Of the many inconveniences associated with load shedding, one of the very worst is the sense that your connection with the rest of the world has been cut off. But, this doesn’t have to be the case – as long as you’re clever when it comes to maintaining your smartphone’s battery life to get you through those 2-hour stints when you can’t recharge.
Unless you have solar power at home, by now, silence is a sound that all South Africans are familiar with. The silence that comes with ongoing power cuts, and the disappearance of your WiFi. Worse still, if you’ve forgotten to charge your phone before the power outage, then you’re completely cut off and there are no WhatsApp, email, or notification alerts for you.
PriceCheck tip: If your phone has wireless charging capabilities, you can find a suitable wireless charger on PriceCheck.
Too bad if you want to alleviate the boredom of the next two hours by phoning a friend or scrolling through your socials, and bad luck if you need to keep an eye on your work emails. As for emergencies – you’d better hope that you don’t need to get hold of anyone in a hurry.
If you’re yet to stock up on load shedding solutions, then the best way to avoid getting caught out when the lights go off is to keep your phone fully charged and preserve your battery life when your phone is juiced up. Check out these tips that will go a long way to helping you to preserve that precious battery life of your smartphone or mobile device during load shedding:
1. Download a loadshedding app that will help track load shedding in your area. This will ensure you know exactly when you have to charge up your phone before the power goes out.
PriceCheck tip: Picking up a portable power bank for your smartphone is a great way to keep USB-powered devices running during power outages.
2. Opt for full silence mode rather than vibrate. Vibrations actually require more power than your usual ring tone, so putting your phone on silent mode without vibrating will optimise battery usage.
3. Dim the brightness of your screen. If you’re in a room with good lighting, then dim the brightness levels on your phone screen. You can also use the auto-brightness setting that adjusts your phone’s brightness to what’s optimal for every location.
4. Buy or rent a portable power bank and keep it fully charged, so that you are prepared when your battery dies – even if you’re not near a plug or find yourself without electricity. If you don’t own a power bank or have forgotten it at home, then power bank rental companies like Adoozy now offer portable power towers across Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban for people to charge their phones on the go. Added bonus – they work even during load shedding!
5. Check your background ‘app refresh’ settings and toggle off any apps that are consuming too much power, especially during load shedding when every bar is precious.
6. Reduce your screen time display, which is the time your phone sits idle after use.
7. End a charge at 80-90% and avoid full cycle (100%) or overnight charging.
8. Avoid exposing your phone to heat. It’s best to avoid exposing your phone to temperatures higher than 35° C as this can lead to permanent battery damage.
9. Turn off notifications. If you’re constantly receiving email, Facebook, Instagram, etc notifications, then you’re not allowing your phone time to ‘sleep’ and preserve battery.
