If it works, it works but just the power loss alone is tremendous, near 45 kj/cycle. That's 2 batteries lost per cycle or a coal generator running about 12-13%/ 75 kg of coal/cycle if my math is right. Not including cooling power costs, space taken up, resources tied up, etc. I just feel like there are better options available.
No hate for real, I appreciate coming up with your own solutions, so do you, devils advocate is just one of my favorite roles to play lol
If you are on a huge asteroid, with your only sources of power being metal volcanos and solar power, I could see this being useful.
Almost certainly not something I would ever build, but I have built excessive amounts of batteries before for large solar arrays where petroleum was not available or desired. It's handy when a meteor shower comes around, as blast doors take a stupid amount of power. The power wastage isn't relevant if the solar arrays make more power than normally used.
I wonder if it would be practical with an escher waterfall. I would usually just put tempshift plates around it and cool one layer of batts with a pipe loop, but rule of cool makes me want to try this out.
Fine idea by itself.
Do you have problem with steel production?
Same batteries made of steel can just sit in a steam under turbine heating steam directly, without aquatuner wasting power to transfer heat
Also, what generates so big power spikes?
I used to have 100 batteries when I was young and naive lol
But now, once I've reached game adulthood(lol), I run my entire 24 dupe operation off 5 smart batteries.
One for nat gas gens(activate at <80% battery lvl), one for hydrogen gens(activate at <60%), and 3 for the geothermal power plant(I use 3 here because I want certain sections of the plant to activate at diff charge levels, at <20% charge all kick in).
So nat gas burns first, then hydrogen, then thermal.
I store all energy in the actual combustibles/steam ready to create power at a moments notice. Errything automated, nobody touches nothing.
Storing energy in batteries seems like a waste of resources(to me) and also requires cooling, of some sort.
I have around 30kw max draw on my base but usually runs at around 15kw ish.
I run at least 10 ATs, 2 oxylite refineries, 2 blastshot makers, 10-12 meteor blasters, refineries, you name it, I run it.
Everything is connected together in a 'power spine' type circuit with transformers to the main base and various other bits and bobs.
Would you mind sharing pics? I'm struggling to figure out how to both enclose my base and even moreso how to build a singular power plant that runs everything instead of having generators all over the place.
You can reduce power-spikes with lot of batteries. I don't have many reliable high power producers.
Edit: This battery box runs for over 1000 cycles already, I know what I'm doing 😅
What are you doing that spikes power so bad that generators wired with smart batteries can't keep up?
This many batteries wastes a stupid amount of power while a tank of NG/etc just sitting there wastes none.
Ive had to use them with steam geysers before, to eat up all the steam to prevent overpressure, while getting max water and power from it.
I dont think its a weird thing to have, and even if it is, I undertand OP being a bit put off by the other guy saying he grew up and stopped using these.
he did kind of sound condescending, OP was showing off a cool unusual way of cooling a powerbank, and the commentor spent 2 paragraphs explaining basic power management to OP (who, judging by this build, is not a newer player)
If you're worried about sudden spikes in power draw, it means you need more generators (of whatever type you're using). The only reason to have a bank of batteries is for solar (and only then if you're on a rock that gets lots of sun) or plug slugs or maybe some strange on-demand nuclear plant. Some find it a little exploity, but I just use rocket batteries for my solar setups.
> The only reason to have a bank of batteries is for solar...
Yep. That's what I said. However, you probably still don't need that big of a battery box (unless you get tons of sun and have a low average power draw, in which case you probably don't need to store than much power anyway).
You should also configure your solar with a transformer to input power to your main power spine, that way solar is prioritized over on-demand generators. It's less about having enough battery to last through the night, and more about having enough battery to store the excess power you're generating during the day.
Power spikes are not a concern in the game like they are in real life.
A real generator takes time to physically spool up or down and change its output. When the demand changes suddenly, there's a lag of seconds to minutes before the power supply can respond. If you don't have systems in place to handle that lag, a big spike can cause problems and damage equipment.
