Nine tips for saving battery power

A tip for users of laptops, smartphones, and tablet computers

1. Keep out of temperature extremes. Extreme heat and extreme cold can cause your battery to drain more quickly.

2. Most of us keep our screens at maximum brightness, and this is a huge cause of battery drain. Try reducing brightness by 10% increments and you may be surprised that eyestrain is reduced when it is not so bright. And, you can probably drop the brightness a little more at night; its worth the few seconds it takes to lower brightness.

3. If you have auto-check for mail, turn it off or set it check less often, when not plugged in.

4. Turn off sound; or eliminate system sounds. At the very least, reduce volume as low as you can.

5. It is best to recharge battery before it completely discharges, but once a month or so, let the battery completely discharge as it actually resets/calibrates the fuel gauge of the battery.

6. Defrag laptops on a regular basis as it arranges data more efficiently, which in turn reduces the work the hard drive and Windows have to do. Less work equals better battery life.

7. On laptops, make sure you do not let automated tasks complete unless you are plugged in. This would include defrags, virus scan, etc.,

8. Devices that plug into USB ports can also drain power. If you have a mouse or anything else plugged into a USB port while you’re on battery power and can do without it, do so. USB devices draw power from the computer – and when the computer is on battery power they indirectly draw power from the battery.

9. If you don’t need Internet access turn off the Wi-Fi connection. Using Wi-Fi can use power especially when your laptop or other Wi-Fi device is searching for a signal.