Power figures, what do they mean?

[Underhook]

Hello fellow water lovers,
Just wondering what the power figures mean
45 / 250
or
250 / 250

Is it, stored power / storage space
incoming power / maximum incomming power
outgoing power / dtorage space

Help :)

[Bort]

45 / 250 = Current power levels / Maximum power levels.

So, with 45 / 250, you could sit and watch it tick over until it reached 250 / 250. Then, when you used a fabricator, or water filtration system or something like that, it would drop to, I don't know, 200 / 250, for example, then slowly increase to max again.

If you have a water filtration system, and you keep removing the salt and water from it, then it is highly unlikely you'll ever see max power, as this does eat quite a bit.

On the other hand, if you leave it to run, and don't remove the goods, it will stop producing water once it is full, and the power levels will rise until they hit max.

[ImHelping]

Water filter's power draw is basically as strong/Stronger than the rest of a base running at the same time. It's where you go from being able to handle anything and everything with 5 or so solars and a single Bioreactor, to "Oh my god I better install thermals or nukes or something" if you also want to keep fabricating things while charging your seamoth and batteries.

Also, everything that adds power, can only charge up to it's own capacity.

For example, a Bioreactor has a capacity of 100, so will add an extra 100 to your total number. But, the only thing that can charge it up, is itself (at a slow 1 energy per 12 seconds).

Simmilarly, one solar panel has a capacity of 25. So once it charges that up (pretty fast if by the surface during the day), it then just sits there doing nothing until it needs to charge itself back up, even if you had a total of 625 power max from a bunch of bioreactors.

[Bort]

With a bioreactor, it is possible to charge it up to 100 / 100 power, then refill it, and the new materials will just sit inside the reactor until you use some of the power.

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by Bort:

With a bioreactor, it is possible to charge it up to 100 / 100 power, then refill it, and the new materials will just sit inside the reactor until you use some of the power.

Yeah, but at 1 energy per 12 seconds (For some perspective, that's enough to fabricate one item per minute), it's still best to consider Bioreactors basically large backup batteries for any power hungry base.

I always make sure to have at least one, for just that reason. They make a great buffer. But relying primarily on Bioreactors if you want to keep water filters running means half your base is going to be made of bioreactors.

Big difference between "I can handle it long enough for the water filter to turn off" and "Can handle doing it regularly", even without the rest of your base on top.

[Underhook]

Thanks for the input everybody. I have kind of worked it out now but I will state what the numbers mean in my own words in case anybody else is struggling with it like I was.
OK so say we have 45 / 150
The 150 is your current battery storage capacity. The number 45 is the amount of energy currently stored in your battery. So 150/150 would be a fully charged battery.

Each power source has its own battery. For example a Solar panel has 50. So thinking back to our 45 / 150. If we add a solar panel it would instantly be 45 / 200. If the sun is up the 45 will start to increase.

[Bort]

And just to clarify for the rest...

Thermal power plants produce, I think it is 50 power each (although I could be wrong here. I've ony used this one once, and then not for long).

Nuclear plants produce 500 power. I've just built one, so I'll try to work out how much power I've used when my first reactor rod disappears.

As has already been said, bioreactors produce 100, and each solar panel produces 50 (although this drops at night).