by 
sleeppro
ANSWERS: 10
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Plainly, No. This has been misconstrued from an old wives tale for a long time now. The belief was that batteries would eventually "go bad" if they were not used. So to prevent this people stored them in the freezer. Now, this did nothing but made them cold, but subconsciously people believed it was working. In other words putting used or unused batteries in your freezer will only make them cold.
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No. Some of the confusion may arise from news about supercooled circuits, etc. The general rule is that cold is the friend of circuits, which profit from improved cooling (and a big drop in resistance if it gets REALLY cold), but the enemy of batteries, which depend on chemical reactions that slow and eventually stop as it gets colder. That's why auto battery advertising emphasizes how dependable the product is in extreme cold -- that's when it's hardest to get your car started. [Historical note: At one point during the London blitz, Germany was dropping bombs that exploded only if they were subsequently moved, however slightly. (Disarming them caused as much disruption in the long run as something that went bang immediately.) They worked with a sensitive mercury switch and a small battery. The answer the British teams came up with was liquid nitrogen, pooled on the bomb nose (using mud dams very carefully applied) until it was frozen through and through. At that point the battery could produce no current, and the fuse was out of business.]
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Actually storing batteries in a cool place where they will not warm and cool repeatedly is enough to extend there life. It is not necessary to store in the freezer and I wouldn't recommend using those frigid batteries until they've had a chance to warm up a bit since the battery will not send out the proper electrical charge when that cold. Storing a battery in a hot place or a place with a large or rapid temperature change certainly can shorten the life of the battery. A good place to store batteries is in the fridge (not the freezer) where it is not so cold but, they stay at a more regularly cool temperature. This will help keep your unused batteries for their full shelf life and probably longer!
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You may want to re-phrase the question. If you have "dead" batteries, then, yes, putting them into a freezer for a brief time may revive them a little bit. I did this when I was a kid, quite successfully. However, if what you want is long battery life, you might consider investing in rechargeable batteries. Technology may have changed, but some of the drawbacks of rechargeables have been: If you do not fully "drain" the battery before recharging it, it will only accept up to the level you have drained it to, and no more than that, forever after. Rechargeables often do not have quite the power output of standard batteries. Close, but not quite. Cost. The investment is fairly high. Unless you use up a lot of batteries, it ,may not be worth it to you.
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No, as liquids freeze, they tend to expand. The battery would most likely burst and/or leak. BTW Ni-MH (Nikel-Metal Hydride) or Li-ion (Lithium-ion) batteries do not suffer the memory effect as Ni-Cad (Nickel-Cadmium) batteries do.
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Real answer: Yes Practical answer: Its such a low increase that it's not worth it. When you freeze/cool batteries, you cool down the particles inside, making them react slower, and are less prone to loss in charge. But the downside to this is that as the particles slow down, the current is released slower, decreasing output/power of output. For all you gameboy fans, it will only add a few extra minutes game time.
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A cold or frozen battery, is most likely not to give the same perfomance. freeze a cheap car battery and see what happens.
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I did an experiment based on the topic. I put an alkaline battery with load (flashlight bulb) in the freezer to see the pattern. soon it did drain soon and the light went out but i think it had residual energy because AT the end, using multimeter I took the reading, it went like this .02,.02, .04, .04.. Then, without doing anything i just placed it in a normal room temperature and as it warmed up the light then began to shine more brightly than it was in freezer. So i believe it WILL extend their life.
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Of course it will! The only semi-intelligent answers to this question so far are the 1st and 8th. The point everyone is missing is that the desire is to increase life during STORAGE, not during use. Cooling the particles of matter inside a battery slows their motion and therefore the electrical reaction of those particles. Small amounts of charge are released even when batteries are not plugged in. Indeed, slowing the charged particles down a bit disallows the release of charge somewhat. In the end, batteries stored in the refridgerator or freezer will have a longer shelf life. It's not a huge extension, but as long as the batteries are not needed in an emergency, they will provide somewhat longer performance once they have been warmed to room temperature.
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I just froze my lithium ion battery for my laptop. It would not hold a charge 1 second before. Now it lasts 2 hours after a full recharge. So I can absolutely say yes, freezing the battery extends the life.
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