Difference between revisions of "Temperature"

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'''Temperature''' management is an important part of a productive colony. Temperature mostly affects pawn mood, food and corpse spoilage, and plant growth. In some [[biomes]] outdoor temperature can reach deadly highs, lows, or both depending on the season - pawns must wear appropriate clothing to survive long periods of time outdoors. Temperature also plays a major role and is affected by many things in [[world generation]]. Extreme cold or heat can even kill animals, and extreme heat can cause and sustain fires.
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{{Rewrite|reason=Tone, conciseness, verification and mechanics}}
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'''Temperature''' management is an important part of a productive colony. Temperature mainly affects pawn [[thoughts]], food and corpse spoilage, work bench operation speed, and plant growth. Severe heat or cold leads to pawn injury and eventual death from [[heatstroke]] or [[hypothermia]]
  
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== Basics ==
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=== Measuring temperature ===
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Cold temperatures preserve food and corpses by slowing spoilage. Freezing temperatures preserve food and corpses indefinitely, but can also cause hypothermia in living things and eventually freeze them to death. Warm temperatures rot food and corpses, and extreme heat causes heatstroke which can also lead to death.
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Players can switch the in-game temperature to display in Celsius (°C),  Fahrenheit (°F), or Kelvins (K). This Wiki will list values in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.
  
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Outdoor temperature usually fluctuates slowly by day and season and is bounded by the climate of your biome. Be careful though, because unpredictable events like cold snap and volcanic winter can also change outdoor temperature unexpectedly.
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Internally, the game uses Celsius degrees (°C) for all temperature functions, such as "too hot" or "too cold" [[thoughts]]. As the game always rounds temperature to an integer ("whole number"), values reported in Fahrenheit are inaccurate by around 0.3°F. For reliable temperature values, and ''especially'' when [[modding]], use Celsius or Kelvin.
  
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Colonists are sensitive when sleeping and become unhappy in a mildly cold or hot bedroom. [[Clothing]] can insulate against temperatures extremes and make pawns more comfortable when awake. When faced with temperature extremes, colonists automatically search for and equip any suitable clothing they can find in storage.
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The maximum temperature is {{Temperature|1000}} and the minimum is {{temperature|-270}}, very close to [[Wikipedia:absolute zero|absolute zero]]. The minimum temperature is not encountered during normal gameplay, but [[fire]]s in small enclosed spaces can reach the maximum temperature.
  
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All indoor rooms have their own temperature which can be seen by mousing over it. Indoor temperature can be managed through structures in the temperature menu. Keep in mind that heat transfers between rooms and also the outside through roofs, walls, and doors. Large temperature differences, open doors, open roofs, and long thin rooms can make temperature hard to regulate. Larger rooms have more thermal "mass", and their temperature changes more slowly than smaller rooms.
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=== Outdoors vs indoors ===
  
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Temperature/heat transfer inside a room is instantaneous regardless of room size. This means long hallways can be used to transfer heat easily through a large base.
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An area completely enclosed by [[wall]]s, [[door]]s, and other impassable objects is considered a [[room]], where colonists will automatically build [[roof|roofing]] in unroofed tiles (unless otherwise designated). Tiles not inside of a room are considered "outdoors".  
  
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Double thick walls and intermediate rooms act as an insulator and slow heat transfer- try using a hallway or storage room to protect bedrooms and work rooms from temperature extremes. Any room that borders an outdoors area transfers more heat, and will usually be closer to outdoor temperature, even if the room borders solid rock.
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Outdoors areas and >75% unroofed rooms will always have the outside temperature, no matter what. Outdoor temperature varies by [[longitude]], time of day, day of the year, and [[biome]]. Unpredictable [[events]] like a [[cold snap]], [[volcanic winter]] or [[heat wave]] can also change outdoor temperature unexpectedly. No amount of heat buildings, even in [[development mode]], will affect or change the outdoor temperature. The outdoors is simply treated as a very large room with a uniform temperature.  
  
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Try not to build long thin hallways connecting with the outdoors, or leave large solid rock clusters inside your base. This will increase your surface area to outdoor temperature and make indoor temperature more difficult to manage. Cut off outside hallways using doors and mine rock until all traces of outdoor area are gone.
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By turning a place from Indoors to Outdoors, it will instantly become the outdoors temperature. This is caused when any wall or door that borders the outside is destroyed or deconstructed. Buildings like doors and vents, as well as removing roof riles, makes heat transfer faster. Removing roof tiles will cause temperatures to "equalize" with the outside. A room that is less than 75% roofed will remain at outdoors temperature.
  
