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There’s a popular belief that batteries are best preserved through constant cycling. Essentially, this logic holds that battery life can be conserved through a practice of fully draining a battery, followed by full recharge. The theory holds that by failing to fully discharge before you recharge, you “fool” your battery into thinking that it has less capacity than it actually does.

But in reality, lithium ion batteries, which are the batteries used in the vast majority of laptops today, don’t act like this.

Lithium ion batteries typically are capable of between 300 and 500 full charging cycles. Discharging a battery by 15% would only count as a partial discharge in this equation. Therefore, full discharges do not conserve battery life.

So how can you preserve your battery’s lifespan? Here are some best practices that will help your laptop battery keep going and going and going…

Charging Your Battery
• Whenever possible, connect your laptop to a power source if the laptop is in use. The laptop will bypass the battery as a power source, thus avoiding the need to use up valuable charging cycles.
• Do not fully drain your battery. These full discharges can strain the battery unnecessarily.
• Remove the battery from the laptop when connected to a power source. This will protect the battery from excess heat, which contributes more to decreased battery life than the number of charging cycles. In fact, a battery can lose 20-40% of its capacity in the first year alone from overheating. However, be careful not to allow moisture or dust particles into the battery compartment.
• Don’t leave your battery fully discharged for a long period of time (even several days is too much), which can leave the battery unusable.

Calibration
A battery’s fuel gauge can occasionally become unsynchronized, which will cause it to improperly read the level of a battery’s charge. However, a full discharge and subsequent recharge every 30 charging cycles can correct this problem.

Storage
• The most important issue when storing a battery is to keep it at an appropriate temperature. A cool location is ideal, and avoid excessive heat (such as a hot car) or cold (as in, don’t freeze your battery).
• Batteries are best stored at 40% charge. Storing a battery at full charges can put unnecessary strain on it.

Disposal
• Before disposing of a battery, you might want to consider refurbishing it. Between 80 and 90% of batteries can be returned to working condition after refurbishment.
• Don’t bother purchasing spare batteries if you’re not going to use them. Batteries only have a shelf-life of 2-3 years—regardless of whether they’re used. So you’re better off holding off on battery purchases until necessary.

Stick to these guidelines, and you’re battery will last longer and hold more charge. And you’ll be helping the environment by conserving the number of batteries you consume.

Jason Semine