How do you guys handle power management in the early/mid game?

[Flytrap]

What are your setups for powering up a base around the 70 cycle mark?

[Clonefarmer]

Just a couple coal generators connected to a smart battery.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1595660866

[Flytrap]

Originally posted by Clonefarmer:

Just a couple coal generators connected to a smart battery.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1595660866

What does a smart battery do?

[Clonefarmer]

Originally posted by Flytrap:

Originally posted by Clonefarmer:

Just a couple coal generators connected to a smart battery.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1595660866

What does a smart battery do?

You can set the sliders on the smart battery to control when the generators kick on. That way they stop burning when not needed.

[Flytrap]

Originally posted by Clonefarmer:

Originally posted by Flytrap:

What does a smart battery do?

You can set the sliders on the smart battery to control when the generators kick on. That way they stop burning when not needed.

I thought the generators had that function automatically. I mean, the coal generators have a kind of slider, no?

[Clonefarmer]

Originally posted by Flytrap:

Originally posted by Clonefarmer:

You can set the sliders on the smart battery to control when the generators kick on. That way they stop burning when not needed.

I thought the generators had that function automatically. I mean, the coal generators have a kind of slider, no?

The slider on the generator controls when the dupes will fill the generator.

[ho84]

is that transformer above the coal generator?
dont understand how it use. would you please explain? i have a network about 2xxx w , but they dont always work together, so it still work now. how can transfermer build to prevent overload?

thanks

[Flytrap]

Originally posted by Clonefarmer:

Originally posted by Flytrap:

I thought the generators had that function automatically. I mean, the coal generators have a kind of slider, no?

The slider on the generator controls when the dupes will fill the generator.

What do you do to prevent your circuits from being overloaded? I assume you have a mian generator room thats the source of the energy that powers everything

[Lucid]

Originally posted by Flytrap:

What do you do to prevent your circuits from being overloaded? I assume you have a mian generator room thats the source of the energy that powers everything

The wiki article is helpful here. In particular the diagram that outlines the different concepts for power management (Generator, Storate, Transformer, Load)
https://oxygennotincluded.gamepedia.com/Power_Transformer

As stated, connecting the smart battery to the generator with an automation wire will mean the battery will turn the generator off when it is full, and turn it back on when it is empty. You will want to incorporate transformers to separate your circuits and ensure no single circuit has more load than the wires can handle.

So the 2 transformers in Clonefarmer's image are very likely being used to isolate two different parts of the power grid.

[ho84]

i use two natural gas generator for two separate network, that's mean i probbaly dont need transformer? as one transformer can never exceed 1000W

[Lucid]

It's actually more important to focus on the total potential load of the grid, not your generators. You have your natural gas generator connected to batteries, right? So they can store charge. Which means even if you cannot generate over 1000W at a given point in time, you can still use over 1000W because the batteries will add power to the network if there are enough connected devices.

If you mouse over a wire you can see the total potential load. If that's over the rated capacity of the wire, you're at risk of overloading the grid if everything is turned on at once.

[ho84]

Originally posted by Fugue:

It's actually more important to focus on the total potential load of the grid, not your generators. You have your natural gas generator connected to batteries, right? So they can store charge. Which means even if you cannot generate over 1000W at a given point in time, you can still use over 1000W because the batteries will add power to the network if there are enough connected devices.

If you mouse over a wire you can see the total potential load. If that's over the rated capacity of the wire, you're at risk of overloading the grid if everything is turned on at once.

thanks for the info,didnt think of the battery part.
then the question is, if transformer is used to isolate network, how you can do it by just having only one input and output? isnt the one risk overload still risking it? sorry i ve read the link you post but still couldnt get it....i am dumb....

[Lucid]

Give it a shot. The small transformers allow 1kW max, which means no matter how much load you put on the other side of it, it will never allow more current than basic wires can handle. The downside is you'll get intermittent outages because there isn't enough power for everything.

The large transformers allow 4kW through, so you have to be more careful because standard wires can only take 1kW, and conductive wires can only take 2kW.

[ho84]

thanks!i think i get what you mean! i will surely give it a shot!

[Zhorge]

Run, Forrest! Run! Though if there is a natural gas or hydrogen vent nearby, I'll do that. But, mostly, I go very low power until I've established a solid food surplus and have set up my water/fertilizer/carbon-scrubber plant. And I take my time getting there. I usually head for full power around turn 100 because I dont want to keep rebuilding all my tech.


Now, when I power up, my power-plant is NOT that close to the main base. I use smart batteries ASAP so they can control when the coal plants are burning I put the coal plants on '9" so the dupes keep them filled.

Every floor of my base has it's own seperate transformer in a vertical column that parallels the base but is seperated by two-thick insulated walls then a ladder. Like this:

Trans./ Ladder./ Tile./ Tile./ Interior of base.

I run Heavy Watt Wire along the ladder (top to bottom) then take it to the plant while hooking it up to the transformers. I use regular wire for most floors and the upgraded wire in industrial/cooling areas or where I dock my enviornment suits.

[Lucid]

Wait, shouldn't that be ladder/trans/tile/tile/interior if the heavy watt wire is going to the power plant? Otherwise you'd have to hop the output over it every time for no benefit unless I'm missing something?