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== Managing Temperature ==
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=== Heat transfer between rooms ===
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Temperature management is important for any colony, regardless of climate. It can be simply managed with a good power supply and the following structures:
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Temperature change ''within'' a room is instant.  
  
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=== Cooler ===
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Heat will also transfer from enclosed rooms to other rooms, and the outside. Heat travels through roofs, walls, and doors. Heat transfer from walls only occurs in cardinal directions. Thus the corners of rooms can be eliminated with minimal effect.  Open doors and open roofs will quickly "equalize" temperature to whatever's on the other side. Adding another layer of walls increases insulation, but only up to 2 layers of wall. Gaps between each layer will decrease the insulation, but still have an effect.
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[[File:Cooler.png|56px|left|link=Cooler]]
 
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The [[cooler]] is primarily used to lower the temperature of a room. It has two states of power consumption: low and high. In its low state, the cooler produces no heat or cold but still requires 20 W. It can be used to lower the temperature of a room to a comfortable {{Temperature|20}} (room temperature) in the summer or create a walk-in freezer for your food. In hot biomes such as desert or rainforest, having comfortable air conditioning is a necessity for any base.
 
  
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Coolers are heat pumps that produce both a cold side ''and'' a hot side. The hot side is rarely useful and should be directed to an outdoor space to not inconvenience your colony.
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Larger rooms have more thermal "mass", and their temperature changes more slowly than smaller rooms, but temperature equalization with the outside is proportional with a room's perimeter. A square (shape with the most volume/perimeter) will lose heat slower than thin, rectangular hallways. Rooms with more wall tiles exposed to the outside will lose temperature faster. Open [[door]]s and [[vent]]s will help transfer heat faster, if so desired.
  
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A cooler is theoretically able to cool a single square by about 1800 kelvin [K]. But this is not a linear relation as a room always exchanges heat with adjacent rooms and/or the outside.
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See the [[#Temperature mechanics|temperature mechanics]] section further down for more details.
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Example: In a realistic setup, this means it can cool a room with 50 squares by an average of about 36 K per square.
 
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So a room with 50 squares and an outside temperature of {{Temperature|60}} can be cooled down to comfortable {{Temperature|24}} or something near that with a single cooler.
 
  
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==== Freezer ====
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== Summary ==
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A freezer is the most straightforward use of coolers for a starting colony. Building one is as simple as making a room and replacing some wall tiles with coolers. Direct the cold "blue" zone of the cooler inside the room and the hot "red" tile to an outdoor area. Select the cooler temperature settings and reduce their target temperature so that they continue running below {{Temperature|0}}. As the room cools down any food left inside will decay more slowly until it freezes. Frozen food will stay fresh indefinitely and incurs no other benefit or penalty when eaten.
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Temperature has the following effects on:
  
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===== Freezer Tips =====
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=== Crops ===
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Building freezers that can tolerate extreme heat, due to the biome or heat waves, can be challenging. The type of material used to build the walls does not matter because they all have the same insulation values. However, increasing the walls from 1-thick to 2-thick dramatically improves the insulation, but thickness beyond 2-thick does not have a noticeable effect. Never block a cooler's intake or exhaust port or else it won't function.
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All [[biome]]s have a listed growing season. Some are very short (or, in extreme cold, non-existent) and others are "year round". Crops will die, and colonists will avoid planting outdoors, if it isn't growing season. Many players pick their starting location based on this, with year round being the easiest option.
  
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Freezers lose a great deal of cooling through doors as pawns open them. This loss can be offset by having doors arranged in sequence, one after another, at points of egress, in an "airlock" like fashion. The loss can be examined by mousing over the sections of the airlock to see the temperature. Using [[door]]s rather than [[autodoor]]s can help reduce the cooling lost, though this slows down colonists.
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However, a year round climate is no guarantee of trouble-free farming experience. Just getting close to freezing will slow plant growth, reducing the output of crops. Moreover, climates that do not freeze tend to get ''very'' hot in the summer season, hot enough to kill crops in some instances. [[Cold snap]]s can drop the temperatures below freezing for short periods - but long enough to, again, kill crops.
  
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The hot end of the Cooler is useful for climates where the temperature rarely gets above {{Temperature|20}} and almost never above {{Temperature|30}}. Instead of pointing the freezer's hot end outside, point it directly into your base. This will increase your energy efficiency and may save a few components on Heaters.
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The short-term solution is to immediately harvest everything to save what you can. The long-term solution is some sort of greenhouse, making use of temperature controlled indoor structures, walled and roofed, with [[heater]]s or [[cooler]]s, [[sun lamp]]s, and possibly [[hydroponics]].
  
