The expression “you are To hurt it ”can apply to almost anything. For me, it is the cooking of an egg soufflé (too much mixing), cross -country skiing (not enough slip) and – in the whole – repressing on a Windows laptop all day and allowing it to die prematurely.
This is a problem, because I tend to increase the too high brightness adjustment and to rely on the default battery saving options of Windows to make me spend the day. I also like to be mobile, and so I rarely care about a charger. When my PC laptop suddenly goes out, all productivity hacks in the world cannot save me.
Windows PC laptops can be changed to last approximately 30% more if you adjust a few parameters and create an “electric plan” for the day. These tactics can extend the life of the battery of a new machine and also make an older machine more usable by keeping it further in the working day. For a typical machine, you can add 90 minutes to use the battery by following these tips.
Use a quick rescue key command
I will start with the greatest power economy council that worked for me. While I work on a laptop, I sometimes go to my phone or tablet and I forget to put my laptop in standby mode. The laptop is inactive for a while with the running screen, which consumes energy. I started using a key command that puts this problem.
With Windows 11, when you press ALT + F4, you will see a menu display options to put the sleeping computer or in standby mode. One or the other option will save energy.
I decided to measure the impact of this. I used an Alienware X16 R2 gaming laptop all day without putting it in standby mode, and it lasted about six hours with continuous use (the company claims that the battery is supposed to last seven hours). I then used my tip to put it in sleep mode whenever I made a phone call or I went to an iPad. The laptop lasted about 90 more minutes that day! It’s a bit boring to have to wait for the laptop to wake up when you go back, but it’s worth it.
Reduce the refresh rate of your screen
I didn’t realize until I started testing laptops to extract more battery power, but the drop in the screen cooling rate is also extremely effective in saving energy. The reason concerns how a laptop displays information, especially on older models.
A high cooling rate makes games and smoother videos (more images are “refreshed” on the screen), but the laptop must work harder to push these pixels, which drains the battery. More recent laptops like Alienware X16 R2 I tested will automatically reduce the cooling rate when the battery reserves are low, but if your Windows PC is a few years old, you can manually adjust the refreshment rate.
Click To startSo go to Parameters > System > Display > Advanced display settings. Find the adjustment of the refresh rate and select 60 Hz. Microsoft estimates that the reduction of your refresh rate on this parameter alone can save between 10 and 30% over the battery life. Your games and videos may not seem so smooth, but if you are like me and use Google Docs all day, you will barely notice it.
Create a complex food plan
If you are not also willing to operate at a reduced refresh rate all day, another tip is to use an electrical plan. Windows 11 allows you to create several power plans for various tasks or parts of your working day, then switches together.
For example, you can check the emails in the morning and can count on a lower brightness parameter, lower performance and a shorter time before the laptop goes into standby mode. In the afternoon, you may prefer more power to watch videos and browse the web. Then, at night, you can use a more balanced battery setting to end the day.