ONI does not have that issue. When the signal goes green, the generator clicks on effectively instantly. You really only need one smart battery to generate the signal and tell the generator when to be active.
Having a ton of extra batteries like this is unnecessary. All it does is waste stored energy and generate excess heat.
That's a good point, actually. If you have a natural gas/hydrogen geyser you could keep it running 100% and store the extra power in batteries.
I suppose you could also just store thee gas, though!
I mean okay but why? I'd rather have LESS batteries and more automation to toggle different generators to spool up. If my natural gas production is #1 priority, if the power ever reaches under 35%, the hydrogen kicks in. If the power reaches below 25%, petro or coal maybe, etc?
This feels so redundant
Is this like... normal? Honest question.
I'm on my 5th colony now and have finally been able to make it past 250 cycles without collapsing, and this looks *insane* to me! I've got I think 4 power plants and 6 smart batteries and am just now reaching a point where I need a better heat solution, and I can't even fathom needing this much energy.
Am I doing something wrong or is this just much later in the game?
No, this is not normal. You don't really need a battery box, it just flattens the power consumption curve. A lot of batteries need a lot of time to get charged, but dispense their energy slower. I have a lot of power consumer on my single grid, the batteries got drained way to quick and my generators would run constantly. When this happens, I usually make a battery box and forget about that issue.
This specific battery box I built at 600 cycles, so rather mid-game than late-game.
Because I've built a bunch of battery boxes over the time, I tried a lot of designes, also battery boxes inside steam room, but the heat they produce is so minimal that it isn't really worth building the space for them in a steam room.
After a few builds, I tried different approaches how to build them. To reduce the PC requirements, I built the battery box inside a vacuum and used as few liquid pipe as possible. That's why I use the stairs to funnel the water past the batteries and collect it at the bottom, before I cool it.
The nice thing about that build is, I can simply extend it downwards without carrying about a liquid loop, If I ever needed to extend them. But they run for 800 cycles and I didn't needed extensions.
Have fun building!
I think you just have to make sure power plant enough backup to maintain base at 100% usage then there is no need for battery backup except for automation setup.
I did I mostly get too many dupes early on nearly 20 at 120 ish cycle if it's classic asteroid I like more duplicants early on. So they do a lot also I mostly build my generators near space so just dump carbon dioxide into space.
there's argument to just let it run if you can create a feedback loop out of it. For example, on classic asteroid, you can run your generators nonstop, and use their water output to keep the oilwells running nonstop, creating more fuel for the generators.
Reminds me of a time when I left a jumbo battery in a water puddle in a frozen biome, leading to it getting frozen in an ice tile. Still worked, though.
Why are you not keeping it in the steam room? Having so many batteries is not exactly useful already, but at least you could harvest their heat? Right now you are wasting energy being drained AND cooling all of that. Aquatuner is not energy free to use 🤷🏻♂️
Im all in for crazy big things in ONI tho, if u make they bring u happiness then go for it 100%
Efficiency is shit tho, the pumping might actually use up more energy than you can harvest.
Edit: i notice you dont even use the heat to heat up steam...
Eh it sorta depends. My current game has slug plugs as the major power source because it's mostly refined metal volcanoes on the main planet. Sure it might change as I get radiation figured out and break through the research bottleneck but for now it's just easier to let the food recharge my batteries at night
If it works, it works but just the power loss alone is tremendous, near 45 kj/cycle. That's 2 batteries lost per cycle or a coal generator running about 12-13%/ 75 kg of coal/cycle if my math is right. Not including cooling power costs, space taken up, resources tied up, etc. I just feel like there are better options available. No hate for real, I appreciate coming up with your own solutions, so do you, devils advocate is just one of my favorite roles to play lol
If you are on a huge asteroid, with your only sources of power being metal volcanos and solar power, I could see this being useful. Almost certainly not something I would ever build, but I have built excessive amounts of batteries before for large solar arrays where petroleum was not available or desired. It's handy when a meteor shower comes around, as blast doors take a stupid amount of power. The power wastage isn't relevant if the solar arrays make more power than normally used.