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=== Passive cooler ===
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=== Food ===
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[[File:PassiveCooler.png|56px|left|link=Passive cooler]]
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Warm temperatures rot food, corpses, and certain plant matter like [[psychoid leaves]] and [[herbal medicine]]. Even "durable" foods like corn and rice will eventually rot away. Colder temperatures preserve food and corpses by slowing spoilage. Freezing temperatures stop spoilage entirely and preserve these items indefinitely. [[Cooler]]s will preserve food, so colonists starting with Electricity will quickly want to build a dedicated room. When freezing a room, watch out for [[heat wave]]s.
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The [[passive cooler]] is a very low-tech option automatically unlocked for tribal starts. They operate at the same strength as a Cooler and will cool rooms to a very comfortable {{temperature|15}} for 5 days. It needs to be fueled when it runs out of fuel.
 
  
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Passive coolers are a life saver in extremely hot climates as they can be quickly built, are immune to electrical events and are easily massed in a heat wave. Use passive coolers to keep your living spaces survivable and chill rooms surrounding a freezer to further protect the products inside.
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Fertillized [[egg]]s will be "ruined by temperature" when left long enough outside of its comfortable range of {{Temperature|0|50}}. "Ruined" eggs may still be eaten as normal, but won't hatch into an animal. In a similar vein, a [[fermenting barrel]] must be kept in a comfortable range between {{Temperature|{{Q|Fermenting barrel|Min Safe Temperature}}|{{Q|Fermenting barrel|Max Safe Temperature}}}} for [[beer]] to be produced.
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{{clr}}
 
  
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=== Heater ===
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[[Deterioration]] is an entirely different mechanic, and items left outside will lose health regardless of temperature. Rotting isn't influenced by and has no effect on an item's hit points.
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[[File:Heater.png|56px|left|link=Heater]]
 
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The [[heater]] is used to raise the temperature of a room. It has two states of power consumption: low and high. In its low state, the heater produces no heat but still requires 18 W. It can be used to raise the temperature of a room to a likable {{Temperature|20}} (room temperature) in the winter or create a walk-in heat trap for your foes. In any cold biome, such as the Tundra, the heater is a necessity for any base.
 
  
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=== Creatures ===
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{{Stub|section=1|reason=Burn/Frostbite chances}}
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{{Main|Heatstroke|Hypothermia}}
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Pawns have a [[Maximum Comfortable Temperature]] and [[Minimum Comfortable Temperature]]. Going over {{Temperature|10||delta}} beyond these limits will start giving them [[heatstroke]] or [[hypothermia]]. The further above or below this {{Temperature|10||delta}} limit the faster the Heatstroke or Hypothermia rises. At {{Temperature|150||delta}} above their comfortable temperature range, creatures will begin to take burn damage. If Hypothermia reaches a severity of 37% and the pawn is in a location at {{Temperature|0}} or below, there is a chance the pawn takes Frostbite damage. The higher the Hypothermia severity the higher the chance of Frostbite damage. [[Insectoid]]s will experience [[hypothermic slowdown]] instead of hypothermia. Pawns will also receive negative [[mood]]lets based on how extreme the temperature is. The Gear tab shows aggregate stats about comfy temperatures.
  
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A heater (in theory) is able to heat a single square by about 1800 kelvin [K]. But this is not a linear relation as a room always exchanges heat with adjacent rooms and/or the outside. This heat conduction effect can be pretty noticeable in extremely cold or hot environments.
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Hypothermia and Heatstroke are both fatal at 100% severity. Though, both Heatstroke and Hypothermia have significant health consequences and can lead to death before the 100% severity level is reached.
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Example: In a realistic setup, this means it can heat a room with 50 squares by an average of about 36 K per square.
 
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So a room with 50 squares and an outside temperature of {{Temperature|-10}} can be heated up to comfortable {{Temperature|26}} or something near that with a single heater.
 
