Difference between revisions of "Wood-fired generator"

Revision as of 08:50, 21 November 2022

A wood-fired generator is a power source that runs by burning wood as fuel. Holds up to 75 wood max, and consumes it at a rate 22 per day for a constant supply of 1,000W for roughly 3 days and 9 hours before running out. It also produces a slight amount of heat and light while running as secondary effect and thus should not be placed in or adjacent to spaces you want to cool.

Acquisition

Wood-fired generators can be constructed once the Electricity research project has been completed. They require 100 Steel, 2 Components, 2,500 ticks (41.67 secs) of work, and a Construction skill of 4.

Summary

The wood-fired generator consumes 22 wood per day and generates a constant 1000W as long as it is switched on and fueled. It can hold up to 75 fuel at a time, for a maximum run time of 3.27 days. Fuel consumption is not dependent on how much power is actually drawn. Fuel has to be delivered to the generator by a hauler colonists. It can be switched off; in the off state it will neither consume fuel nor produce power.

It outputs light in a 6 tile radius, with the nearest 3.442 tiles being above 50% light level and considered lit. Note that the light source is centered at the bottom-left tile of the generator, rather than the "true" center of the generator. It heats at a rate of 6 heat per second^{^{[Exact mechanic unclear]}}.

Analysis

Wood-fired Generators incur considerable labor costs for chopping and hauling wood, but provide an improvement from neolithic technology.

Campfires use 10 wood per day. A wood-fired generator costs 22 wood and gives 1000 W, enough to power 5 heaters, or 2 of them with 650 W left. Similar comparisons can be made with coolers. Excess power can be used in numerous ways- such as standing lamps, turrets, electric stoves, electric tailor benches, machining tables and hi-tech research benches.

Wind turbines

Wind turbines are also unlocked via researching Electricity. They require no labor to maintain, but they require a large amount of space free of structures and trees. This can make them difficult to defend, and completely unsuitable in certain base layouts. Wind Turbine power output is variable, realistically forcing the construction of batteries to smooth out periods of low power production. Since you can turn off a wood generator, there's no restriction to having both wind and wood generators, keeping the latter in reserve until you need them.

Chemfuel generators

A chemfuel powered generator consumes 9 wood per day, for 1000 W of power - or 830 W if the colony is running a biofuel refinery to make chemfuel.

Chemfuel costs 270 ticks (4.5 secs) of work to refine for a day's worth of it. Getting 11 wood from harvesting wild Saguaro cacti takes 220 ticks (3.67 secs) of work for the same time. However, cacti are rare in the biomes they're found in, and every other tree is much worse, with 330 ticks (5.5 secs) of work or more. This also ignores the slow grow speed and ever-increasing travel distance. And actually growing the trees takes much more work, with cypress trees taking 880 ticks (14.67 secs) of work.

Also, you can make chemfuel out of raw food; corn or even rice are faster to cultivate than trees, while insect meat can be extremely plentiful.

One flaw is that Biofuel Refining costs 700 points of research to acquire. However, boomalopes require no research to acquire. If you have them, chemfuel becomes even more efficient, assuming they can graze for extended periods of time.

Version history

0.13.1135 - Added.
0.15.1279 - Fueled generator will consume fuel faster. Fuel duration 5 days -> 3 days 9 hours.
Beta 18 - Name changed from fueled generator to wood-fired generator to prevent ambiguity with the Chemfuel powered generator, which was added in the same update. No other changes made.
1.1.0 - Refueling is now toggleable.

Architect

Power: Power conduit (Waterproof) • Power switch • Wood-fired generator • Chemfuel powered generator • Wind turbine
(research): Battery • Geothermal generator • Solar generator • Watermill generator • Toxifier generator
(uncraftable): Vanometric power cell • Unstable power cell
Related: Ship reactor

