Battery Life Tips And Tricks – Save Energy, Extend Battery Life

Posted by easy eco blog

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Let’s face it, almost everyone has problems with the battery life for notebooks and cell phones. Our iPhone barely makes it through a day without charging. More and more devices come with rechargeable batteries and we felt it was time we looked into ways to extend notebook and cell phone battery life. This article focus on lithium-ion batteries that are present in most modern devices.

If you have devices that need regular sized batteries (AA, C, D, etc), make sure you switch to lithum rechargeable batteries instead of single use batteries. You will save money over the long haul. Newer rechargeable batteries store their charge a lot longer.

Lithium-ion batteries do not have memory problems like older NiCad batteries. Topping them off is on. Avoid running the battery down to near zero capacity before charging. Lithium-ion batteries’ life is shortened every time you fully discharge them!

Most manufacturers recommend you to go through at least one full charge cycle per month. Charge the battery to 100% full and then running the battery down to zero. Notebooks will need sleep to be disabled during the rundown process.

Keep your devices near room temperature as much as possible. (72° F or 22° C) Some device cases can cause the battery to get significantly warmer, resulting in lower battery life. Putting a phone in your pocket can do the same thing. Do not leave your computer or phone inside a hot vehicle.

Obvious, turning OFF your device when you are not using it will help battery life. This means off, not sleep, standby, or hibernate. Remember to do it every night.

Remove batteries from chargers right after they have been charged. If you are not using the device for a while, remove its battery if possible. Clean battery contacts every couple months.

Notebook Battery Life Tips:

Turn on Energy Saving in your Operating System. Windows 7, XP, and Vista – EPA recommends setting computers to enter system standby or hibernate after 30 to 60 minutes of inactivity. To save even more, set monitors and hard drives to enter sleep mode after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity. The lower the setting, the more energy you save. Climate Savers Power Setting instructions

Disable energy sucking Aero and Sidebar user interface candy in Windows Vista and 7. Lower the brightness on your laptops screen. Reduce the number of background applications you run.

On the Macintosh, Apple has tips for battery life.

Cell Phone Battery Life Tips:

Lower the brightness or backlight of your screen. Vibrate uses a lot of power, disable it. Disable push email or constant email checking. Reduce the number of email accounts checked. Avoid using the camera’s flash. Turn off Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS if you do not use these features.

Apple has a page with iPhone battery tips. The most useful ones are turning off push email, lowering screen brightness, turning off Wifi and Bluetooth. Disabling 3G helps but who wants a slower phone? Turning off sounds made when unlocking and sending e-mail will also help battery life.

Never throw batteries in the trash. Recycle them.

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