How to configure battery charge thresholds on Arch Linux for a Dell XPS 13 using tlp to extend battery lifespan

Background

• I like Arch for the “keep it simple and know what’s installed” vibe.
• This XPS 13 is plugged in most of the time, so I want the battery to work less and last longer. The main trick: don’t keep it sitting at 100% charge forever.
• Everything is open source.

fastfetch Output

[jeff@dell ~]$ fastfetch 
                  -`                     jeff@dell
                 .o+`                    ---------
                `ooo/                    OS: Arch Linux x86_64
               `+oooo:                   Host: XPS 13 9360
              `+oooooo:                  Kernel: Linux 6.18.6-arch1-1
              -+oooooo+:                 Uptime: 1 hour, 4 mins
            `/:-:++oooo+:                Packages: 567 (pacman)
           `/++++/+++++++:               Shell: bash 5.3.9
          `/++++++++++++++:              Display (SHP1449): 1920x1080 in 13", 60 Hz [Built-in]
         `/+++ooooooooooooo/`            Terminal: /dev/pts/1
        ./ooosssso++osssssso+`           CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U (8) @ 4.00 GHz
       .oossssso-````/ossssss+`          GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 @ 1.15 GHz [Integrated]
      -osssssso.      :ssssssso.         Memory: 1012.50 MiB / 15.50 GiB (6%)
     :osssssss/        osssso+++.        Swap: 0 B / 7.75 GiB (0%)
    /ossssssss/        +ssssooo/-        Disk (/): 4.45 GiB / 912.85 GiB (0%) - ext4
  `/ossssso+/:-        -:/+osssso+-      Local IP (wlan0): 10.91.119.166/24
 `+sso+:-`                 `.-/+oso:     Battery (DELL TP1GT61): 77% [AC Connected]
`++:.                           `-/+/    Locale: en_US.UTF-8
.`                                 `/

Install Arch Linux

I installed via archinstall. Pretty standard, just a couple choices worth calling out:

• Disk: luks encryption enabled on / (root partition)
• Desktop: hyprland

Manage Battery

• Stop and mask power-profiles daemon, and let tlp manage the power (avoid two things fighting over power settings):

sudo systemctl mask --now power-profiles-daemon.service

• Install + enable tlp:

sudo pacman -S tlp
sudo systemctl enable --now tlp.service

• Edit /etc/tlp.conf and set charge thresholds:

...
# Battery charge level below which charging will begin.
START_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0=50
# Battery charge level above which charging will stop.
STOP_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0=60
...

This means charging starts when the battery drops below 50%, and stops at 60%. Adjust to whatever you prefer (e.g., 70→80 if you still want decent unplugged time).

• Check status:

sudo tlp-stat -b

On Dell laptops you should see the dell battery care plugin and the active threshold values (via /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/...).