Best Practices for Battery Performance

Want to make your battery last longer? Read this short article on how to get the most out of your battery.

Maximizing Battery Life and Lifespan

  • Battery Life: the amount of time your device runs before it needs to be recharged.
  • Battery Lifespan: the amount of time your battery lasts until it needs to be replaced.

General Performance Tips

  • Update to the latest software.
    • Software updates include advanced energy-saving technologies, so always make sure your device is using the latest version
  • Avoid Extreme Ambient Temperatures
    • Extremely high temperatures can permanently damage battery capacity
    • Do NOT charge your device in high ambient temperatures because it can damage the device even further
    • (For Apple); MacBooks works best at 50° to 95°
    • (For Microsoft) Surfaces work best between 32°and 95°
  • Remove Certain Cases During Charging
    • While charging, your device may generate excess heat because of the case that the device is placed in.
      • If you find your device tends to overheat while charging, try taking off the case that the device is in first.
  • If Storing it Long-Term, Store it Half-Charged
    • Two factors will affect the overall health of the battery:
      • The environmental temperature and the percentage of charge on the battery when it’s powered down for storage
    • If storing the device when it’s fully discharged, the battery could fall into a deep discharge state- which renders it incapable of holding a charge
    • If storing when fully charged, the battery may lose some capacity- leading to shorter battery life
    • If placing it in a storage area, place it in a cool, moisture-free environment less than 90° F.
  • Preserve Your Battery Charge
    • Remove USB powered devices whenever possible
    • Close all unnecessary programs when not in use
    • Decrease screen brightness
  • Turn Off
    • Whenever not in use, try to turn off your laptop when going to bed or for when you’re not using your laptop for a few hours at a time.

 

Types of Battery

  • Swappable: made of lithium-ion cells that can be easily removed and replaced with a fully charged spare battery. (None of the laptops that we have in store, have a swappable battery)
  • Built-In: These batteries are not easily removable and will require a technician to replace it.

 

Dell/Microsoft: Extending Battery Life

  • For both of these companies, selecting a pre-configured power plan will automatically adjust key settings
  • To extend battery life as long as possible:
    • Turn off wireless
    • Avoid Multitasking
    • Limit Power-Intensive Activities
    • Change the Power Plan
    • Turn on “Battery Saver” in settings
  • Utilities
    • Leaving a laptop plugged in all the time or never allowing your battery to fully charge when it’s plugged can reduce the battery’s charge capacity and shorten its lifecycle.
  • Once a month, recharge when it’s 10% or lower

 

For more info you can search at these websites for more in-depth details:

How to Improve the Performance of a Dell Laptop Battery

Maximizing Apple Battery Performance

 



Keywordsbattery, longevity, battery life, battery health, computer temperature, make your computer last longer   Doc ID82880
OwnerHannah P.GroupDoIT Help Desk
Created2018-06-12 16:56:05Updated2023-01-18 13:45:08
SitesDoIT Help Desk
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