last on the wet side of Washington :@

Here in the east I had a few batteries last all summer long but die on the first cold morning!

wow! I live in northeast ohio my 2005 F150 has the org battery.and it sits in the barn all the time. only 70k on it.

extreme heat or cold will reduce battery life. This seems to be an unknown variable between manufactures and batches of batteries.

gbopp wrote:
How long do batteries last on the wet side of Washington :@

My 2001 Dodge...new to me in march of 2003 had new batteries and replaced them Oct 2015. When getting replaced at Les Schawb in Seattle I was told I'm not even close to their record. However for many years I only used pick up maybe once a week. Coming up on 87,000 miles. Maybe that's why batteries lasted so long? But I've heard letting batteries sit is also bad for them. Wives 2006 CRV is on 3rd battery. But is the size of shoe box. I see some batteries that have 4 or 5 year warranty. On pick up maybe I was lucky on my first set and second set might not make it so long?

Anyways, surprised me when I heard battery life is only 4 or 5 years. And attributed to heat in south west.

All things considered, a battery in warmer climes will have a shorter life than one in colder locations. It's an electrochemical reaction and is influenced by temperature. How much difference is the real question.

I see that in a lot of vehicles the battery is enclosed in a "blanket". That should help to keep temperatures more stable.

FWIW, my Motorcraft truck battery, which lived a somewhat stressed life, endured 10 years, one month in MN. We have some of the largest extremes in temperature. I believe much of the longevity formula is influenced by the quality of the battery, originally.

Generally, I'd say that most original vehicle starter batteries fit the 5-6 year rule as people don't maintain them. True across all climates.

scrubjaysnest wrote:
extreme heat or cold will reduce battery life.

Not true. If they do not actually freeze, cold increases the overall life of a battery. The capacity will be less WHILE it is cold however.

And yes it is true that batteries age faster when it's HOT. The chemical reaction goes faster.

As for the 5 or 6 year number: Too many other variables to call that one.

I'm getting between 3 and 4 years out of auto batteries here in the hot south-west.
One exception is my 65 El Camino. I have an Odyssey battery in it and don't use much and keep a battery tender on it all the time. It's 15 years old. Still starts and runs fine.