Smelter uses power when not smelting

[Geo]

The Smelter isn't doing any smelting but draws 700w, is this a bug? I don't want to have to micromanage switching it on only when I've got stuff to smelt. Most other devices don't draw much unless they are in use AFAIK

[Nit Draws]

It's on purpose, sadly.

[desrtfox071]

Originally posted by Geo:

The Smelter isn't doing any smelting but draws 700w, is this a bug? I don't want to have to micromanage switching it on only when I've got stuff to smelt. Most other devices don't draw much unless they are in use AFAIK

This is the way the vanilla game is balanced. A real smelter takes waaay more than 700w. So the idea is to kinda balance power consumption of certain workstations so that they don't have a huge impact on the power system when being used vs when idle. If you don't like this, there are mods that address this.

[sintri]

Default behaviour for Rimworld is flat rate. There are mods that change it, installing them also makes you realize how trivial it'd be without that limitation. Though there are also mods that do some sort of balancing with it thus making batteries actually useful as load balancing as opposed to emergency power.

[Vintorez]

It's normal albeit rather silly, you can use the Designate Toggle Power button to turn it off when it's not needed.

Or better yet use the Turn It On and Off mod which pretty much does it automatically if you don't want to micromanage it

[Geo]

Originally posted by sintri:

Default behaviour for Rimworld is flat rate. There are mods that change it, installing them also makes you realize how trivial it'd be without that limitation. Though there are also mods that do some sort of balancing with it thus making batteries actually useful as load balancing as opposed to emergency power.

Can anyone recommend mods that do this more realistically, there's a lot of mods to look through

[bob644016]

The solution I use is to just put one wire in the middle of the room, not connected to the grid. Then, when you want to disable it, you can press the reconnect button. That way, you don't need to wait for a pawn to switch it off like with the designate toggle power button, and you don't need a mod. Putting a wire directly below a turret is also useful, so you can disable the turrets to prevent them from being attacked.

If you do want a mod though, "Turn it on and off" makes the power draw 1W for idle stations

[sintri]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2228219259&searchtext=turn+it+on
Counter balances the low idle with configurable increased power usage when on. I find it fairly balanced and lets you build stuff without having to worry too much about things, though this would also depend on what your power generation situation looks like.

[Guts]

Makes sense. You can't just fire up a smelter and start using it, IRL. It takes time to heat to the needed temperature, unless you have an induction coil.

[Aranador]

Your smelter needs to keep hot so you can smelt at a moments notice. Would you prefer your smelting job to take 4 hours waiting for it to reach temperature?

[sintri]

Yall be thinking your oven's coils are on 100% when it's running lmao. Heat is a matter of transference, it'll only go down if it has something to transfer to, and insulation's a thing. IRL they don't give a ♥♥♥♥, the extra costs of creating a properly insulated chamber is more than it costs to just keep it heated. Rimworld's nowhere near IRL nor the scope, your smelting building's pretty much literally an oven with a hatch, it takes some power to get up to operational temperatures, beyond that keeping it warm while idle is nothing compared to that.

[Aranador]

It takes about 4.2kWh of energy to recycle 1kg of steel. At 700W for your smelterr, thats 6 hours. 'Operational Temperature' is pretty hot, 1500-1800 C. 700W is less than your typical home heater (usually 1kW). So you better believe this smelter takes a while to heat up, and better be well insulated to retain that heat.

However the point that Rimworld is a game is spot on, and the numbers do not need to have relevance to reality. Which makes the initial rant doubly pointless. The smelter takes 700W at all times - deal with it or mod it.

[Geo]

Originally posted by N473:

Makes sense. You can't just fire up a smelter and start using it, IRL. It takes time to heat to the needed temperature, unless you have an induction coil.

Yeah it definitely makes sense that you have to keep the smelter on at full power when you haven't used it for two months. And full power is 700w. Anyway there's been some real good posts in this thread by other users who actually know why vanilla works the way it does.

[Geo]

Originally posted by Aranador:

However the point that Rimworld is a game is spot on, and the numbers do not need to have relevance to reality. Which makes the initial rant doubly pointless. The smelter takes 700W at all times - deal with it or mod it.

See the thing is you can make that point about anything. Why don't crops grow all year and at the same rate? Why don't all guns have the same range? Because it breaks immersion.

And if i hadn't made my original post (your use of the word 'rant' is priceless btw) I wouldn't have been directed to the mod which corrects the imbalance.

I've now modded the game thanks to those users in this thread who have made useful posts.

[AJABOOBOO]

does anyone know for sure this is intended for balance?
that is to say is this expressly written anywhere in game or on the official site or guides?
if not then the balance argument is moot and speculating about it is pointless.
The simplest answer would be: It was set to 700w when the game was released and they didnt use variable power or in-use power then and they didnt add it to these devices.

[Guts]

Originally posted by Geo:

Originally posted by N473:

Makes sense. You can't just fire up a smelter and start using it, IRL. It takes time to heat to the needed temperature, unless you have an induction coil.

Yeah it definitely makes sense that you have to keep the smelter on at full power when you haven't used it for two months. And full power is 700w. Anyway there's been some real good posts in this thread by other users who actually know why vanilla works the way it does.

There's nothing stopping you from using a power switch to shut it off, if you want to. I don't bother with the smelter, but I do shut off greenhouses when they aren't in use. But complaining about 700mw for a smelter is wild. Is your power generation that bad?