Hi all! I received smartthings as a gift yesterday, and i’m trying to get my head around it all! As always please forgive the noob!
I currently have a Macbook that sits in my other room that im currently using as a plex server. I didnt want to keep the charger running all the time to save energy. I have attached it to the samsung smart plug, which i have found a smart app that will kill the power when its fully charged - Great!
However is there a way for my Macbook to tell smartthings that its low on battery and subsequently turn the plug back on? If not, whats the best way around this?
I’m not positive but I think you are wasting more energy having to charge the battery then having it just plugged in due to inefficiencies with charging.
I.e. Leaving it plugged in for 7 days I would think wastes less energy then turning it on and off and having to recharge the battery over and over.
Hmmm…I always thought letting it drain to around 40% and recharging to about 80% was the sweetspot in battery life and energy use…Don’t know exactly but leaving a lithium charged all the time is not a good thing as it will shorten the battery life. I think the OP is on to something here…
I use a program called EventGhost for PC to report these sorta things to ST. It can send events to ST and receive Events from ST. I wonder whats the Mac equivalent?
The amount of power required to run the laptop and charge the battery due to inefficiencies of charging circuit, conversion from 110v -> 18v or whatever its using, etc would more then likely outweigh any benefit of just leaving it plugged in. Simple test would be to get a good power meter, run it for a week constant on, record the usage, reset the power meter, and run it while turning it off and on and measuring it again.
With the above said a rechargeable battery can only have so many charge/discharge cycles. While it is recommended to occasionally discharge and recharge to keep your battery healthy each cycle does slowly kill your battery. In general a laptop battery starts dropping below 100% max charge after around 200 - 400 cycles. If you are cycling on and off you will not be able to fully charge it in 6 months since you probably are recharging 3 - 4 times a day? And since it now holds less charge your are cycling more often and its a downward spiral. Your battery won’t hold a charge at all in less then 18 months, maybe 2 years if your lucky, and the cost of a new battery far outweighs any possible energy savings.
I know this is an old thread but recently my MacBook battery swelled up due to me leaving the charger on 24/7. I just replaced the battery and want to keep this one from doing the same. What did you use to turn off the smart plug when the battery was charged?