Batteries live longer if treated in a gentle manner. The longevity is often a direct result of the environmental stresses applied.
Following are the steps to increase your notebook’s battery life:
- Do not ever let your Battery Power fall below 40%.
- Do not ever charge at or below 0o C.
- Always best to work with Power supply Plugged-in.
- Always best to give a 30 min break after 3 hour usage. Shutdown or hibernate the notebook and plug-off the Power supply.
- Make sure to leave your battery power between 50% - 40%, if you are not going to use the notebook for long time (like more than 6 hours)
Do not discharge lithium-ion too deeply. Instead, charge it frequently. Lithium-ion does not have memory problems like nickel-cadmium batteries. No deep discharges are needed for conditioning. Deep discharges will increase the temperature and reduce battery life. If Li-ion cells are discharged below a certain voltage a chemical reaction occurs that make them dangerous if recharged, which is why probably all such batteries in consumer goods now have an "electronic fuse" that permanently disables them if the voltage falls below a set level. The electronic fuse draws a small amount of current from the battery, which means that if a notebook battery is left for a long time without charging it, and with a low initial state of charge, the battery may be permanently destroyed.
Why not charge at or below 0o C ?
Do not charge lithium-ion at or below freezing temperature. Although accepting charge, an irreversible plating of metallic lithium will occur that compromises the safety of the pack.
Why is it best to work with Power supply Plugged-in ?
Plugged-in power supply takes control of the power requirements and stress is relieved from battery. Also less battery discharges occurs.
Why to give a 30 min break after 3 hour usage ?
A continuous usage gives more stress on the battery and raises the battery temperature and thereby reducing life. A frequent break can allow to battery to cool down to a nominal temperature and prevents increase of temperature to critical levels. Degradation of battery occurs faster at higher temperatures. Degradation in lithium-ion batteries is caused by an increased internal battery resistance due to cell oxidation. This decreases the efficiency of the battery, resulting in less net current available to be drawn from the battery.
Why need to keep battery power at 50%-40% before long time non usage of notebook?
When storing, lithium batteries degrade more while fully charged than if they are only 40% charged.
References
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/the_high_power_lithium_ion/