  
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=== Campfire ===
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For humans, [[apparel]] will increase both comfortable thresholds, [[Apparel#Insulation|depending on the apparel type and material]] (e.g. [[wool]] [[parka]]s insulate well against cold). Colonists will try and wear items suitable for the temperature, unless they are forced otherwise. Colonists' moods ''ignore'' apparel when considering sleeping moodlets. So piling on the warmest apparel doesn't avoid a "Slept in the cold" bad thought if a bedroom is not adequately heated.
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[[File:Campfire.png|56px|left|link=Campfire]]
 
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{{#show: Campfire | ?note }}
 
  
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Campfires are a quick and dirty solution to produce heat in a hurry. They require no energy, but are temporary structures and must be refreshed with wood every few days. Otherwise they produce the same amount of heat as an electrical heater.
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Animals tend to have much higher comfortable thresholds. However, in extreme [[biome]]s, it may be necessary to build a "barn" of some sort with temperature control and designate indoor [[animal sleeping spot]]s to keep your herd warm/cool.
  
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They cannot raise the temperature to over {{Temperature|30}}.
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Many work benches, such as a [[electric stove]] or [[stonecutter's table]], have a comfortable range between {{Temperature|10|35}}. Above or below this range, the ''bench'''s work speed is multiplied by {{Bad|70%}}.
  
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=== Vent ===
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=== Fire ===
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[[File:Vent.png|56px|left|link=Vent]]
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{{Main|Fire}}
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{{#show: Vent | ?note }}
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Fire is a destructive force capable of destroying plants, buildings, and pawns alike. Pawns and items can spontaneously ignite when temperature is at or above {{Temperature|235}}. Fires can spread via embers from up to 2 tiles.
  
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Vents can have any building in front of it, but no walls. Vents work best when connecting directly to a climate controlled room. Trying to chain vents across smaller rooms will lead to each successive room getting less effective climate control, and connecting to a hallway won't work well if the hallway is blocked with doors. A vent can be designated to be closed, an action carried out by colonists assigned to [[Menus#Flick|flicking]].
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Fire itself provides a massive amount of heat.
  
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=== Steam Geysers ===
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== Managing temperature ==
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A steam geyser will heat up a roofed room even when covered with a [[geothermal generator]]. They are extremely useful for staying warm in frozen climates but can overheat an indoors space in warmer biomes.  
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Temperature management is important for any colony, regardless of climate. It can be simply managed with a good power supply and the following structures. Temperature changing buildings will still work while "outdoors", but have no noticeable effect.
  
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=== Fire Weapons ===
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=== Temperature thresholds ===
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[[file:Molotov.png|56px|left|link=Molotov_cocktail]]
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{| class="wikitable"
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{{#show: Molotov | ?note }}
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! Temperature !! Effects
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Weapons that generate fire such as [[Molotov cocktail]] and [[Incendiary launcher]] can be used to quickly generate heat inside your colony. Under normal conditions this is a '''bad idea''' because fires will quickly bring your base to intolerable temperatures. However in a bitter arctic climate with no wood and inadequate heaters, these weapons are your last defense against freezing to death. Draft your colonist and force them to open fire on an empty space, or burn spare corpses and rags to increase heat output.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|1000}} || Maximum value
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| ~{{Temperature|235}} || Items spontaneously catch fire
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|60}} || Maximum comfortable temperature of any animal ([[Dromedary]] / [[Insectoids]] / [[Iguana]])
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|58}} || [[Plants#Temperature|Plant growth]] stopped.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|42}} || Above this value [[Plants#Temperature|Plant growth]] slowed.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|35}} || At this temperature and above work benches show "Bad temperature" and Work Speed is reduced to 70%.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|30}} || [[Campfire]] max temperature
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|26}} || Default [[human]] upper comfort limit without clothing modifiers.<br/>Sleeping above this temperature creates "Slept in the heat" thought in baseline humans.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|23}} || [[Torch lamp]]/[[Fungus darktorch]]{{IdeologyIcon}}/[[Darktorch]]{{IdeologyIcon}}/[[Brazier]]{{RoyaltyIcon}}/[[Darklight brazier]]{{RoyaltyIcon}}{{IdeologyIcon}} max temperature
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|21}} || [[Heater]] and [[Cooler]] default target
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|17}} || [[Passive cooler]] min temperature
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|16}} || Default [[human]] lower comfort limit without clothing modifiers.<br/>Sleeping below this temperature creates "Slept in the cold" thought in baseline humans.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|10}} || Below this value food spoiling slowed.<br/>Food spoiling between 10C and 0C is multiplied by a factor of (Temp)/10, in Celsius.<br/>Below this value work benches show "Bad temperature" and Work Speed is reduced to 70%.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|9}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.9, or time to spoil multiplied by 1.11.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|8}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.8, or time to spoil multiplied by 1.25.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|7}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.7, or time to spoil multiplied by 1.43.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|6}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.6, or time to spoil multiplied by 1.66.<br/>Below this value [[Plants#Temperature|plant growth]] slowed.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|5}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.5, or time to spoil multiplied by 2.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|4}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.4, or time to spoil multiplied by 2.5.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|3}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.3, or time to spoil multiplied by 3.33.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|2}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.2, or time to spoil multiplied by 5.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|1}} || Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.1, or time to spoil multiplied by 10.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|0}} || Plant growth and food spoiling stopped.<br/>[[Toxic wastepack]]s{{BiotechIcon}} do not dissolve. (They can still [[deteriorate]])
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|-10}} || Most plants die.
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|-65}} || Minimum comfortable temperature of any animal ([[Thrumbo]])
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|-
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| style="text-align: center;| {{Temperature|-270}} || Minimum value.
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|}
  
