I recently received my Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Edition) and I really love it.
As I really like the idea of a long living laptop and plan to have this device for the next 10+ years I would like to maximize the lifespan of the battery, one of the critical parts in device longevity.
I know that for example charging only to 80% or less can significantly prolong the lifespan and already have enabled the BIOS setting to stop charging at 75%.
Do you have any other suggestions for me as how I can prolong the life of my battery as long as possible?
Not to imply that we should start treating batteries as disposable, but one of the reasons I got the Framework was because I can replace the battery for under $100, which is really cool.
In general just try to minimize discharge cycles.
This means shutting it down instead of putting it to sleep overnight.
Letting the battery go too low is also just as dangerous as letting the battery go too high!
You want to avoid a completely drained battery for long periods of time, and want to be discharging between 30-70%.
As the person above me said though, don’t worry about it too much, you can get a new one!
Currently have a Thinkpad T480s with its original battery still charging up to 90% of its originally designed capacity. Also have a Thinkpad T430 with an original battery…same thing no special limits, and it still charges up to 75% of its designed capacity. I have never set any limits on charging on either laptop. Getting great mileage out of the batteries without crippling my battery life.
Therefore, on the high side, the recommendation is to limt capacity to approximately 80% and on the low side to 30% to maximize the lifespan of the battery?
Effectively the usable capacity is 50%
If you could reasonably expect 4 hours on 100%, now it’s down to 2 hours.
almost not worth it.
Sounds we really need to develop SoapStone energy storage technology.
And Douglas-Martin Screens to generate electricity.
Isn’t it also true that wearing down the battery to only 20% before recharging is also bad for the lifetime capacity?
My philosophy is that batteries are so finicky there isn’t much benefit in trying to optimize wear beyond setting a charging limit and allowing the system to come as close to 0% as possible once in a while. And… y’know… don’t leave it plugged in all day.
Personally, if I’m using the battery pretty constantly, I don’t know if it’s worth making a concerted effort to stay between 30-80%. It might slightly lessen wear on the battery over time, so maybe it’s worth it for you. But consider that if only using 50% of the battery is fine with you, then a battery that’s only good for 50% after 5 years shouldn’t be a big problem either. Just a thought.
On the other hand, if you are going to go without charging the battery for a while, I’d say it should start with at least 30% charge and maybe even 50-60% because if it drains too far while sitting, it can destroy the battery. Likewise, if I’m going to operate with it plugged in a lot of the time, I’ll set it at a max charge of 80% so it doesn’t degrade from sitting at full charge a lot of the time.
That’s an… interesting thought. But I think the difference is that in the first case you always have an additional 30% available (because you can discharge below 30%) and also that you can utilize the whole 100% when needed (e.g. do a full charge before a trip). Although the latter requires planning beforehand.