Power drain advice?

[luZk]

I've played for an hour I've changed the grav battery, I am about to change the oxygen battery, and soon i'll have to change my core batteries too.

In this time I have made 4 jumps and delivered 2 cargos one with minor damage but only like 50 dollars substracted.

Is this normal power consumption?

[RainmakerLTU]

Are you playing Recommended? Why not to answer to this question yourself? If it's too hard for you, then welcome to the club, because there are several people who also find it too hard to be recommended for first time play. At least 2 threads i have seen, which request to lower filter and power drain.
If you not that far in game, you might restart the new game in custom mode, with low filter and power drain. I had to do it, because this recommended it's... it's ... it's too much, man :D
Now nearly 3 hours in new custom game and I changed just one battery. Filters keeps at 99% (added 2 more, filled all 4 slots) I have 4 spare batteries, 3 these processor units and 2 filters in 6 crates. Haven't driving empty from sector to sector so managed to save 8k money and bought 6 upgrades.
It's completely different game like this. Chillax.

[CPTVoid]

no grav your in space you ll have an extra battery and less headache

[EyesBlack84]

if I had to give tips to save on batteries it would be to make sure all your cargo is in boxes, if it can't be in a box go to a store and sell it before it gets too banged up.

1. Turn Gravity off (I literally leave it on but yank out the battery so its powered when docked, not powered when flying) Put your crates in the shelves and open them so they don't go flying around the cabin. If you feel this is too "cheaty" then you can also open the stairs and chuck the boxes downstairs and it does the same effect in a chaotic dis-organised fashion.

2. Core and Mag have 2 batteries allocated to each, only 1 needs to be powered, use this knowledge to put in almost dead batteries in 1 slot to finish them off before you sell them. Still put 2 in but I generally have 1 half dead battery in and 1 full, like stagger them and use them to fully drain partially drained batteries.

3. each light contributes to the power draw of the core system 6% if using the cheap batteries, 6 lights so that's 36% drain... so turn off all interior lights and even consider flying with just headlights on and you will save 30% right there. Feel free to turn on the lights though when eva'ing for salvage of course but then turn off headlights maybe (use common sense)

4. Climate control gives power draw based on your blower setting. I can't remember the actual numbers but its like 7% off, 12% low up to 128%max so always have blower on the lowest setting that you can leave on without freezing or burning to death. (% are based on battery life of cheap batteries but you get the idea) the actual knob of coolness and hot does not effect power to my knowledge.

5. Consider only charging your suit at stations this one is highly debatable because salvage is usually worth it to get money despite the cost of batteries and could get you killed for future patch jobs but tech if you really wanted to penny pinch you could go to a station to charge up for free and turn off the suit charger to save on the UCC chips life during your drive or once fully charged. Also a great station to eat up mostly dead batteries.

6. Only use the cheap batteries, they are the best bang for buck, 100 charge for 500 price, next up is 150 charge for 1000 price, then 200 charge for like 2000+ price. Try your best to not buy expensive batteries but go ham buying the cheapies. I sell my good batteries and use that money to buy cheap batteries. (unless the system has a massive sale on batteries *wink*)

7. Less about power management but honestly plan ahead. Store a crate of extra filters, store a crate or 2 of regular batteries (I do 1 and a half, with the other half of the crate being UCC chips) store a few UCC chips only need a few cause most systems are powered off so the climate control is really the main chip to pay attention to cause its always on pretty much.

[Your weakness is your own]

The default settings are fine once you get past the difficult start, plus learning how to play better. That is not a defense of the current tuning or game design, a lot needs adjusting, it's just not permanently doomtown. "Learning to play better" essentially means leaning towards the opposite of the behaviors people tend to expect when they hear "space trucking simulator" and they're completely right. Hauling trailers will make you poor. Hauling trailers also makes it harder to visit shops. They made a big, big mistake on that one. You shouldn't be punished for doing the thing the game should ostensibly be about.

Turn all lights off. The costs are insane and they do nothing. This is far and away the biggest gotcha. Can pick one set of interior lights to turn on while you're salvaging if you want. Turn them on and do your organizing while docked, it's free. Replace grav battery with a full one whenever you're docked (shore power keeps it running without a battery installed).

Missions and deliveries are the worst possible thing you can be doing with your time, cost wise. Salvage is best, trading is decent, but you need to understand what you're doing, have the capital, and have some sectors unlocked.
Deliveries are for getting exp and seed money if you can't find salvage. Bonus perks are excellent for exp, useless for money. Seems broken. Just pick one delivery type (not JIT) for exp gain.

Most energy costs are fixed and can't be helped unless you want to be one of the no-gravity Andys. No opinion on that. It's not necessary, but it's also the largest consumer. Insulation is very good, having to raise the blower level beyond low is costly, but core power is minimal compared to gravity and oxygen, those are the big burners and the most obnoxious because they're single slot. Fuel efficiency is good because it increases your range and allows fueling to be something you do out of convenience instead of necessity. Durability makes a big difference when you inevitably hit something. Resist the urge to spend your spare cash on upgrades, you need the capital to buy those big ticket trading items, and to drop thousands on the stupid air filters when you find a good place to buy them. Buy every small battery you find until you get the scanner.