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{rewrite|reason=Format standardisation}}{{Stub}}{{infobox main|building|
+{{Stub}}{{infobox main|building|
 | name = Wood-fired generator
 | image = fueledgenerator.png|128px{{!}} Fueled generator
-| description =  Produces power by consuming wood. Must be periodically loaded with wood fuel by hand.
+| description = Produces power by consuming wood. Must be periodically loaded with wood fuel by hand.
-| type = Buildings
+| type = Building
 | type2 = Power
-| placeable = Yes
+| placeable = true
+| path cost = 50
+| passability = pass through only
+| blockswind = true
+| cover = 1
+| minifiable = false
 | size = 2 ˣ 2
-| hp =300
+| flammability = 1
-| efficiency =
+| hp = 300
-| power = + 1000
 | beauty = -20
-| flammability = 1.0
+| power = 1000
+| glowradius = 6
+| glowcolor = (217, 112, 33)
+| heatpersecond = 6
+| terrain affordance = medium
+| research = Electricity
+| skill 1 = Construction
+| skill 1 level = 4
 | work to make = 2500
 | resource 1 = Steel
@@ Line 17: / Line 28: @@
 | resource 2 = Component
 | resource 2 amount = 2
-| deconstruct yield = {{icon|metal|75 }} {{icon|component |1}}
+}}{{Info|A '''wood-fired generator''' is a power source that runs by burning [[wood]] as fuel. Holds up to 75 wood max, and consumes it at a rate 22 per day for a constant supply of {{P|Power Consumption}}W for roughly 3 days and 9 hours before running out. It also produces a slight amount of heat and light while running as secondary effect and thus should not be placed in or adjacent to spaces you want to cool. }}
-| skill 1 = Construction
-| skill 1 level = 4
+== Acquisition ==
-}}{{Info|A '''wood-fired generator''' is a power source that runs by burning [[wood]] as fuel. Holds up to 75 wood max, and will provide power for roughly 3 days and 9 hours before running out, for a fuel consumption of 22 per day.}}
+Wood-fired generators can be constructed once the [[Research#{{P|Required Research}}|{{P|Required Research}}]] research project has been completed. They require {{Required Resources}}, {{Ticks|{{P|Work To Make}}}} of work, and a [[{{P|Skill 1}}]] skill of {{P|Skill 1 Level}}.
+== Summary ==
+The wood-fired generator consumes {{icon small|wood}} 22 [[wood]] per day and generates a constant 1000W as long as it is switched on and fueled. It can hold up to 75 fuel at a time, for a maximum run time of 3.27 days. Fuel consumption is not dependent on how much power is actually drawn.  Fuel has to be delivered to the generator by a [[Work#Haul|hauler colonists]]. It can be switched off; in the off state it will neither consume fuel nor produce power.
-It can be constructed after completing the [[Research#Electricity|Electricity]] research. It also produces a slight amount of heat as secondary effect, but not enough to classify as temperature control element. However, they should not be sited in or adjacent to spaces you want to cool. Power production is constant so long as it does not run out of fuel. It can be switched off; in the off state it will neither consume fuel nor produce power.
+It outputs [[light]] in a 6 tile radius, with the nearest {{P|Light Radius}} tiles being above 50% light level and considered lit.  Note that the light source is centered at the bottom-left tile of the generator, rather than the "true" center of the generator. It heats at a rate of 6 heat per second<sup>{{Check Tag|Exact mechanic unclear|Provides comparison with other heat sources but doesn't explain how much it actually heats}}</sup>.
 == Analysis ==
-Though having a considerable labor cost for [[Chop_Wood|chopping]] and [[hauling|hauling]] wood, the wood-fired generator nonetheless represents a big improvement in fuel efficiency from neolithic heating and cooling technology.
+Wood-fired Generators incur considerable labor costs for [[Chop_Wood|chopping]] and [[hauling|hauling]] wood, but provide an improvement from neolithic technology.
+[[Campfire]]s use {{Icon small|wood}} 10 [[wood]] per day. A wood-fired generator costs {{icon small|wood}} 22 wood and gives 1000 W, enough to power ''5'' [[heater]]s, or 2 of them with 650 W left. Similar comparisons can be made with [[cooler]]s. Excess power can be used in numerous ways- such as [[standing lamp]]s, [[Mini-turret|turrets]], [[electric stove]]s, [[electric tailor bench]]es, [[machining table]]s and [[hi-tech research bench]]es.
+===Wind turbines===
