Why Do Laptops Always Lose Battery Faster In Winter

Have you noticed that once winter arrives, the battery of a laptop always seems to deplete faster than before? Temperature does indeed affect the battery's endurance. Today, I'm here to give everyone a bit of an explainer.

Why does a computer lose charge quickly in winter?

Temperature affects the battery's discharge efficiency

In a low-temperature environment, the chemical reaction rate of the battery will slow down, leading to reduced discharge efficiency. To be specific, as the temperature decreases, the concentration of the electrolyte inside the battery also increases, which makes it harder for lithium ions to pass through the separator. This causes an increase in the internal resistance of the battery and, as a result, a decrease in its discharge efficiency. Therefore, when using the computer in a cold environment, the battery's endurance is usually shortened.

Specific impact of low-temperature on battery life:

1. Shortened notebook battery life:

When the air temperature drops below zero degrees Celsius, the battery life of a notebook computer typically shortens by approximately 30% to 40%. This not only affects the user's experience in cold weather but could also lead to the battery running out in emergencies.

2. Reduced standby time for mobile devices:

For mobile devices that use lithium-ion batteries, low temperatures similarly affect their standby time. When the device enters standby mode, the battery consumption increases, which results in the device not being able to maintain the normal standby time at low temperatures.

What to do if the battery encounters problems in winter?

The optimal operating temperature for a computer is 20 - 30°C (68 - 86℉), and the best storage environment is a dry area between 10 - 30°C (50 - 86℉). Both high and low temperatures can cause a decline in battery activity. So in winter, we should try to move our laptops to a higher temperature environment to ensure the internal battery temperature is above 10°C (50℉).

If the temperature of the usage environment is low, you may plug in the charger before starting the machine (because when you are using the power adapter, the battery is not in use, and the computer will run directly on power from the adapter).

You can also follow the steps below to adjust your laptop battery (for example, with a Windows 11 system): press Win + i to open Settings, click System, then click Power & batter.