What are are the default power plans in Windows 8? Microsoft Windows 8 operating system comes with few pre-defined settings which manages power use of a computer. Those settings are called power plans and they comes real handy in optimizing power use and performance. Windows 8 power plans are: Balanced, Power Saver and High Performance. Each power plan can be easily customized to meet your needs. You can even create your own plan by using Balanced as basis.
Windows power plans settings can affect both software and hardware. For example: dim the display after certain minutes, turn off the display, go to sleep, brightness settings etc. Again each option can have different values for running PC in battery and plugged in mode. Changing display settings or using sleep mode can drastically change power use of a computer. But power consumption mainly depends on what you are doing and how long you are doing. Watching a movie will definitely use more power than reading an email.
Windows 8 Power plans:
Balanced: This is the recommended power plan, which offers full performance when required and saves power when the computer is not in use. Suitable for most users.
Power saver: As the name says, this plan Saves energy by reducing performance of your computer whenever possible. Ideal power plan for laptop computers.
High performance: This power plan gives best performance with brighter screen. It will use more energy than the previous two plans. Not recommended for laptops running in battery power.
How to view your Power Plan?
To view your current power plan, open the battery meter. If there’s no battery meter, go to Search and type Control Panel in search box. Open Control Panel and enter Power in the search box to open Power Options. There you’ll see the currently selected power plan for your Windows 8 computer.