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What are some good practices for making sure my laptop battery serves its full life?

I use my laptop as a replacement for desktop. I generally use it for 6 to 7 hours a day. However I use it for light use like word processing , programming , movies (once two to three days).
I have been using my laptop for an year and a half now and the battery wear percentage is 21.7%. I do back to back charge-and-discharge of my battery as I have read that keeping it plugged into AC while having battery in might harm the battery in long run.
I do use a cooler pad and recalibrate my battery once two-three months.

What other things should I do to increase my battery service life considering my regular heavy use? (Increasing the years the battery will provide service)

Other information:
CPU (first gen i3) temp: 49C. Motherboard Temp: 49C. Hard Drive Temp: 42C
Laptop Model: HP DV4-2126TX.

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This LifeHacker how to protect your battery for future use.

Below is an edited excerpt.

Your laptop probably uses a Lithium battery,the following applies to Lithium batteries.

Unlike nickel batteries that need to be fully drained before a recharge to optimize the battery life, Lithium batteries do not need to fully discharge it before recharging, and in fact, if you fully deplete a lithium battery and don't recharge for a while, it can become [incapable of holding a charge].

You'll also want to make sure that your battery is not always fully charged—Wikipedia points out that if your lithium battery is fully charged all the time, you will lose up to 20% of your capacity each year, no matter what you do. Make sure to discharge the battery sometimes, and if you spend most of your time plugged in at a desk, you would be better off running the battery down to half, and then simply removing the battery and storing it in a cool place.

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  • I do discharge my battery. And with regards to storing in a coo place, is it safe to wrap my battery in its plastic bag and keep it in a metal cupboard (at 50% charge when Im going out for a month or so?
    – A User
    Jul 15, 2012 at 16:20
  • Don't forget, you can mark my answer as the answer to your question, if I've answered your question. (Use the green check)
    – wizlog
    Jul 15, 2012 at 16:21
  • Are my temperatures of operation normal? [found using Piriform's Speccy]
    – A User
    Jul 15, 2012 at 16:23
  • @FasihKhatib I guess, not so sure.
    – wizlog
    Jul 15, 2012 at 16:27
  • Is recalibration required for LiIon batteries?
    – A User
    Jul 15, 2012 at 16:38
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Well I know this may sound common sense but use the energy saving options in your control panel. Set the intervals to sleep. The shorter the interval the better health for your battery. Another way to be easier on the battery is to reduce the backlight on your computer.

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  • by 'life' i refer to battery service life and not how many hours it should last :)
    – A User
    Jul 15, 2012 at 16:06
  • Reducing battery consumption also improves battery life. A high consumption to recharge ratio can cause an imbalance in the battery's ions.
    – DrinkJavaCodeJava
    Jul 15, 2012 at 16:09
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Don't leave your battery plugged into the laptop while you're using the AC Adapter. Only leave the battery in when you're needing to charge the battery. It sounds silly, but a lot of the issues that your experiencing is normal wear and tear of the battery.

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