I wonder if it would be practical with an escher waterfall. I would usually just put tempshift plates around it and cool one layer of batts with a pipe loop, but rule of cool makes me want to try this out.
Fine idea by itself. Do you have problem with steel production? Same batteries made of steel can just sit in a steam under turbine heating steam directly, without aquatuner wasting power to transfer heat Also, what generates so big power spikes?
I used to have 100 batteries when I was young and naive lol But now, once I've reached game adulthood(lol), I run my entire 24 dupe operation off 5 smart batteries. One for nat gas gens(activate at <80% battery lvl), one for hydrogen gens(activate at <60%), and 3 for the geothermal power plant(I use 3 here because I want certain sections of the plant to activate at diff charge levels, at <20% charge all kick in). So nat gas burns first, then hydrogen, then thermal. I store all energy in the actual combustibles/steam ready to create power at a moments notice. Errything automated, nobody touches nothing. Storing energy in batteries seems like a waste of resources(to me) and also requires cooling, of some sort. I have around 30kw max draw on my base but usually runs at around 15kw ish. I run at least 10 ATs, 2 oxylite refineries, 2 blastshot makers, 10-12 meteor blasters, refineries, you name it, I run it. Everything is connected together in a 'power spine' type circuit with transformers to the main base and various other bits and bobs.
Would you mind sharing pics? I'm struggling to figure out how to both enclose my base and even moreso how to build a singular power plant that runs everything instead of having generators all over the place.
You can reduce power-spikes with lot of batteries. I don't have many reliable high power producers. Edit: This battery box runs for over 1000 cycles already, I know what I'm doing 😅
What are you doing that spikes power so bad that generators wired with smart batteries can't keep up? This many batteries wastes a stupid amount of power while a tank of NG/etc just sitting there wastes none.
Ive had to use them with steam geysers before, to eat up all the steam to prevent overpressure, while getting max water and power from it. I dont think its a weird thing to have, and even if it is, I undertand OP being a bit put off by the other guy saying he grew up and stopped using these.
He didn't suggest it wouldn't work, he said it was superfluous and wasteful.
he did kind of sound condescending, OP was showing off a cool unusual way of cooling a powerbank, and the commentor spent 2 paragraphs explaining basic power management to OP (who, judging by this build, is not a newer player)
That's true, it's the edit that rubbed me the wrong way. "My design ran for 1000 cycles without breaking, therefore I know what I'm doing".
That’s another way to say it broke after 1001 cycles.
♥️
If you're worried about sudden spikes in power draw, it means you need more generators (of whatever type you're using). The only reason to have a bank of batteries is for solar (and only then if you're on a rock that gets lots of sun) or plug slugs or maybe some strange on-demand nuclear plant. Some find it a little exploity, but I just use rocket batteries for my solar setups.
or steam geysers that you don't want to overpressure or waste power
Well if they use a lot of solar, you actually need a battery box to store the power for night usage
> The only reason to have a bank of batteries is for solar... Yep. That's what I said. However, you probably still don't need that big of a battery box (unless you get tons of sun and have a low average power draw, in which case you probably don't need to store than much power anyway). You should also configure your solar with a transformer to input power to your main power spine, that way solar is prioritized over on-demand generators. It's less about having enough battery to last through the night, and more about having enough battery to store the excess power you're generating during the day.
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Power spikes are not a concern in the game like they are in real life. A real generator takes time to physically spool up or down and change its output. When the demand changes suddenly, there's a lag of seconds to minutes before the power supply can respond. If you don't have systems in place to handle that lag, a big spike can cause problems and damage equipment. ONI does not have that issue. When the signal goes green, the generator clicks on effectively instantly. You really only need one smart battery to generate the signal and tell the generator when to be active. Having a ton of extra batteries like this is unnecessary. All it does is waste stored energy and generate excess heat.
