Judging by the sheer number of folks walking around in shorts and slip-slops it’s clear that warmer weather is becoming more frequent here in South Africa. Aside from the attire of our fellow locals, there have also been warnings that the weather is going to be warmer in certain parts of the country this week.

On Wednesday, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) announced that a heatwave would hit certain parts of the country. These areas include North-West, Free State, Southern Gauteng as well as Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo District in Eastern Cape.

“Under these conditions a prolonged exposure to the midday sun poses health risks, hence it’s advisable to seek shades and keep hydrated. Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over Northern Cape, western and northern parts of North-West, Western Bushveld of Limpopo, Amajuba Local Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal as well as Joe Gqabi District Municipality and Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality of Eastern Cape,” SAWS told SA News.

Today’s forecast shows Upington with the highest temperature at 34 degrees, but as the week goes on the Mercury will likely rise. 

Given the reports of a hot summer in the Northern Hemisphere, us Southerners should be slightly worried given that, in South Africa at least, the summer months can feel like one is in the middle of a desert, locked inside a corrugated iron hut. And that’s without an El Nino affecting the weather.

As the air temperature climbs your technology’s base temperature is going to go up as well and as such, one should take a few precautions especially when it comes to big-ticket items like your console or gaming PC.

Generally speaking, electronics are designed to run even when temperatures hit between 70 and 80 degrees Celsius. However, we should point out that you should really check these limits yourself and that higher ambient temperatures mean that limit is reached far faster. The result of components running hot is thermal throttling where – for example – a CPU runs slower in a bid to prevent overheating and damage.

When it comes to things like batteries in your smartphone, excessive heat can cause your smartphone to literally explode. To put your mind at ease, your smartphone will more than likely switch off automatically before your smartphone hits that point and manufacturers to build cooling solutions into their wares.

With that having been said, when the weather is warmer and ambient temperatures are pushing 35 degrees Celsius, you may want to enable low-power mode, remove your smartphone from its cover, and even potentially place it in front of a fan to cool it down. Don’t place your smartphone in the fridge or in a bag of ice. Air, hot or not, contains water vapour and when that air cools down quickly below zero, condensation forms and you really don’t want that condensation to form inside your smartphone.

Making sure your phone is running in optimal temperatures could help extend its life.

When it comes to larger electronics like a gaming console or gaming PC, we highly recommend you spend some time cleaning the vents and fans. Not only does dirt and hair obstruct airflow, it also makes the fans they are caked on louder. Take a bit of time, and find a well-ventilated and shady area to clean vents and fans out. You’re going to need a paintbrush, a can of compressed air or an air compressor, a static-free cloth and some patience.

If you’re planning on cleaning your notebook, take note of the screw placements as you remove them and please look for a tutorial online before attempting this. While it’s not difficult to clean your notebook or PC, it’s incredibly easy to damage it when the components are exposed.

A word of warning, be sure to check that any cables you unplug during the cleaning are plugged back in before closing the machine up again.

Additionally, don’t leave any tech in your car, especially if it has a battery, for long periods of time. Temperatures in a car can quickly climb up to 80 degrees Celsius on a particularly sweltering day.

Ideally, you want to keep and use your tech in an air-conditioned room where you can control the ambient temperature. That isn’t possible for everybody given the cost of air-conditioning units but you can create a pseudo air conditioner using some ice and a fan. We’ll admit the results aren’t a permanent solution but if you need to work or game when the temperature reaches record high it’s worth a shot.

Simply place a container with ice behind your fan and this should help to cool the air passing over the fan blades. There are tutorials online advising you drill a few holes into a bottle, fill that bottle with ice and then attach that to the back of your fan, but we wouldn’t advise that given that ice, you know, melts.

Whatever you do though, be mindful of the effect the warmer weather has on your electronics otherwise, you may have to replace them.

[Image – Fernando Torres on Unsplash]