Thinking about whether or not it is safe to have your laptop plugged at all times? Find out what the experts and manufacturers suggest to maintain healthy life of your battery and extend its life.
Introduction – Is It Safe to Keep Laptop Plugged
Many people wonder, is it safe to keep laptop plugged in all the time, or does it harm the battery?
Having spent long hours with your laptop computer every day, you must have asked yourself: Is it alright to leave my laptop plugged in?
Regardless of whether you are a student taking online courses, a gamer or even a worker working at home, it appears convenient to leave the laptop somewhere on the charger. However, worry is raised by many that such habit might destroy the battery or take away the lifespan of the battery.
Now we will discover what specialists, battery manufactures, and battery engineers themselves are saying about this question which is always asked.
Theory A Laptop Battery Theory
The current generation laptops have lithium-ion or lithium-polymer batteries, which are intended to supply substantive power and has the ability to charge hundreds of times.
Lithium-ion battery contrasts the older nickel-based batteries in that they do not experience the memory effect. This implies that you do not have to drain them out fully then plug in.
All batteries, however, are limited in terms of the number of charge cycles they can undergo execution on – usually 300 to 1,000. A charge cycle refers to a charge between 0 and 100 percent. With every complete cycle the total capacity is reduced slightly. After prolonged use, your laptop battery will be capable of holding less charge than was the case previously regardless of how well you have taken care of it.
What Do You Get When You Leave it Plugged In
Under the modern systems, once your laptop is charged to 100 percent and is still connected to the charger, it stops charging automatically. The laptop then pulls out its power directly via the advertiser as opposed to the battery. This process averts overcharging, which is amongst the popular fears of the users.
It is to say that it does not start to break your battery immediately you leave it plugged a few hours or even overnight at times. However, it does not imply that it is absolutely safe in the long term.
The reason is: when you leave your laptop to charge between days and at the same time get it warm through heavy usage, the heat and high voltage may accelerate the chemical process of aging the battery inside.
Heat: The Unknown Killers of Battery Life
It is a universal service of the experts that the greatest factor that influences the battery life of a laptop is the heat.
Battery degradation is accelerated when your laptop is hot such as during gaming, editing videos, or multitasking, and it is also being charged simultaneously.
The majority of lithium ion batteries work under 20 o C to 30 o C (68 F- 86 F). Over 40 o C (104 o F) can be considered long-term damage.
That is so, although your laptop will be engineered in such a way that it has an intelligent charging, it is not good to leave it plugged on and hot over hours. This is why cooling pads, laptop stands and ventilation are necessary accessories to individuals who use laptops whilst they are plugged most of the time.
What are manufacturers, who deal with laptops, recommending?
Users Laptop restaurants are aware that users leave the devices on the wall and as such, a smart charge option has been integrated with the laptops to reduce battery strains. The best manufacturers designate the following:
Apple (MacBook): in macOS, there exists a nice built-in feature termed as Battery Health Management where it is learnt by monitoring your daily usage habit and will halt charging to prevent charging above 100 percent when not in use. This will assist to delay battery maturity.
Dell: Has an options of Primarily AC Use or Adaptive Mode in the Dell power Manager app that will limit charging to approximately 80%.
HP: It contains a Battery Care Function where you can select the 80-90 percent brain, to send battery life.
ASUS: The battery health charging features three modes Full Capacity, Balanced and Maximum Lifespan allow the user to select.
Lenovo: Lenovo Vantage has a Conservation Mode which allows users to maintain a battery at 55 60 percent when they are always on the charger.
Such environments indicate that producers do not believe that being plugged in is a risky behavior. All they suggest is not to have your laptop filled with 100 percent of electricity every moment and make sure your laptop is cool.
Laptop battery aging are the signs that indicate battery aging
Regardless of their careful use, no battery lasts forever.
The following are some of the typical indicators that your laptop battery requires maintenance:
- 🔋 Laptop battery life is pitiable even at a moderate level.
- ⚡ Once charged (e.g. 80% or 90 percent) it stops automatically.
- 💻 The phone crashes at times of low battery.
- 🔥chances of excessive heat around the battery area
Battery health is indicated in system settings in most laptops. Once the health percentage goes below 70-75, then you may begin to see the reduced runtime.
Best practices to ensure your laptop has a long battery life
To have the longest battery life of your laptop when you have your laptop ready to be plugged but at the same time you want to make the best use of it, the following tips given by erudite persons could help you;
1.)Avoid Constant 100% Charge
Whatever you can do is to set a charging threshold of about 80-90 with your laptop as long as it can. This is a minor modification that can extend battery life to a lot.
2.)Don’t Let It Fully Drain
Loading your battery to its full limits is a common way of stressing your battery. When recharged to approximately 20 30, attempt to recharge.
3.)Keep It Cool
Place your laptop on the flat or a cooling pad. It should not be applied on the bed, a couch before the blocked air.
4.)Unplug Occasionally
Although you might work mostly with your laptop when it is plugged to an electrical outlet, allow it to run out once or twice in a week. This maintains the calibration of the battery.
5.)Use Original Chargers
Non-OEM adapters may provide power that is not always consistent or spike your laptop, which is bad in the long term.
6.)Update Your BIOS and Drivers
The manufacturers also update the power-management, which makes the batteries better in terms of performance with time.
Myth-Busting: 10 Myths about Laptop Charging
❌ Myth 1: Overcharging destroys the battery.
❌ Reality: Today the laptops do not charge of their own will after being full.
❌ Myth 2: You are supposed to discharge your battery to the end first before charging.
✅ Fact: At 20 -80 degrees Fahrenheit Lithium-ion batteries have a longer life.
❌ Myth 3: It is bad to use your laptop when it is being charged.
✅ Fact: It will be fine as long as your device does not get hot and that its charger is authentic.
Conclusion: What Experts Say
Therefore, can you leave your laptop to be plugged in?
Yes–but with plenty of care.
The current laptops are made in such a way that they can be continually charged without damages. Nonetheless, overheating and keeping the battery at full charge may decrease the long-term health of the battery.
Combine the performance and battery life by whichever ways, the following expert endorsed habits will ensure the best of both worlds:
- Keep your laptop cool,
- Use in-built battery optimization options,
- Full charges should not be made at all times, and
- Unplug occasionally.
With these few measures, you can be guaranteed that your laptop will last several years with the comfort of having it being charged all the time.
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