Laptop Battery Saving Hacks
One of the big draws of a laptop computer is that you can use it anywhere. You don’t need to have it plugged in all the time because it has an internal battery.
When you first buy your laptop, it may have a battery life of several hours. But over time, the life can get shorter and the health of the battery declines. Sometimes this is due to lack of PC maintenance. In other cases, it is due to the environmental conditions the laptop is exposed to (e.g. in a hot car).
It can be frustrating to watch your laptop's battery capacity shrink. However, there are a few things you can do to extend the time you do not have to plug the device into the wall socket
The brighter your display is, the more battery power it consumes. Have you ever activated the automatic low battery mode on a laptop? Then you know that you immediately notice a difference in brightness. That's because this setting reduces the brightness. This is one of the ways to reduce battery consumption.
You can reduce the brightness of your screen in the display settings. You can also use the brightness keys, which are usually located in the top row of keys on a laptop keyboard.
Here's one way to increase the time you can use your unplugged laptop without a power source. Adjust some of its power and sleep settings.
If you are using Windows, open the search in the taskbar. Type in "power settings". This will take you to the power, sleep and battery settings in your system preferences.
Look out above for tips on how to extend battery life. For example, you can set the time your screen goes dark after inactivity and the time it goes to sleep to be the same.
Then check the settings such as screen and sleep and power mode. Find the settings that reduce the battery consumption of your PC. This will extend the time you can go without recharging.
You do not have to wait until your PC has reached 10% to switch to battery saving mode. You can control this yourself and activate it in your system settings.
Do you know that you will be without a power source for a while? Immediately put your PC into power saving or battery saving mode so that you can extend the charging process as long as possible.
Use the manufacturer's battery calibration tool
Manufacturers have installed their own PC maintenance tools. You can use these to calibrate the battery. Sometimes calibrating the battery can fix a problem with the battery life. Especially if the battery life has become shorter than when you bought your laptop.
Look for the manufacturer's built-in maintenance app. It's usually in the taskbar, unless you have hidden it. When you open it, you may find that you need to perform a calibration or other maintenance task.
Leaving processes running in the background can affect your battery life. Processes that are not needed often continue to run anyway. A computer tune-up by your IT provider can solve many different problems. These include sluggish computers and often battery life.
If you are like most people, you keep many browser tabs open while working on your PC. These could drain your battery.
Why not try Microsoft's Edge browser? It has become increasingly popular since it includes the Chromium engine. This is the same one that Chrome uses
The browser has several energy-saving features that you can activate in your settings. Look for "Sleeping Tabs" in the Edge settings to find them. They include:
Check the apps running on your PC in Task Manager. Do they really all need to be running when you are not connected to the mains and want to save the battery?
Often processes are running that are not always 100% necessary. Like an update service or an app for synchronising cloud storage. Close the apps that you do not need at that time to extend the battery life.
Protect your PC from too much heat or too cold temperatures
Both excessive heat and freezing temperatures can be harmful to a computer. This includes shortening the life of the battery.
You should never leave your laptop in your car on a hot day or in freezing temperatures. Even if it does not seem particularly hot to you, the inside of a car can heat up very quickly when the sun is shining. Be aware of the extreme temperature fluctuations your laptop is exposed to.
We can help you with a full system tune-up or a laptop battery replacement if needed. Don’t struggle with short battery life when you can have that fixed in no time! Give us a call today and let’s chat.
Article used with permission from The Technology Press.
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