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=== Doors ===
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== Cooling buildings ==
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[[File:Door.png|56px|left|link=Vent]]
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=== Passive cooler ===
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Similar to double thick walls, double doors (not side-by-side, rather, both in the path of travel) improve insulation and reduce temperature equalization.
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[[{{Q|Passive cooler|Image}}|56px|left|link=Passive cooler]]
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A door can be left permanently open (mark the door to 'hold open' and have a pawn pass through) to help control temperature. Open doors allow temperature to more quickly equalize between rooms, or outdoors for exterior doors. Equalization through open doors is less potent than vents.
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The [[passive cooler]] is a very low-tech option automatically unlocked for all default starts. They operate at the same strength as a Cooler and will cool rooms to a very comfortable {{Temperature|15}}. Passive coolers last for 5 days; it needs to be fueled with [[wood]] when it runs out of fuel. Due to the temperature limit, passive coolers are unable to preserve food.
  
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== Extreme Temperature Effects ==
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Passive coolers are a life saver in extremely hot climates as they can be quickly built, are immune to electrical events and are easily massed in a heat wave. Use passive coolers to keep your living spaces survivable and chill rooms surrounding a freezer to further protect the products inside.
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{{clear}}
  
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The maximum temperature is {{temperature|1000}} and the minimum is {{temperature|-270}}, very close to [[Wikipedia:absolute zero|absolute zero]]. The minimum temperature is not encountered during normal unmodded gameplay, but [[fire]]s in small enclosed spaces can reach the maximum temperature. The gear tab also shows aggregate stats about comfy temperatures.
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=== Cooler ===
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[[{{Q|Cooler|Image}}|56px|left|link=Cooler]]
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The [[cooler]] is primarily used to lower the temperature of a room. It has two states of power consumption: low and high. In its low state, the cooler produces no heat or cold but still requires 20 W. It can be used to lower the temperature of a room to a comfortable {{Temperature|20}} (room temperature) in the summer or create a walk-in freezer for your food. In hot biomes such as desert or rainforest, having comfortable air conditioning is a necessity for any base.
  
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There is an orange glow when hovering over very hot areas to help you identify them. In these areas, it is so hot that flammable objects will spontaneously catch fire, and pawns will be burnt by superheated air.
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Coolers are heat pumps that produce both a cold side ''and'' a hot side. The hot side is rarely useful and should be directed to an outdoor space (or a 1x1, unroofed room) to not inconvenience your colony. The heating side is useful when outdoors temperature is uncomfortable, but not freezing. This is between {{Temperature|1|16}}, but in practical terms, you should point the heat side at the colony when the outdoors temperature rarely goes above {{Temperature|20}}. Never block a cooler's intake or exhaust port, or else it won't function.  
  
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=== On pawns ===
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A cooler is theoretically able to cool a single square by about 1800 kelvin [K]. But this is not a linear relation, as a room always exchanges heat with adjacent rooms and/or the outside.
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Temperatures below a pawn's [[Minimum Comfortable Temperature|minimum comfortable temperature]] or above their [[Maximum Comfortable Temperature|maximum comfortable temperature]] will cause them discomfort with mood debuffs and in extreme cases can cause death. The simple cure for any afflicted colonist is to return them to a normal temperature environment. This process can be sped up by forcing the colonist into the opposite extreme, such as putting heatstroke victims in a freezer to cool off.
 
  
 +
==== Analysis ====
 +
Electric coolers are the only way to create freezers. Building one is as simple as making a room and replacing some wall tiles with coolers. Direct the cold "blue" zone of the cooler inside the room and the hot "red" tile to an outdoor area. Reduce the cooler's target temperature to below {{Temperature|0}}. As the room cools down any food left inside will decay more slowly until it freezes. Frozen food will stay fresh indefinitely and incurs no other benefit or penalty when eaten.
  
