Batteries, love them or hate them, we still need to care for them. Most laptops nowadays are powered by lithium-ion batteries, also called Li-ion batteries. While these batteries can hold a full charge when new, they do gradually lose their total capacity over time. This is known as battery longevity, not to be confused with the present/usable capacity.
Taking proper care of batteries is crucial to preserve their ability to hold maximum charge for as long as possible, here are our tips to help you do that. Batteries in laptops (and mobile phones) are expensive consumable items so it is best to look after them properly. Also note that a battery may only have a 90 to 365 day warranty period. After that you will be paying for a new one, plus labour time which can be a significant cost, especially on the ultra-lite ultra-sleek designs.
1. Don't Charge Your Laptop Overnight
While it's often believed that occasionally charging your laptop overnight is safe, you should only do it if you use a charger with an automatic shutoff feature that stops charging once the battery reaches its full capacity. Using a charger that doesn't have this feature may continuously supply power to the battery, potentially weakening it and reducing its lifespan, it might also be a fire hazard.
Regularly charging overnight, even with a genuine charger having an automatic shutoff feature, can accelerate battery degradation. So, don’t make it a habit. Also, do not forget that the charger could overheat and catch fire. So, unless necessary, it's best to avoid charging your laptop overnight anyway.
2. Charge Your Laptop in a Well-ventilated Area
Charging the laptop battery generates heat, and if done in a poorly ventilated, hot environment, this heat can accumulate, leading to battery overheating, damage and even a possible fire. This overheating will certainly affect the battery's lifespan. To prevent this, charge your laptop in an open area with sufficient airflow to dissipate heat properly. You could also place it on a laptop coolling stand or tilt it slightly by placing a pen under one side of the base.
Besides the risk of overheating during charging, various other factors can also contribute to battery overheating and potential damage, such as leaving the laptop in a hot car on a summer afternoon, exposing it to direct sunlight, or running intense processes that cause the laptop to heat up too much. Remember that many ultra-lite laptops have very little capability for high cooling demands, ventilation holes and big fans. You cannot avoid the physics of heat dissipation. If it gets hot it must be allowed and able to control its own temperature without impediment or obstruction, otherwise demand will surely follow.
3. Maintain Charge Between 20-80 Percent
Charging your laptop to its full 100 percent capacity is common to make it last longer on a single charge. Also, many of us continue to use our laptops even when the charge level falls below 10 percent or until the laptop shuts off completely. In reality, charging the laptop battery to its maximum capacity, or using it at a low charge level could shorten its longevity to some extent.
Most manufacturers advise maintaining the charge level between 20 to 80 percent for optimal battery health. So, ideally you should disconnect the charger when the charge level reaches 80 percent and then reconnect it when it drops to 20 percent. Unless there's an urgent need, such as during a long flight or extended meetings, you should avoid charging the laptop 100 percent most of the time.
If you can't monitor the battery percentage until it reaches 80%, you can automatically restrict the charging to stop at 80% on some modern laptops.
4. Threshold the Charge Level to 80 Percent
Enabling the adaptive battery optimizer settings in a HP laptop's BIOS.
Many modern laptops come equipped with a smart charging feature, which, when activated, prevents the charging process from continuing once the battery reaches the 80 percent charge level. Depending on the manufacturer, this feature may be called "smart charging," "optimized charging," or similar.
The process for enabling it depends on the device you have. If you have a Surface laptop, you can adjust the threshold using the Surface app. For Lenovo laptops, use the Lenovo Vantage companion app; for Asus laptops, use the MyAsus app; and for MSI laptops, use the MSI Dragon Center software to set the charging threshold.
If your laptop doesn't have a dedicated app, like most Dell laptops, you might have to enable the charging threshold settings directly from the BIOS.
5. Don't Use Incompatible Chargers
The wattage of your charging adapter should match your laptop battery's requirements. If you opt for a low-wattage charger, the battery may not draw sufficient current, potentially slowing charging and affecting battery longevity. This could also cause the low-wattage charger to overheat, potentially damaging the laptop battery.
Also, using a third-party charger without smart features (such as an automatic shutoff mechanism that stops charging) can be harmful. So, only use a genuine charger. If the charger supplied with your laptop becomes faulty, replace it with an original product from the manufacturer.
6. Reduce Laptop Usage When Charging
Using a laptop while plugged in is commonly considered safe, as it draws power from the AC adapter and uses excess power to charge the battery. However, many users overlook that extensively using the laptop can cause it to overheat. This excessive heat could affect the battery's lifespan.
Therefore, if your laptop feels hot, you should avoid using it while plugged in. Also, don't keep your laptop plugged in when performing extensive tasks that strain the hardware and generate more heat. If your device has a removable battery, removing the battery while the laptop is connected to an AC outlet can extend battery life.
While there is no conclusive evidence that continuously plugging and unplugging the charger affects the laptop battery, you should avoid this practice to maintain battery health.
7. Reduce Battery Consumption on Your Laptop
Every battery has a limited number of charge cycles before its performance and capacity to hold charge declines. Therefore, the more frequently and roughly you use your battery charge, the sooner you'll reach the maximum cycle threshold. To mitigate this, optimize your laptop settings to consume minimal battery power.
To optimize the battery life and prolong the duration of a single charge, keep the brightness level low, turn off background apps, activate the battery-saving mode, avoid running intensive programs unnecessarily, keep your laptop in a cool environment, and increase the use of airplane mode, i.e. turn off WIFI and Bluetooth modes.
8. Don't Leave Your Laptop Plugged In All the Time
Keeping your laptop plugged in all the time is generally a bad and but often common practice. If you must do it that way, understand that it will eventually harm the battery.
Though desirable, consistently maintaining the battery at maximum capacity can be detrimental long term. Microsoft advises against keeping the charge level at 100 percent at all times, and instead recommends using smart charging feature.
The optimal approach is to charge your laptop to the recommended level, disconnect it, use it for your work, and put it on charging when the battery level drops below 20 percent.
The tips mentioned above are crucial to keep your laptop battery healthy for a long time. Following them can improve its durability and potentially avoid premature replacement. If you notice a significant decrease in the duration your laptop battery lasts on a single charge, indicating a potential loss of capacity, replace it without delay.
9. Calibrate your battery from time to Time
Calibrating your laptop battery will help ensure accurate battery level readings and improve overall performance. Here’s how to do it:
Full Charge and Discharge:
1. Charge your laptop battery to 100%.
2. Disconnect the charger and use your laptop until the battery drains completely
3. Leave it off for a few hours to ensure it’s fully discharged.
4. Recharge to Full:
5. Plug in your charger and charge the battery back to 100% without interruption.
6. Ideally, don’t use your laptop during this charging process.
7. Reset Battery Monitoring:
8. Restart your laptop.
9. Check if the battery percentage now accurately reflects its charge level.
Repeat Occasionally: perform this calibration process every 3 months to maintain accurate readings and longevity.
Note that not all laptops require manual calibration, as many modern systems handle this automatically. If you notice significant discrepancies in battery life, consult your laptop’s user manual or talk to us for more help.
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