Is it okay if my laptop is always plugged in so that my battery is charged 100%? Must I allow it to drain periodically by unplugging to increase battery life?
Before I mention what I do and what I’d recommend you to do, I’m gonna lay down some facts about the working of a laptop battery.Every laptop today uses a Li-ion battery. These batteries cannot be overcharged. As soon as your laptop reaches 100%, the laptop starts running directly on AC power if it is still plugged in.The problem with Li-ion batteries is that they self discharge. So if you keep your laptop plugged in, the battery will charge up to 100%, stop charging, self discharge to 99%, start charging, charge up to 100% and this cycle will repeat every couple hours.Newer laptops have ways to tackle this but in general, keeping your laptop at 100% at all times, is not good for your batteryIt is also not advisable to store your laptop at full charge. If you keep your laptop plugged in, chances are when you’re not using it i.e. it is shut down, it is at full charge as well. Fully charged batteries deteriorate faster than partially charged batteries even when not in use.You also don’t wanna let the battery drain out and store a battery at 0% charge. Stored batteries also keep losing energy, and if your battery has no charge, you’re risking harming it.So what should you do?Change the maximum percentage your laptop charges to around 55–60%. This eliminates all of the issues stated above. This is how I use my laptop and it stays plugged in 10–12 hours everyday. There is no need to completely discharge your battery.The only downside to this is that when you’re not plugged in, the laptop cannot accurately judge how much time your battery would last but I’m guessing that shouldn’t be a problem for the OP.
How long does a chromebook's battery last compared to its Windows 10 counterpart?
Assuming you’re talking about 2 identical spec’d laptops that only have different operating systems, the laptop with ChromeOS is more likely to last longer on battery when both are in default settings. Reason being, it’s a much lighter operating system than Windows. Exactly how much longer, is the question, but I will tell you, the difference is fairly big. From personal experience, with 2 laptops that had similar specs (not identical), even with a slightly larger battery in the Windows laptop, the Chromebook lasted much longer than the Windows10 laptop. Keep in mind one of the main selling points of the Chromebook is that is has significantly longer battery life than similar spec’d computers. In fact, in comparisons the one consistent thing you’ll notice is Chromebooks will almost always have the edge in terms of battery life.
Why is keeping a laptop battery fully charged bad for the battery? What's the basis for this recommendation? What physically goes wrong with the battery when it's kept fully charged most of the time?
According to battery experts :Li-ion batteries must be kept between 20% to 80% of their charge. Or even better, try keeping in between 40% to 60%.Never charge your battery to full. DO NOT overcharge. This will only increase your battery life for the present cycle, so only useful if you are going on a trip or a flight (if you are going to stay away from power source for long). But your overall battery life will reduce significantly.Never allow your battery level to drop down below 20%. For best results, plug-in when the charge drops to 40%.Only once in two months, do this : allow your battery to charge full, then use it completely till zero, then plug-in and charge to full again. This has to be done to calibrate your battery's internal circuitry so that it tells you the correct battery level on the screen.If you are not going to use your battery for longer periods (3 months and above), ensure your battery is charged to 40% before storing. Never store your battery on low charge. Also do not store if your battery is full. Doing so may reduce your battery life.These simple tricks will significantly help your Li-ion battery to last longer. Ofcourse it seems tough to maintain these levels (and keeping tab of your battery levels when you are working), but keeping these simple tricks in mind will delay your next battery purchase even longer, and your battery may still be working even when your laptop gets old.Applies to all consumer electronics which use Li-ion batteries (mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, etc.)For further information, check this - Battery UniversityThanks for the A2A. :)