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Ailments include:
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If your freezer area is more than about 50 squares, and/or you are living in an area with a hot summer, you will want 2 coolers (and perhaps more, see "adding coolers", below).  Put one at 0, and the other at -2. With double walls, this will let one cooler "idle" at 20 W of power in cooler weather while the other easily keeps things frozen, but be available to help when needed for warmer weather. [[Battery|Batteries]] are useful for power outages; you may want to keep charged batteries disconnected via [[power switch]] for these situations.
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* [[Heatstroke|Heatstroke]] - caused by prolonged exposure to heat.
 
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* [[Burn|Burns]] - caused by exposure to extreme heat or contact with [[fire]].
 
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* [[Hypothermia]] - caused by prolonged exposure to cold.
 
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* [[Frostbite]] - injury to extremities caused by prolonged exposure to cold.
 
  
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=== On objects ===
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Freezers lose heat through walls and doors. The material of a wall doesn't matter, but for maximum insulation, you should put a double layer of them. Doors will cause heat loss when opened. This loss can be offset by having doors arranged in sequence, one after another, at points of egress, in an "airlock" like fashion. The loss can be examined by mousing over the sections of the airlock to see the temperature. Using [[door]]s rather than [[autodoor]]s can help reduce the cooling lost, though this slows down colonists.  
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Objects such as wooden structures and furniture will ignite once they reach a high enough temperature, depending on their material's [[flammability]]. All stone types and uranium have their flammability set to 0% and therefore objects made from them will not ignite or burn in any temperature. Steel, plasteel, silver, gold and jade are flammable as materials, but not as items.
 
  
 +
==== Adding coolers ====
 +
There may come a moment when you realize ''"I don't have enough coolers for this area..."''. If the weather is cool, that's not a big problem, but it's more likely that the weather will be brutally hot when you realize this. And it's also likely that it's your freezer that's not at "freezing" (since colonists can tough it out). If you open a wall to put in an additional cooler, your freezer immediately rockets to "outside" temperatures - which is probably a dealbreaker, rotting all your frozen items. So here's what you do...
  
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Extreme cold has no negative effect on objects; most [[food]] and [[plant matter]] items spoil depending on temperature, and become refrigerated at temperatures below {{temperature|10}}, slowing down the spoiling process. When temperature reaches freezing ({{temperature|0}}), they become frozen and completely stop spoiling.
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Decide where in the current wall you will put your new cooler, and build a door ''outside'' where you will tear the existing wall down (you don't need "side walls" to support it).  (A wall would "block" the cooler exhaust and prohibit construction, but a door will not!)  Then, [f]orbid the door (so it doesn't get opened), and deconstruct your wall; the new door will maintain the area as "inside". Then build your cooler (remembering the orientation, warm side "out"). Once the new cooler has been installed, deconstruct the door, and you're done.
  
 +
== Heating buildings ==
 +
=== Campfire ===
 +
[[{{Q|Campfire|Image}}|56px|left|link=Campfire]]
 +
{{#show: Campfire | ?note }}
 +
Campfires are a quick and dirty solution to produce heat in a hurry. They require no energy, but are temporary structures and must be refreshed with wood every few days. Otherwise, they produce the same amount of heat as an electrical heater. They cannot raise the temperature to over {{Temperature|30}}. They can't be controlled, so may make pawns uncomfortably hot - open doors or roofs to lower heat..
 +
{{clear}}
  
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=== Temperature Thresholds ===
+
=== Heater ===
 +
[[{{Q|Heater|Image}}|56px|left|link=Heater]]
 +
The [[heater]] is used to raise the temperature of a room. It has two states of power consumption: low and high. In its low state, the heater produces no heat but still requires 18 W. It can be used to raise the temperature of a room to a likable {{Temperature|20}} (room temperature) in the winter or create a walk-in heat trap for your foes. In any cold biome, such as the Tundra, the heater is a necessity for any base.
  
−
It is important to know where Temperature might become an issue. Often multiple aspects have to be considered with Temperature: Pawn Limits, Sleeping Pawn Limits (which exclude clothing values), Workbench Limits, Plant Limits.
+
A heater (in theory) is able to heat a single square by about 1800 kelvin [K]. But this is not a linear relation as a room always exchanges heat with adjacent rooms and/or the outside. This heat conduction effect can be pretty noticeable in extremely cold or hot environments.
 +
Example: In a realistic setup, this means it can heat a room with 50 squares by an average of about 36 K per square.
 +
So a room with 50 squares and an outside temperature of {{Temperature|-10}} can be heated up to comfortable {{Temperature|26}} or something near that with a single heater.
  
