Leaving a laptop connected and 100% all the time “is absolutely safe and perfectly normal,” says Rolfe, from Lenovo, to BBC Mundo. Photo: Archive
A fairly common question about using laptops is how to extend battery life (or at least how to avoid shortening more than normal). Although all batteries deteriorate over time, many users wonder if the use we offer can affect – even slightly – their ability to retain energy and power our devices for longer.
If so, then how should we use batteries?
I mean, Should we keep them 100% charged all the time or should we turn them on and off depending on their energy level?
Various experts he spoke to BBC World They recommended the best way to use batteries, which are mostly lithium (lithium-ion or lithium-polymer).
Battery life
“Battery technology is getting better with each generation. Ten years ago, the efficiency of laptop batteries began to deteriorate after several hundred charging cycles, ”says Ashley Rolfe, Lenovo’s chief technology officer in Ireland and the United Kingdom, at BBC Mundo.
Now Laptop batteries usually have a lifespan of three to five years, during which they can complete between 500 and 1,000 charging cycles.
“You want the battery to give you as much energy as possible for each charge and last between three and five years,” Kent Griffith, a researcher in energy technology at Northwestern University, told BBC World.
How is this balance achieved?
Leaving a laptop connected and 100% all the time “is absolutely safe and perfectly normal”, says Rolfe from Lenovo, BBC World.
Lenovo laptops and other brands “use sensors and control logic to make sure the battery doesn’t overcharge or overheat,” he explains.
However, “keeping the battery at 100% at all times will slightly reduce its life”.
His colleague Phil Jakes, Lenovo’s chief technology officer and chief engineer, agrees: higher temperatures, “he said. say BBC World.
The reason is that “100% charging is the hardest condition the battery can be in, because then the voltage is the highest,” explains Kent Griffith of Northwestern University.
The manufacturer HP thinks the same, as BBC Mundo says: “HP does not recommend leaving laptops connected to AC power at any time.”
“Most current batteries have overload prevention technology once they reach 100%,” but this technology does not prevent the high state of charge “creating additional stress on the battery that can accelerate its degradation over time,” says HP.
So, “if you keep the battery away from 100%, the battery can definitely last longer,” says Griffith.
The recommendation of these experts is to limit the amount of time your laptop stays fully charged or, instead of charging it to 100%, charge it only up to 80% each time you connect it.
“Technically, batteries are happier at 50% charge, while they are live at 0% or 100%, so technicians say it’s best to keep them between 20 and 80%.“, Says Rolfe.
While limiting the load to 80% “offers the maximum advantage, there is still a significant advantage in reducing the maximum load point to 90 or 95%,” says Jakes.
Microsoft also warns on its website that in the case of its Surface laptops (not for other brands), “batteries maintained at a high level will lose capacity faster”.
“You can help prevent this accelerated damage by not leaving your laptop (Surface) plugged in for power for long periods of time. If you need to keep your laptop connected continuously, we recommend that you use the battery charge limit, ”says Microsoft.
Various brands such as Microsoft, Lenovo and HP offer the option to limit the maximum amount of laptop load in their configurations.
For example, HP allows you to limit it to 80% in “Maximize my battery health” mode.
In general, “if you want the battery to last longer, you can make each cycle give you a little less power (80% instead of 100%), but then the battery could complete several charging cycles,” says Griffith. .
In other words, it’s about “balancing how much the battery gives you each time you charge it and how many cycles it can complete” over its lifetime, he continues.
How will you use your laptop?
But these recommendations do not necessarily mean that you should hurry to disconnect the laptop immediately every time it reaches 100%.
“All laptops have control circuits to protect the batteries and prevent overcharging. But you can increase the battery life by leaving them at 80%, ”says Rolfe from Lenovo.
But at the same time, it clarifies that “batteries last so long nowadays that most users probably don’t need to worry.”
Today, “batteries are so good that they generally last longer than your laptop,” he says.
Rolfe’s final recommendation is to think about how you will use your laptop. That is, evaluate whether you will have constant access to an outlet or whether you will not be able to plug in for a long time. In the latter case, it would be better to take it with full charge.
“If you’re at the office most of the time, set a upload limit,” he says. “But if you’re on the go most of the time, leave it at 100% and don’t worry!”
See also:
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(Taken from BBC World)