Top 8 Tips for Using Laptops in Hot & Warm Weather

It’s that time of year again in North America where temperatures climb and weather becomes erratic. Add to that the possibility of power outages and you have new challenges to face when using your laptop. Take care in warm and hot weather to follow these tips to ensure you use your laptop safely and don’t have any problems with it.

1. Safe Temperature Range
Most laptop computers operate properly in the safe temperature range of 50 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 to 35 degrees Celsius. Keep in mind that when bringing a laptop in from the warm hot air, the laptop must cool down to the interior temperature before you use it. By the same token if you use your laptop outdoors, then let the laptop warm up to the outside temperature before starting it up.

2. Hot Cars
Just as you wouldn’t leave people or animals in a car in hot weather, you should not leave your laptop and other mobile gear either. Leaving your laptop closed in a vehicle in hot temperatures will cause damage to your laptop. The heat is not good for the internal components or the external casings.

3. Bright Sun
Never leave your laptop where it is exposed to direct sunlight, whether it is in use or shut down. If you must use your laptop outside in bright conditions you can use either:
a laptop glare screen which cuts down on the glare caused by the sun
a laptop hood which cuts down on the amount of light directed at the laptop display.

4. Humidity
In warm weather people are fond of saying it’s not the heat itself that bothers them but the dreaded humidity. Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air and the recommended safe range of relative humidity is 10-80%. Moisture can cause damage to the internal components of a laptop and you may not even realize that the damage has occurred.

5. Take it Out
If you use your laptop in hot temperatures consider using a removable hard drive to store your data on. This way you can help protect your data and ensure that your removable