Cold Weather Tech Tips

There’s no shortage of wind, ice, snow and cold in Oswego! Here’s a few tips to keep your tech toasty in a winter wonderland.

Don't let your phone freeze.

If you’re outside in below-freezing temperatures (a fairly common situation here in Upstate), your phone should be kept in a warm pocket when not in use. And you shouldn’t use it much until you’re inside. The battery cannot operate for long in such temperatures and will deplete rapidly, causing your phone to shut down. And if your phone dies due to cold…

Wait for your phone to reach room temp before charging it.

Let your phone warm up to room temperature for a little while before charging it. Your phone will appear to charge normally, but charging it when really cold can cause “plating”, which means that your battery is more likely to fail and will degrade sooner.

Keep your kit inside.

Laptops, tablets, and so forth can all be damaged by extreme cold. Don’t leave them in your car, porch, unheated rumpus room, etc. overnight. Hard drives are particularly vulnerable, as freezing temperatures can damage them, potentially causing lost data and/or an inability to start up.

Endeavor to obtain peace of mind with this cool gadget.

Consider a portable charger, such as this popular model. If you’re on a snowy hike, in a new city, or other unfamiliar, chilly place, you’ll want to be able to charge your phone up if it loses juice. Of course, you need to keep the battery warm as well, but it should be pretty intuitive to keep it in a warm place (such as a winter coat pocket) until (unless) needed.