How can I limit battery charging on a Surface Pro (2) or Windows 8(.1)?

Question

Limiting the maximum amount that a battery can be charged extends its life.

Historically, utilities for this have been provided by the manufacturer (i.e. on Sony and Lenovo). Does Windows 8 or 8.1 provide facilities to do this now for all mobile computers in general?

If not, how can I limit battery charging on my Surface Pro in order to extend its (non-replaceable) battery's life?

Solution 1

I have searched but have found no settings in Windows 8 for battery charging - the battery is designed to charge up to 100%.

Some manufacturers (including Sony and Lenovo) provide a utility which limits the battery from fully charging, but I have not been able to find any such utility by Microsoft for the Surface Pro or for Windows 8 in general. The advanced Power Options seem to be the only available mechanism.

A look at the WMI Win32_Battery class has found that one can consult the battery state or set the desired power state as in Power Options, but not much else.

A visit to the Apps for Windows website has found nothing as regarding battery charging.

It seems to me that unless Microsoft will improve battery-handling in Power Options at some future release, if you wish to stop charging the battery before 100% then your only choice at the moment is to unplug the adapter from the mains.

Solution 2

After much searching for similar capabilities on other devices, I've concluded that both software and firmware (or hardware) support is needed for this to happen. Specifically, that means the vendor must do something.

I've summarized the problem in a post on surfaceforums.net:

Optimizing Battery Health for Surface Pro (2)

Additionally, Microsoft has posted about some of the new features of the Surface Pro 2, including some details about the battery, and I've made a note there about this as well:

What’s new in Surface Pro 2

Comments

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

related: superuser.com/questions/629069/…

[magicandre1981]

ask this Microsoft: answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfpro2

[harrymc]

If the Surface Pro has an Energy Management software, then choosing "Optimized Battery Health" limits the battery charge to 60% which is the optimum. On Windows 8 one gets to it via the battery icon or Power Options in Control Panel.

[Andrew Mao]

@harrymc Unfortunately, that seems to be a Lenovo thing. There is no such option on my Surface under advanced power options.

[harrymc]

You are right that the Surface Pro has lithium-ion batteries and so can benefit from lower charge levels. However, I haven't been able to find any official Windows feature or app that can do that. It seems that you will need to do it manually. Apps for the sophisticated surveying of the battery do exist, if that interests you.

[Andrew Mao]

Sigh. If there is no way to limit the battery charge automatically, we can expect all Surfaces to turn into bricks within a few years.

[harrymc]

They all will, whatever you do.

[Andrew Mao]

I've had a Sony Laptop with battery life extending software that has most of its capacity even after 4 years. This most definitely isn't an issue of throwing our hands up and letting it be.

[Andrew Mao]

At the very least, there should be some app that monitors your charging and emits an alarm when going beyond a certain charge percentage.

[harrymc]

There are many battery monitoring apps for desktop mode that will display the battery status, some of them with alerts. You will have to test which ones works best for your tablet. A quick googling found the Battery Status Tool and Battery Meter and BatteryBar Pro.

[DrColossos]

Unfortunately, the Surface Pro is not a product from Dell.