Hot Data
Summertime conjures up images of days at the beach, holidays at the cabin, and barbecues on the patio. It may also bring to mind sunburns, highway traffic, and uncomfortably hot weather. However, summer temperatures can also damage your computer hardware and cause data loss. At risk are motherboards, CPUs and other components not designed to withstand extreme heat.
Keeping Hardware Safe in Warm Weather

Protecting your computer’s hardware isn’t difficult. Here are a few basic tips:
- Don’t leave your computer in direct sunlight. Review your office layout and ensure that hardware is not exposed to the sun through windows and skylights. The risk of damage increases as temperatures exceed 32.2°C (or 90°F), although it’s worth noting that the tolerance for high temperatures varies for different brands of computers. Check with the manufacturer or vendor to find out the tolerance level for your hardware.
- Let your hardware adjust to current room temperatures before booting up. This will allow components to expand or contract at a safe rate.
- Make sure that there is adequate air flow around your hardware. Don’t position hardware on a surface that will stop vents and fans from working properly!
- Avoid working outside in conditions with high humidity, which can cause electrical problems in hardware.
- Don’t leave your hardware in a vehicle for extended periods. If this can’t be avoided, be sure that hardware is powered off. (A recently spotted billboard: Children, pets, and computers: Don’t leave them unattended in your car!)
Many people bring hardware with them on summer road trips, and leaving a laptop in a car might be unavoidable for a few hours. To prevent damage to your laptop:
- Park in a shady spot. Shade will allow the temperature in the interior of your vehicle to increase more slowly.
- If possible, store hardware in your vehicle’s trunk. This compartment will be cooler than the interior of your vehicle. It is often safe to leave your laptop in the trunk for up to eight hours. Moreover, the laptop will be out of the sight of thieves: an important security consideration, especially in urban areas.
- Place a sunshade across your windshield to reflect sunshine away from the interior of your vehicle. If you’ve parked in a way that allows sunshine through your rear window, place a sunshade across it.
- Store your laptop in a cooler bag, which will prevent hardware from baking in your vehicle.
- If possible, remove the battery from your laptop. Store the battery in the trunk. Not only can a damaged battery decrease the performance of a laptop, it can become a fire hazard.
- Turn off your laptop completely. Do not keep it on standby, a mode that leaves it turned on.
Ideally it will be convenient for you to carry your laptop with you, but if not, these are effective ways to protect it.
And now it’s time for the beach! Avoid overheating by staying in the shade and drinking cold liquids. There’s no need to hide in your trunk.
If you’d like to comment on this article or explore these ideas further, contact me at guy.
This article was published in the
June 2022
edition of The TMC Advisor
- ISSN 2369-663X Volume:9 Issue:2
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