Do you charge your phone at night? Why you should stop immediately

For many people, the day starts and ends with a plug in the wall. The phone is plugged into the charger just before you go to bed, and in the morning the screen shows 100 percent.

It seems convenient because you don’t have to worry about the battery all day. The only problem is that the phone rarely benefits from the long night shift in the socket.

Most modern smartphones are fully charged after one to two hours. Then the electronics stop delivering power when the battery reaches 100 percent.

A few minutes later, the level drops to 99 percent and charging starts again.

Throughout the night, the battery fluctuates between 99 and 100 percent because you expect your phone to be fully charged when you unplug it.

Every little charge and discharge takes its toll on the battery, and the process also generates heat.

You rarely notice it directly, but the battery is under pressure and heat is one of the things that makes a smartphone battery age faster than necessary.

The battery thrives in the middle of the scale

Lithium-ion batteries are at their best when they operate in the middle capacity range.

Many experts believe that the battery thrives best between about 20 and 80 percent, and that long periods at 100 percent slowly degrade battery health.

According to Inside-Digital.de, this means that the otherwise smart habit of always charging at night can shorten battery life.

Manufacturers are trying to mitigate the problem with features such as spreading the charge overnight or stopping charging slightly before 100 percent.

However, they still recommend that the phone gets some air while charging. It should be placed on a hard, flat surface and not under a cushion or on a soft sofa.

It’s also a good idea to use original or certified chargers and possibly remove a thick cover if your phone tends to get hot.

What you can do instead and how much you’ll save

The most gentle solution is to charge your phone while you’re awake.

For example, you can give it a quick power boost in the morning or a couple of times during the day.

Then you can disconnect it when the battery is approaching 80 or 90 percent, avoiding the many small charging peaks during the night.

There’s also an economic side to it. If you charge your phone for eight hours every night, that adds up to hundreds of hours over the course of a year.

Power consumption for one phone is usually only around £20-30 a year, but in a household with several phones and chargers, it quickly adds up.

At the same time, many chargers still use power even when there’s no phone in them.

By charging while you’re awake, unplugging your phone when it’s charged and unplugging the charger afterwards, you’ll save both your battery and your electricity bill.