Panic Sets In...
Are you feeling a twinge of panic as the battery percentage ticks down?
You're not alone.
Although there may be scarier things - like bear chases or unexpected calls from the bank - for those of us who rely on our laptops all day and every day, battery life is of utmost importance. The reality is that we keep our laptops plugged in when we are sitting at our desks to power our second monitor, our USB mouse, and other peripherals. And in the end, we really want to avoid that low-battery dread while working each day. Unfortunately, we are doing more harm than good to our battery life.
Research from top universities has uncovered that constantly leaving your laptop charged at 100% for long periods can seriously slash your battery's lifespan, sometimes cutting it down to half its original capacity within 12 months. If you're anything like most of us, always plugged in, this might explain why your laptop battery seems to lose its juice way faster than you'd expect.
Oops.
So, what's the secret to keeping your battery happy? Maybe you've heard this from the battery experts at Tesla... The sweet spot for your battery's charge level is between 20% and 80%. The ideal routine looks like this:
charge your laptop to 100%,
then let it run down
plug it back in once you hit that 20% mark.
Sounds simple, right? But for those of us who start reaching for the charger at 50% and rarely unplug, this is a big change. It really tweaks our OCD... This can be especially challenging for power users, gamers, or anyone using high-powered laptops. We've resigned ourselves to short battery lives because of our processor-intensive use. But it turns out our plug-in habits are to blame for some of those battery woes.
Need some tips on how to keep your laptop running longer on each charge?
You can dim your screen - run it at 60-70% instead of 100%.
shut down power-hungry apps you're not using - do you really need Outlook running all day?
Keep your laptop cool - when it heats up, the battery discharges quicker. Every little bit helps in stretching out those precious battery hours.
It's a bit of a wake-up call, realizing that keeping our laptops eternally plugged in might be doing more damage than good. Admittedly, the thought of constantly monitoring and adjusting my charging habits is a bit of a hassle. But, for the sake of our laptops' longevity, it might just be worth learning to be a bit more mindful about our charging routines. Our team of TechSperts can monitor your hardware to help keep it running at its best— connect with us today and keep your computers humming by clicking here, shooting an email online@stcntech.com or giving us a ring at 610-910-9347 today!