4 Simple Tips to Keep Your Laptop Battery Healthy
Updated: March 25, 2020
There are many different beliefs on how you should charge your laptop battery, when you should charge it, or even where you should charge it.
A laptop battery is not going to last you forever; we all know that.
However, there are some things you can do to ensure a longer, healthier battery.
4 Simple Tips to Keep Your Laptop Battery Healthly
The tips that I am going to highlight in this article are not some crazy séance voodoo tricks that take 3 days to perform.
They are small steps that can pay major dividends to your battery life if you give the battery just a little more attention than normal.
Tip #1 - Turn the laptop over and gently blow on the back for 10 to 15 minutes daily to keep it cool
Most people overlook this one.
Excess heat is not only bad for your processor (and your lap), but your battery as well.
A hot battery will degrade in health much quicker than a cool one.
It is best to stay out of the heat when using your laptop but it's also just as important when it comes to storing your laptop.
Battery University states that the best way to store your battery is at a cool temperature.
If you store your laptop in 32-55 degree temperatures and use it every day the battery will only lose 4% of its overall charge after 3 months
On the contrary, if you store your laptop in temperatures of 80-100 degrees while using it every day the battery will lose 20-30 percent of its overall charge.
Remember: You wouldn't leave your dog or baby in a hot car.
Don't do it to your laptop
Tip #2 - Don't leave it fully charged
Have you ever heard of the 40/80 rule?
It applies more towards nickel-based batteries saying that you should keep the charge between 40% and 80%.
Although, that rule is said to not be directed towards the newer lithium-ion batteries it is still a great guideline.
When possible, keep it in that range to prolong its life as long as you can.
And, if you do charge it to 100%, DON'T LEAVE IT PLUGGED IN.
This is something most of us do, but it's another thing that will degrade your battery's health.
If you need to charge it overnight, use something like the Belkin Conserve Socket to stop it from charging after it's full.
Tip #3 - Perform shallow discharges
Instead of discharging to 0% all the time, lithium-ion batteries do best when you discharge them for a little bit, then charge them for a little bit.
A study from Battery University shows that discharges to 50% are better for your battery's long-term life than say, small discharges to 90% or large discharges to 0% (since the 50% discharges provide the best number of cycles-to-usage ratio).
Tip #4 - Fully discharge once a month
(This may seem contradictory, but hear us out.)
While lithium-ion batteries shouldn't be discharged regularly, most modern batteries are what's known as "smart batteries", which means that they can tell you how long you have until your battery dies (e.g. "2 hours, 15 minutes remaining").
This feature can get miscalibrated after a lot of shallow discharges.
So, manufacturers recommend fully discharging your battery once a month to make sure this stays accurate.
Conclusion
Keep these 4 simple tips in mind for the next time you are complaining your battery is dying.
And while you’re thinking of those four tips here are some more little things you can do to prolong your laptop’s battery life:
Activate battery saver mode.
Unplug unused items such as hard drives, webcams, or anything using battery power.
Ensure you have enough RAM.
Turn down the screen brightness.
Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth when you don’t need a connection.
There you have it 9 total tips in all to keep your battery life healthy and longer-lasting.
