Laptops are super convenient, and most of us use them exclusively, but they are actually designed for mobile use and need to be charged after a few hours of use. During the current emergency, many at-home workers are using their laptops as a desktop and leaving them plugged in full time. Is that bad for the battery? Let’s discuss laptop battery best practices.
Is Overcharging a Laptop Battery a Problem?
Like everything else, it depends. How old is your device? Older batteries are more likely to degrade when overcharged. The newer lithium-polymer or lithium-ion batteries don’t have this problem. Hardware improvements are also keeping batteries charged without damaging them.
Watch The Temperature
If you notice that leaving your laptop on charge for long periods causes it to heat up, you may be damaging internal components. Keep your computer at cooler temperatures in general. Research shows that leaving a fully charged laptop at high heat- your car, for example-will significantly degrade the battery.
Make sure your laptop doesn’t heat up when left plugged in. If you keep it in a cool well-ventilated area, and it’s not heating up, it should be ok to leave your laptop on the charger for as long as you want.
For more great technology and hardware tips and tricks, check back next week. Quikteks can help.