How to Keep Your Laptop Cool
by Bob J on 05/14/2009 in Computers, Consumer Tips
Cooling a laptop is difficult, because the air space inside the small case is not as efficiently circulated as is inside a Desktop. And Desktops can house a larger fan too.
Cooling is also critical, because heat, along with dust and vibration, can substantially decrease the TTF (Time to Failure) of a computer. (The heat, dust, and vibration killer combo has always amazed me when it comes to EPROMS in a car . . . I mean, what do you find under the hood of a car anyway?)
While getting a hot running processor equipped laptop is cheaper (Celeron’s come to mind), what you save up front will likely cost you on the back end when the thing fails from heat stress. When I was a moderator on a vendor forum, we were constantly getting complaints about “fan noise”. Nine times out of ten it turned out that it was a laptop equipped with a hot running processor and the fan had to run constantly just to keep the thing cool. (The most foolish complaints were from individuals that were overclocking their laptop . . . overclocking produces WAY too much heat in a laptop. While I had to be mature and responsible as a moderator, I was tempted to say to the overclockers, “What did you expect??!!”)
While there are many software utilities with descriptive names (like “Rain”, and “Waterfall”) that will cool the processor down some, and elevating a laptop to allow for air circulation underneath, or pointing a room fan at it, will cool it down some, I think the best solution is a chill mat.
The chill mat is simply a thin platform with some fans in it that you can place under the laptop. Typically, they plug into a USB port. They range in price from about $10 bucks to $30.
TigerDirect has a nice one for about $15 bucks (that’s the one in the picture).
I mentioned dust as another factor. Cleaning the dust out of a Desktop is pretty easy. But with a laptop, you either have to crack the case (a definite no-no if the thing is still under warranty, and still risky if you’re case-cracking challenged like I am), or try a burst of compressed air in the vents.
But the burst of compressed air can be risky too. That’s because a shot of compressed air can get the fan blades spinning and ruin the bearings. If your going to try this, then you need to try to keep the blades from spinning by wedging something like a Bic pen refill in between them while you’re shooting in the compressed air.
Chill mat may be the best solution.
Kikolani
May 14th, 2009
I should get one of those… in the evenings, I find myself sitting on the sofa with my laptop flat on my lap, which isn’t good for me or the laptop.
~ Kristi
Frank J
May 14th, 2009
Kristi,
That’s one way of getting a sun burn
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Jude
May 14th, 2009
Lately I’ve been using an architectural ruler to prop up the back of my netbook. It’s small enough not to impact my typing yet provides a little more headroom for air circulation. I’m just not crazy about the noise from small fans.
Frank J
May 14th, 2009
Jude,
Whatever it takes to get the air flowing improved is a good thing.
Thanks for the comment.
BJ
May 14th, 2009
Hey Jude,
The chill mat fans really don’t make any noticeable noise. Maybe at first you’ll notice it, but they soon blend into the background white noise anyway.
In fact, every once in a while I lift my laptop up and put the palm of my hand over the chill mat to make sure the things are stll running.
Deborah
May 15th, 2009
Dust is a big factor. A few years back, my laptop kept inexplicably shutting down. I couldn’t figure it out. I did umpteen scans for malware and viruses, I got technical support, I uninstalled and tested software – on and on for weeks. Boy, was my face red (but relieved) when I discovered that it was dust bunnies congregating outside the air vent! After I cleared them away, everything was fine.
The chill mat looks like it would also be good for my feet after a long run. I’ll have to look into that. Thanks, Frank.
Frank J
May 15th, 2009
Deborah,
Dust is a killer, but heat is much worse. Hope all is well over at WOT!
BJ
May 15th, 2009
Hey Frank,
Take a look at this thread http://www.mywot.com/en/forum/3389-www-techjaws-com if you haven’t already.
Robert
May 27th, 2009
I simply went to control panel, power options and changed my current plan down to balanced, or power saver, i literally shaved off 5 degrees celcius! and my fans nowhere near start up all the time now..i also lowered my resolutions right down to 800×600 but that won’t suit a lot of peole, but i think it puts less stress on the graphics card so it dosent heat up as much
Frank J
May 27th, 2009
Robert,
That’s great, but you’re right about the resolution, it would be hard for me to use 800×600.
Deneil Merritt
Aug 2nd, 2009
Looks like I am going to have to buy 2 of them. Thanks for letting me know about this. My laptop is always hot from me working so much.
Frank J
Aug 2nd, 2009
Deneil,
Heat kills so it’s best to keep it cool if you have a laptop that runs hot.
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