Significant Battery Drain in 'Sleep' Mode

[rjbinney]

My Surface Pro 4 (Win 10-64) is set to "Sleep" when the lid is closed.

I've noticed it loses a lot of juice when the lid is closed and it's unplugged.

Attached are the results of:

• powercfg /batteryreport
• powercfg -energy
• powercfg -sleepstate

So obviously what I (and the Control Panel) call "Sleep", Windows' diagnostics calls "Connected Standby".

I attached the Battery Report and Sleep State report so you could see the drainage today, while it sat supposedly idle with the lid closed (it's set to go to "Sleep" but not "Hibernate") on battery power. I attached the "Energy" report because I have no idea if that provides any helpful info.

Basically, is there a way - other than Hibernation - for this darn thing to use less power?

I've seen on the Google there's supposedly a way to turn off WiFi in Sleep, but the Internet's screen shots don't match my screen!

Any advice, tips, suggestions, wouldbe appreciated!

rjb

[attachment deleted by admin to conserve space]

[patio]

Not a solution at all...but what i've learned thru the years is the best thing to do with any Windows power saving features is to turn them all off...just sayin.

[rjbinney]

Well, young Atreides, I wouldn't consider "Go to Sleep when lid is closed" as a "power-saving feature"?

What's the alternative?

[patio]

I'm far from young...i'd set it to "power down" when lid closed...

[rjbinney]

In other words, every time I close the lid I have to reboot?

Trade off of speed-to-boot vs. length-of-battery service.

[patio]

It's up to you...

[rjbinney]

Yeah, that just means I have to start paying attention to what I do. And the consequences of that.

Who needs that?!?


Thanks for the help.

[BC_Programmer]

There was a Firmware patch in February form the Surface Pro 4 specifically to address issues of excessive energy use while in sleep mode.

Is the system fully up to date? It should be installed through Windows Update.

[Geek-9pm]

Elsewhere much attention has been given to the Surface Pro battery and power reports.
One of many:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9727/the-microsoft-surface-pro-4-review-raising-the-bar/7
The review is overall positive. He went on to say:

I bring up this history because the Surface lineup feels like it has been around for a long time, when in fact the Pro lineup is only about two and a half years old. In that short time, Microsoft has gone from having no place in the PC hardware market to iterating their design four times and having a strong brand. There were some low points, but Surface has clawed its way back and we now have the fourth generation Surface Pro to take a look at.

- by Brett Howse on October 21, 2015
Battery mad power management are concern for most portable electronic devices. Anybody who wants to know more can find lots of recent information on the subject.  Recently somebody did a new patent on the battery and mobile device problem.

System and method for using context models to control operation of a mobile communications device
US 9408143 B2
Abstract
User activity on a mobile device is monitored and collected, and a resource usage model is constructed. The resource usage model describes a set of contexts in which the mobile device, and is the basis for determining a first exhaustion point for a resource. Based on the monitored activity, a prediction of a second exhaustion point for the resource time is made. If the second exhaustion point is prior to the first exhaustion point, usage of the resource is reduced.

https://www.google.com/patents/US9408143

Sounds like double talk, but it is a real technical issue.The battery management problem is an ongoing challenge to the industry.
So kudos to Microsoft for getting into a a tough challenge and doing remarkably well. 

[rjbinney]

There was a Firmware patch in February form the Surface Pro 4 specifically to address issues of excessive energy use while in sleep mode.

Is the system fully up to date? It should be installed through Windows Update.

Mr. Gates et al. don't give much choice BUT to keep the system updated! As my prom date would tell you, I am good at turning things off... But it is near impossible to keep this thing from running its updates (and rebooting when I leave crucial docs open!).

Maybe 15% during a day isn't "excessive", I just don't remember my Dells doing that.

Thanks all.

[patio]

So i'm Atriedes...and BC is now Mr. Gates ? ?

I don't get it.

[Geek-9pm]

If anybody wants to take control of how or when Windows does updates, there is information published for the purpose.
http://www.windowscentral.com/how-schedule-windows-updates-windows-10
How to schedule Windows Update installations in Windows 10 Pro

  ... going to show you how to schedule the automatic download and installation of Windows Updates based on your timetable. Indeed, there are three options, including just being notified of an update without download or installation. The trick is using a hidden tool called Local Group Policy Editor.
Note, this only works on Windows 10 Pro releases and...

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731745(v=ws.11).aspx
Open the Local Group Policy Editor

Personally, I don't see it is  such a thing to worry about.
If your PC is business doing updates, you go do something else. 

[soybean]

Basically, is there a way - other than Hibernation - for this darn thing to use less power?

I guess you close the lid numerous times in a day, at least some days. Have you tried setting your Surface Pro 4 to go into Hibernation after being in Sleep mode for a certain length of time?  That seems like solution to me.