Keep Your Mobile Devices Cool In Hot Weather

Heat is the enemy on many fronts for mobile devices. Just about anybody has felt the heat from a laptop or mobile phone that is running hot. But external temperatures on a hot day can make things worse. Here on the East Coast we are in our first (and very early) heat wave of the summer. Summer heat forces me to change up what I do in order to protect my devices, or at least let me play mind tricks with myself by doing so.

• Normally I will have several mobile devices stuffed in my backpack. In more moderate weather I don’t think twice about leaving the pack locked in my trunk when I’m out on errands. I also don’t think twice about leaving a GPS unit in my glove compartment. But in hot weather that all changes. I don’t leave anything in the car for more than a minute of two, and in fact I frequently don’t carry devices with me, if there’s a chance I won’t be using them.
• I change my overnight habits and don’t leave devices running overnight in order to save a bit on heat build up. Yeah, my home is air conditioned, but I think that this is giving them a little breathing room overnight.
• I’ll also shut devices down more frequently and also pull the battery for a bit when I do. Usually this happens overnight as well.
• I change up where I’m doing some of my mobile computing to avoid rooms that are hotter due to sunlight.
• Although not really a mobile solution, in my office, I’ll shut my printers down (I have two in my office) unless I need to use them.
• Even with air conditioned rooms, I keep a fan (celiing or otherwise) moving air in the rooms where I have devices turned on to keep air circulating.

So what precautions for your mobile devices do you take during extremely hot weather?