−
For example, the highest and lowest temperature pawns can survive is way above and below the temperature for plant growth and the temperature range of most workbenches. In extreme heat, even the spontaneous Combustion of Building Material becomes an issue.
+
== Incidental heat ==
 +
=== Generators ===
 +
[[{{Q|Chemfuel powered generator|Image}}|56px|left|link=Chemfuel_powered_generator]]
 +
{{#show: Generators| ?note }}
 +
Generators produce a non-negligible amount of heat for the room they occupy, especially when placed in numbers.
 +
If placed strategically, you can reduce the number of heaters and coolers necessary to manage the temperature in your base.
  
−
* 1000°C maximum value
+
It's also worth noting that generators will continue to produce heat (and burn fuel) during solar flare events. If your colony is in a very cold climate, this can be used to ensure that critical sections such as hydroponics or barns for sensitive animals don't lose all their heat in a power outage.
−
* ~235°C Items spontaneously catch fire
 
−
* 50°C Animals max temperature
 
−
* 44°C Plant growth slowed
 
−
* 30°C Campfire max temperature
 
−
* 26°C default human upper limit
 
−
* 21°C Heater and Cooler default target
 
−
* 16°C default human lower limit
 
−
* 15°C Passive Cooler min temperature
 
−
* 10-1°C Plant growth and food spoiling slowed
 
−
* 5°C bad temperature bench modifier
 
−
* 0°C Plant growth and food spoiling stopped
 
−
* -10°C Most plants die
 
−
* -273°C minimum value
 
  
−
== Room Temperature Mechanics ==
+
=== Steam geysers ===
 +
[[File:Steam geyser.png|56px|left|link=Environment#Steam geyser]]
 +
A steam geyser will heat up a roofed room even when covered with a [[geothermal generator]]. They are extremely useful for staying warm in frozen climates, but can overheat an indoors space in warmer biomes.
  
−
=== Temperature mechanics ===
+
=== Fire weapons ===
 +
[[{{Q|Molotov cocktail|Image}}|56px|left|link=Molotov cocktail]]
 +
{{#show: Molotov | ?note }}
 +
Weapons that generate fire such as [[molotov cocktail]] and [[incendiary launcher]] can be used to quickly generate heat inside your colony. Under normal conditions this is a '''bad idea''' because fires will quickly bring your base to intolerable temperatures. However in a bitter arctic climate with no wood and inadequate heaters, these weapons are your last defense against freezing to death. Draft your colonist and force them to open fire on an empty space, or burn spare corpses and rags to increase heat output.
  
−
Equalisation calculations happens once every 120 game ticks.
+
=== Body heat ===
 +
[[{{Q|Human|Image}}|56px|left|link=Pawns]]
 +
Living creatures{{Check Tag|Details|Cold blooded creatures? Mechanoids? Shamblers?}} generate a small amount of heat dependent on their body size{{Check Tag|Details|Scaling?}}. Heating is inconsistent, as creatures are prone to wandering, population and sizes fluctuate with births, culling, and growth, and livestock are frequently left in outdoor [[pen]]s where heat will dissipate.
  
−
All internal calculations are done in celsius. Fahrenheit is simply a different way to display the same absolute value.
+
=== Solar pinhole ===
 +
{{Royalty|section=1|no category}}
 +
[[File: SolarPinhole.png|64px]]
 +
[[Psycasts#Regular_psycasts|Solar pinhole]] is a psycast that creates heat and light. It lasts five days. It is useful for emergency situations, such as power shortages during [[Events#Cold_snap|cold snaps]].
  
−
Temperature seems to be measured to a extreme precision. A outdoor of {{Temperature|-9}} and a room of {{Temperature|2000}} have a difference around -9555.292C
+
== Heat transfer ==
 +
=== Vent ===
 +
[[{{Q|Vent|Image}}|56px|left|link=Vent]]
 +
{{#show: Vent | ?note }}
  
−
=== Outside ===
+
Vents can have any building in front of it, but no walls. Vents work best when connecting directly to a climate controlled room. Trying to chain vents across smaller rooms will lead to each successive room getting less effective climate control, and connecting to a hallway won't work well if the hallway is blocked with doors. A vent can be designated to be closed, an action carried out by colonists assigned to [[Work#Basic|Basic]].
  