+[[Wind turbine]]s are also unlocked via researching Electricity. They require no labor to maintain, but they require a large amount of space free of structures and trees. This can make them difficult to defend, and completely unsuitable in certain base layouts. Wind Turbine power output is variable, realistically forcing the construction of [[battery|batteries]] to smooth out periods of low power production. Since you can turn off a wood generator, there's no restriction to having both wind and wood generators, keeping the latter in reserve until you need them.
-For example: The [[Passive_cooler|passive cooler]] and the [[cooler|electric cooler]] have the same cooling power (meaning, they will cool the same space by the same number of degrees -- down to the passive cooler's minimum, anyway). The passive cooler uses 50 wood and cools for 5 days, for a wood consumption of 10 per cooler-day equivalent (CDE). Electric coolers use 200 W when on, meaning the wood-fired generator can power 5 of them, and its wood consumption is 22 per day. This gives a wood consumption per CDE of 4.4, which is more than a doubling of fuel efficiency! This is very noticeable if you are playing the tribal scenario and have need for constant cooling.
+===Chemfuel generators===
+A [[chemfuel powered generator]] consumes 9 {{icon small|wood}} [[wood]] per day, for 1000 W of power - or 830 W if the colony is running a [[biofuel refinery|biofuel refinery]] to make chemfuel.
-In comparison, the wood/CDE for a [[chemfuel_powered_generator|chemfuel powered generator]] is 1.8.  Though chemfuel has a labor cost for refining, the lessened workload for your choppers and haulers more than makes up for this; thus, the wood-fired generator is strictly obsolete once you have access to chemfuel.
+Chemfuel costs {{ticks|270}} of work to refine for a day's worth of it. Getting 11 wood from harvesting wild [[Saguaro cactus|Saguaro cacti]] takes {{ticks|220}} of work for the same time. However, cacti are rare in the [[biome]]s they're found in, and every other tree is much worse, with {{ticks|330}} of work or more. This also ignores the slow grow speed and ever-increasing travel distance. And actually growing the trees takes much more work, with [[cypress tree]]s taking {{ticks|880}} of work.
-Wind turbines, the other generator type unlocked by the electricity research, require [[battery|batteries]] to provide stable power. As such, they in practice require additional research, which you may not want to wait for. They are also a bigger investment (particularly if you take the need for batteries into account), and require more space and care in their placement.
+Also, you can make chemfuel out of [[raw food]]; {{icon small|corn}} [[corn plant|corn]] or even {{icon small|rice}} [[rice plant|rice]] are faster to cultivate than trees, while [[insect meat]] can be extremely plentiful.
-Conclusion: If you have good access to wood, wood-fired generators are a natural choice for your first generator or two, since they provide stable power with little investment and no need for additional research. Longer-term, the labor cost of chopping down trees and hauling the wood makes the wood-fired generator unattractive compared to non-fueled generators, and it is made obsolete by chemfuel. Since it can be turned off, it can serve as emergency backup after you have made the transition to more efficient generators.
+One flaw is that [[Research#Biofuel refining|Biofuel Refining]] costs 700 points of research to acquire. However, [[boomalope]]s require no research to acquire. If you have them, chemfuel becomes even more efficient, assuming they can graze for extended periods of time.
-== History ==
+== Version history ==
-*A15 -  Fueled generator will consume fuel faster. Fuel duration 5 days -> 3 days 9 hours.
+* [[Version/0.13.1135|0.13.1135]] - Added.
-*Beta 18 - name changed from fueled generators to wood-fired generators  but otherwise identical. This was changed to prevent ambiguity with the Chemfuel powered generator, which was added in the same update.
+* [[Version/0.15.1279|0.15.1279]] -  Fueled generator will consume fuel faster. Fuel duration 5 days -> 3 days 9 hours.
+* Beta 18 - Name changed from '''fueled generator''' to '''wood-fired generator''' to prevent ambiguity with the Chemfuel powered generator, which was added in the same update. No other changes made.
+* [[Version/1.1.0|1.1.0]] - Refueling is now toggleable.
 {{nav|power|wide}}
-[[Category:Buildings]]
 [[Category:Power]]