Is there a real reason to use big electric poles?

[Sausagetalk]

Looking at the stats on each power pole, this doesn't make much sense. A small pole takes 1 raw wood and .5 copper, and its wire has a range of 7.5. A big pole will increase that range by 4 times, but at 10 times the copper cost, and at the cost of 25 iron(that also has to be refined into steel first). Is there really any reason efficiency-wise to build these things?

I understand the wire reach is longer on big poles, but the ratio of cost to gain seems way off.

[Ryan]

I use them because there are less points of failure since they are spaced further apart. They also take up less space overall and don't get in the way of building around them.

[Morphic]

IMO, basically you are paying for ease of use and the longer reach. In some instances you'd use 2 small poles where 1 big pole would do. Also some modular setups can only be done using big poles versus small poles.

Personally, I use big poles for those modular setups because it's just so much easier and more compact than using a small pole.

[ENIGMA]

also its hard to automate anything with wood

[Lady Naween]

The cost is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I mean even a very very modest plant eats what.. 1k+ iron a minute? And once you start setting up all the science that has increased by several magnitues and once you hit the rocket.. what? 6 to 10k a minute? (Again modest newbie rocket rates). So yeah the poles are not exactly expensive.

[Maelstrom]

If the cost of big poles is such a big concern to you then I doubt your factory is large enough to benefit from using large poles (and don't even look at substations, lol). Big poles are for crossing long distances - their supply area is tiny but their reach is huge.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1114742532

[Warlord]

Originally posted by Maelstrom:

If the cost of big poles is such a big concern to you then I doubt your factory is large enough to benefit from using large poles (and don't even look at substations, lol). Big poles are for crossing long distances - their supply area is tiny but their reach is huge.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1114742532

Heh, I thought of upgrading my rail designs to use substations in place of big poles. With their increased reach and range, they are pretty close the same number of objects per rail that a rail blueprint with big poles would use, but at the ability to use the space between rails for things like solar, batteries, or defenses.

The cost always gets to me. By the time I have the infrastructure to be able to afford the substations without batting an eye, I am already too dedicated to the big pole design to change.

[boltentoke]

Copypasta from https://wiki.factorio.com/Electric_system

Power poles are used to transmit energy. There are 4 types of power pole, each having advantages and disadvantages:

Small electric pole - Second smallest coverage area, shortest cable length, available without research.
Medium electric pole - Second largest coverage area, average cable length.
Big electric pole - Smallest coverage area, longest cable length.
Substation - Largest coverage area, second longest cable length, but most expensive to build.

Small poles are the only option early game, Big poles are good for covering long distance, usually between camps, and medium poles are good mid-game for replacing Small Poles, as they provide power to a larger square area, so you can use less poles.

[NFITC1]

small poles are the most cost effective for all stages in the game, but since you can't farm wood you'll want to be able to automate the other two.

[Lingluo]

Originally posted by NFITC1:

small poles are the most cost effective for all stages in the game, but since you can't farm wood you'll want to be able to automate the other two.

But even in late game you have a lot of wood.I've got 30+ steel chests full of wood.So wood is practically free.
For now my base uses only big poles and subsations.I've automated them.

[Serathis]

Mediums for supply, large ones for reach.

[Cptn.Penguin]

I like the small poles, unlike most player, it seems.
I ONLY use medium ones if I actually need the coverage. I do use big ones for long distance though. And wood is NEVER scarce, imo, as soon as you get bots and construct on top of forests they dump tons of wood in my logistics network.

[piccolo255]

I dislike having copper wires all over the place, it looks very messy. I use large poles and substations as much as my resources allow, and medium poles as temporaries. Much neater.

Some factory sections (like smelter area) are very repetitive, so I use medium poles and manually rewire in a clean, regular pattern, so it fits my aesthetic sense :)

[Ledow]

I use the small poles for the majority of the game (wood isn't that much an issue... hey, bots, deconstruct all wood and stone over this square area (selects entire base).

I use substations when things are tight to squeeze everything in (one 2x2 base instead of lots of individual 1x1 poles) or when I really need the reach (e.g. powering something outside a wall).

I don't ever use the larger poles, except when I make one by mistake.

And, yes, by the time you can just churn out substations, you can't be bothered to go back and change everything - especially if there were circuit wires involved too.