Enable W11 Battery Saver also when plugged-in

fruh · Feb 8, 2022

Hi everyone, my laptop at idle on battery (DC) remains cooler than when it's plugged-in (AC) for no apparent reason since it happens even when I leave it sitting there doing nothing. I would like to try enabling the Battery Saver feature on AC too to see if it makes any difference (this happened on W10 too).

The only thing I know is that here
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00\36687f9e-e3a5-4dbf-b1dc-15eb381c6863\DefaultPowerSchemeValues\961cc777-2547-4f9d-8174-7d86181b8a7a
only a DC value is present, while anywhere else there are values for both AC and DC modes.

Does anyone know how the Battery Saver feature could be enabled while charging too? Thanks :)

CornishRattler · Feb 8, 2022

Is this what you're looking for?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/can-battery-saver-be-activated-while-charging-and/1fe12da3-53c9-4184-8414-82c085020252

CornishRattler · Feb 8, 2022

CornishRattler said:
Is this what you're looking for?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/can-battery-saver-be-activated-while-charging-and/1fe12da3-53c9-4184-8414-82c085020252

Actually, reading it and your question, this ain't the droid you're looking for

fruh · Feb 8, 2022

CornishRattler said:
Actually, reading it and your question, this ain't the droid you're looking for

Well it kinda is, at least according to the last post in that thread lol. Anyway don't worry (and thanks anyway) :) I had already tried googling this stuff but that thread never came out

Anyway I find interesting that the microsoft staff says that Battery Saver can be activated while charging, though the option in Settings becomes greyed out when I plug-in the laptop so...

TheMystic · Feb 8, 2022

fruh said:
Hi everyone, my laptop at idle on battery (DC) remains cooler than when it's plugged-in (AC) for no apparent reason since it happens even when I leave it sitting there doing nothing. I would like to try enabling the Battery Saver feature on AC too to see if it makes any difference (this happened on W10 too).

The only thing I know is that here
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00\36687f9e-e3a5-4dbf-b1dc-15eb381c6863\DefaultPowerSchemeValues\961cc777-2547-4f9d-8174-7d86181b8a7a
only a DC value is present, while anywhere else there are values for both AC and DC modes.

Does anyone know how the Battery Saver feature could be enabled while charging too? Thanks :)

A lot of activities (background tasks) are done when the device is connected to power supply, so it is normal for the device to be warmer than when on battery. The charging process too generates some heat. Once the background tasks are complete, the device can be expected to cool down a bit.

But is it getting hot? If not, there shouldn't be a cause of concern.

fruh · Feb 8, 2022

TheMystic said:
A lot of activities (background tasks) are done when the device is connected to power supply, so it is normal for the device to be warmer than when on battery. The charging process too generates some heat. Once the background tasks are complete, the device can be expected to cool down a bit.

But is it getting hot? If not, there shouldn't be a cause of concern.

I am not nor there is any need to be concerned for my machine, it's just idle warm.
Unfortunately though, my hands are broken and overly sensitive to warmth so if my PC can safely operate on battery without those background tasks running and without bothering my hands, I'm sure it will do perfectly fine also while charging. So, I'd very well try to make it behave always in the better way, if Battery Saver is really the answer to my problem

The-Hive · Feb 8, 2022

Another thing to check is the settings in Control Panel >Power Options any option on the left will take you to Change Advanced Power Options

fruh · Feb 8, 2022

The-Hive said:
Another thing to check is the settings in Control Panel >Power Options any option on the left will take you to Change Advanced Power Options

I've checked any available setting in Windows.

This thread is not about anything other than trying to enable Battery Saver while charging.

The-Hive · Feb 8, 2022

Ok, I thought there may have been an option in there for that, but it was years ago

fruh · Feb 8, 2022

The-Hive said:
Ok, I thought there may have been an option in there for that, but it was years ago

If you meant an option for Battery Saver I'm sorry, I didn't get it.
There actually is an option (which has to be unhidden from the registry) which sets the Energy Saver policy as User defined or Aggressively applied by Windows, though it does not allow Battery Saver to be enabled while charging

Add Energy Saver to Power Options in Windows 10

TheMystic · Feb 8, 2022

fruh said:
I am not nor there is any need to be concerned for my machine, it's just idle warm.
Unfortunately though, my hands are broken and overly sensitive to warmth so if my PC can safely operate on battery without those background tasks running and without bothering my hands, I'm sure it will do perfectly fine also while charging. So, I'd very well try to make it behave always in the better way, if Battery Saver is really the answer to my problem

The warmth in your case appears to be a result of the charging process itself, and not really background tasks since it doesn't seem to cool down after a period. What this also means is you are unlikely to see any difference even if you manage to turn on battery saver while charging. All the best.

fruh · Feb 8, 2022

TheMystic said:
The warmth in your case appears to be a result of the charging process itself, and not really background tasks since it doesn't seem to cool down after a period. What this also means is you are unlikely to see any difference even if you manage to turn on battery saver while charging. All the best.

The different heat output of my machine is not related to the charging process since my laptop is always plugged-in and fully charged. Most likely, it's caused by different power management profiles for AC and DC set in the BIOS by Dell.
I'm aware of the risk of all of this being useless but I think the Battery Saver feature might still be easier to modify than Dell's BIOS. However I appreciate what you are trying to tell me and I think it's reasonable.

So, I'm still interested in enabling Battery Saver while charging 🥲

Winuser · Feb 8, 2022

TheMystic said:
The warmth in your case appears to be a result of the charging process itself, and not really background tasks since it doesn't seem to cool down after a period. What this also means is you are unlikely to see any difference even if you manage to turn on battery saver while charging. All the best.

Shouldn't the charging process turn off once the battery is charged?

TheMystic · Feb 8, 2022

Winuser said:
Shouldn't the charging process turn off once the battery is charged?

It should. But the system would constantly start charging once the battery drops below a certain level, generating heat again. One can expect the temperature to fluctuate a bit during the period, even though it may not be easily noticeable.

fruh · Feb 8, 2022

TheMystic said:
It should. But the system would constantly start charging once the battery drops below a certain level, generating heat again. One can expect the temperature to fluctuate a bit during the period, even though it may not be easily noticeable.

Honestly I thought the system would not rely on the battery to run when it's fully charged and plugged in.

Anyway, to have an objective measurement, I look at CPU temps from HWinfo (and it corresponds to what I feel). The CPU temp could be influenced by the battery aswell but maybe this helps to isolate the problem

Enable W11 Battery Saver also when plugged-in

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