Cold weather sees an increase in battery service calls: CAA

The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) says that the recent cold snap saw a substantial increase in calls for service in northern Ontario.

Company officials told CTV News that most of the requests for service were for battery-related issues.

CAA said car batteries traditionally have a lifespan of three to five years.

Last week, CAA received roughly 1,000 calls a day, with the northeast accounting for 30 to 40 per cent of that number.

"Sometimes you might have like a critical weather event in a specific area and we'll find that for example, Ottawa or let's say Sudbury or Thunder Bay is very, very busy on that specific day. But we found in these last few days it was sort of cold everywhere and we saw that there was a balanced amount of, calls – but it was about a 50 to 60% increase in terms of what we usually get around this time," said Hassan Ah-Khairalla, an assistant operations manager with CAA.

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The company said testing your battery and purchasing a block heater after a few preventative measures your can take to ensure your vehicle starts when you need it to.

• Read more: Everything CAA says you need to know about preparing your vehicle for winter