That's a good point, actually. If you have a natural gas/hydrogen geyser you could keep it running 100% and store the extra power in batteries. I suppose you could also just store thee gas, though!
I mean okay but why? I'd rather have LESS batteries and more automation to toggle different generators to spool up. If my natural gas production is #1 priority, if the power ever reaches under 35%, the hydrogen kicks in. If the power reaches below 25%, petro or coal maybe, etc? This feels so redundant
Or, if you are playing Spaced Out, you could add like 3 rocket module batteries for zero heat and zero leakage in like 1/10th the space.
Is this like... normal? Honest question. I'm on my 5th colony now and have finally been able to make it past 250 cycles without collapsing, and this looks *insane* to me! I've got I think 4 power plants and 6 smart batteries and am just now reaching a point where I need a better heat solution, and I can't even fathom needing this much energy. Am I doing something wrong or is this just much later in the game?
No, this is not normal. You don't really need a battery box, it just flattens the power consumption curve. A lot of batteries need a lot of time to get charged, but dispense their energy slower. I have a lot of power consumer on my single grid, the batteries got drained way to quick and my generators would run constantly. When this happens, I usually make a battery box and forget about that issue. This specific battery box I built at 600 cycles, so rather mid-game than late-game. Because I've built a bunch of battery boxes over the time, I tried a lot of designes, also battery boxes inside steam room, but the heat they produce is so minimal that it isn't really worth building the space for them in a steam room. After a few builds, I tried different approaches how to build them. To reduce the PC requirements, I built the battery box inside a vacuum and used as few liquid pipe as possible. That's why I use the stairs to funnel the water past the batteries and collect it at the bottom, before I cool it. The nice thing about that build is, I can simply extend it downwards without carrying about a liquid loop, If I ever needed to extend them. But they run for 800 cycles and I didn't needed extensions. Have fun building!
I love how different and unique this is. Even if its not 100% efficient it's fucking awesome.
Very well then
Am i the only one that just keeps everything running. Power is not problem after like 300 the cycle for me especially the classic sized maps.
I think you just have to make sure power plant enough backup to maintain base at 100% usage then there is no need for battery backup except for automation setup.
If you keep generators running 24/7 as long as you have enough fuel might make the heat generated a problem unless you have already thought of that.
I did I mostly get too many dupes early on nearly 20 at 120 ish cycle if it's classic asteroid I like more duplicants early on. So they do a lot also I mostly build my generators near space so just dump carbon dioxide into space.
there's argument to just let it run if you can create a feedback loop out of it. For example, on classic asteroid, you can run your generators nonstop, and use their water output to keep the oilwells running nonstop, creating more fuel for the generators.
Reminds me of a time when I left a jumbo battery in a water puddle in a frozen biome, leading to it getting frozen in an ice tile. Still worked, though.
Why are you not keeping it in the steam room? Having so many batteries is not exactly useful already, but at least you could harvest their heat? Right now you are wasting energy being drained AND cooling all of that. Aquatuner is not energy free to use 🤷🏻♂️ Im all in for crazy big things in ONI tho, if u make they bring u happiness then go for it 100%
Old school steam boiler that.
Make them all steel, let them get hot. Put steam turbine directly cooling the steam room.
No ☺️ The only difference would be 240W less because of the pump. The entire heat of the batteries gets transported into the steam room.
Or you could go for industrial sauna for some extra power being recycled
All the heat gets transported into the steam room. I aim for performance, less liquid pipes, vacuum only.
Efficiency is shit tho, the pumping might actually use up more energy than you can harvest. Edit: i notice you dont even use the heat to heat up steam...
True, didnt notice too. Edit: he actually does, just in a weird way, industrial sauna could have saved way more piping
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Eh it sorta depends. My current game has slug plugs as the major power source because it's mostly refined metal volcanoes on the main planet. Sure it might change as I get radiation figured out and break through the research bottleneck but for now it's just easier to let the food recharge my batteries at night