Do inserters consume the same amount of energy moving a single item ?

[narf03]

Lets say a normal inserter can move 1 item per second and fast inserter can move 3 items per second, do they spend the same amount of energy if the belt only deliver 1 item per second ?

Do they waste energy ideling ?

[Tarradax]

Inserters use idle power, like almost every other device. For example, a Fast Inserter when idle, drains 400W. That's just for it sitting there and doing nothing but waiting on something to arrive that needs moving.

"Activity" power consumption is for active time: As long as the inserter is active, it's using 32kW (Fast Inserter again). That means it's actively moving stuff around.

The whole thing is rather moot, though, because even a single steam engine can power almost 16 fast inserters. Their power consumption is negligible compared to the rest of your machines.

Edit: Just checked for the hell of it, my small base has 692 inserters. Should all of them go on at once, that would draw 22.14mW power - or (slightly under) 5 steam engines worth. I have 120 steam engines. That makes inserters, in full swing, consume a whopping 6% of my power production ability. Yawn.

[KatherineOfSky]

OP, they all use energy when idling -- that is the "drain" number in the item description.

It is more energy-efficient to use yellow (basic) inserters if you don't need fast ones, but the diffference between them is small. It just depends on your desire to min-max. I would only use yellows on assemblies that had long crafting times, and blues for everything else, (except where stak inserters are appropriate).

[Starfoth The Burgundy Silk Rug]

Stack inserters consume like 132kw or something, right?

[Ultra]

I supply myself with logisticsbots and I cant be bothered to waste logisticsslots with both regular inserters and fast inserters so I just use fast for evrything. They dont drain much energy and they dont costs that much to make either. My tip for you is to what ever feels right and not to worry about the extra production and energy costs.
However I would not recomend using stack inserters evrywhere because they are expensive to make.

[KatherineOfSky]

Originally posted by Ultra:

However I would not recomend using stack inserters evrywhere because they are expensive to make.

And indeed they are only useful for certain situations... i.e. never put one in a situation where it needs to pick up more than one type of product, since it will almost always "jam".

I find that stack inserters are only useful for train stations, loading & unloading ores, and rare cases where I need fast high-throughput transfer of materials

[Ultra]

Originally posted by KatherineOfSky:

Originally posted by Ultra:

However I would not recomend using stack inserters evrywhere because they are expensive to make.

And indeed they are only useful for certain situations... i.e. never put one in a situation where it needs to pick up more than one type of product, since it will almost always "jam".

I find that stack inserters are only useful for train stations, loading & unloading ores, and rare cases where I need fast high-throughput transfer of materials

I use stack inserters for my bluebelt factory. I have a few assembly machine 3 with speed modules that produce iron gear wheels. I use stack inserters for them because fast inserters are not fast enough

[KatherineOfSky]

Originally posted by Ultra:

I use stack inserters for my bluebelt factory. I have a few assembly machine 3 with speed modules that produce iron gear wheels. I use stack inserters for them because fast inserters are not fast enough

^^ Yes, an excellent use! Belts and other bits and bobs are made so quickly that the high-throughput is needed.