How to use TLP to prevent overheating and conserve battery?

Introduction

TLP is a feature-rich command line utility for Linux, saving laptop battery power without the need to delve deeper into technical details.

Configuration: TLP's default settings are already optimized for battery life, so you may just install and forget it. Nevertheless TLP is highly customizable to fulfill your specific requirements.

Start

After installation TLP will start automatically on boot. To avoid having to restart the system the first time, you can start it manually by using this command:

sudo tlp start

Note: Also use this command to apply changes after editing the configuration.

Stop

sudo tlp stop

Status

Use the following command to check that TLP is enabled and active:

tlp-stat -s

Check the output for system status:

+++ System Status
State = enabled
Last Run = <Time of system start or last change of power source>

Important: TLP does not include a daemon and there is no tlp process showing up in the output of ps.

Version

The command

tlp-stat -s

states the program version installed in the first output line:

--- TLP 1.3.1 --------------------------------------------

Commands

The following sections describe TLP's set of shell commands:

• tlp – Apply TLP’s settings and change mode of operation.

• tlp-rdw – Enable, disable or check automatic event based actions on radio devices.

• tlp-stat – View TLP’s configuration, system information, kernel power saving settings and battery data.

• bluetooth, wifi, wwan – Enable, disable, toggle or check the state of built-in bluetooth, wifi and wwan (3G/UMTS, 4G/LTE or 5G) radios:

  bluetooth [ on | off | toggle ]
  wifi [ on | off | toggle ]
  wwan [ on | off | toggle ]
  

• run-on-ac, run-on-bat – Conditional execution of a command depending on the current power source:

  run-on-ac command parameter ...  
  run-on-bat command parameter ...  
  

Note:

• All commands shown with a preceding sudo may also be executed without sudo in a root shell
• For even more details refer to the command's manpage: man <command>

_{Source: revised from Usage – TLP 1.4 documentation}