−
Spaces that are not enclosed are simply considered "outside". The outside temperature is defined entirely by the climate and storyteller. No amount of heat adding/removing can change it, not even the Mod Tools can change it by simply adding/removing heat to the outdoor "room" - unless they set it for the entire map, nothing will happen. Proximity to heatsources does not mater. Instead the "outside" value is used.
+
=== Doors ===
−
 
+
[[{{Q|Door|Image}}|56px|left|link=Vent]]
−
Despite this "outdoor" is still used like any other neighbouring room for wall equalisation. And often the most important room for that mater.
+
Similar to double thick walls, double doors (not side-by-side, rather, both in the path of travel) improve insulation and reduce temperature equalization.
 +
A door can be left permanently open (mark the door to 'hold open' and have a pawn pass through) to help control temperature. Open doors allow temperature to more quickly equalize between rooms or the outdoors. Equalization through open doors is less potent than vents.
  
−
Rooms can be in one of 3 states:
+
== Temperature mechanics ==
−
* Unroofed (not a single roof tile). This means it will simply use outdoor temperatures. It does still count as a "room" for most game mechanics, but for temeperature mechanices every active tick it will set to outdoors temperature regardless of difference.
+
Equalization calculations happens once every 120 game ticks.
−
* fully roofed (all tiles in the room have a roof tile). These rooms are entirely subject to heating, cooling and temperature equalisation
 
−
* partially roofed (uses outdoor temperature) while this room seems to maintain temperature while paused, the next equalisation tick will simply set it to outdoor temperature as a fully unroof one
 
−
* partially roofed (not use outdoor temperature) While there will be significant equalisation via the (lack of) roof, the room still has its own temperature calculation. The exact flipover point between this and "uses outdoor" is not static and seems to change with roomsizes. Possibly something based on the summed "no roof equalisation" value. < 1/4 of all roof tiles seems to be the limit.
 
  
−
=== Passive Equalisation ===
+
Temperature seems to be measured to an extreme precision. A outdoor of {{Temperature|-9}} and a room of {{Temperature|2000}} have a difference around -9555.292C
  
−
This is equalisation via walls and roofs.
+
=== Passive equalization ===
 +
This is equalization via walls and roofs.
  
 
'''Walls''' will equalize towards the room on the other side. This can be another fully realized room or simply the outdoors. If the other side is not outdoors, that room will also equalize towards this room.  
 
'''Walls''' will equalize towards the room on the other side. This can be another fully realized room or simply the outdoors. If the other side is not outdoors, that room will also equalize towards this room.  
  
−
* The material of the walls does not matter. Wood is as isolating as any stone or metal. And unmined rocks are equally effective.
+
* The material of the walls does not matter. Wood is as insulating as any stone or metal. And unmined rocks are equally effective.
−
* The surface area does seem to matter. Basically, the game is using a 2D variant of the square/cube law, with walls taking the place of "surface area" and room size taking the place of "volume". As such square rooms are the most efficient at keeping temperatures.
+
* The surface area does seem to matter. Basically, the game is using a 2D variant of the [[Wikipedia:square-cube law|square-cube law]], with walls taking the place of "surface area" and room size taking the place of "volume". As such square rooms are the most efficient at keeping temperatures.
−
* A 2nd layer halves the temperature equalisation via walls. Adding more than a 2nd layer of wall does not seems to have any effect.
+
* A 2nd layer halves the temperature equalization via walls. Adding more than a 2nd layer of wall does not seems to have any effect.
−
* Furniture acts highly variable for this and even just the definition what is a room. Nutrient dispensers are one of the few items working fully like walls for equalisation purposes
+
* Furniture acts highly variable for this and even just the definition what is a room. Nutrient dispensers are one of the few items working fully like walls for equalization purposes
  
−
Example wall equalisation values at -9555.208C difference:
+
Example wall equalization values at -9555.208C difference:
 
* 1x1: -161.470°C
 
* 1x1: -161.470°C
 
* 2x2:  -81.235°C
 
* 2x2:  -81.235°C
Line 177: Line 237:
 
* 7x7:  -23.210°C
 
* 7x7:  -23.210°C
  
−
Example double wall equalisation values at -9555.208C difference:
+
Example double wall equalization values at -9555.208C difference:
 
* 1x1: -81.234°C
 
* 1x1: -81.234°C
 
* 2x2: -40.617°C
 
* 2x2: -40.617°C
Line 186: Line 246:
 
* 7x7: -11.605°C
 
* 7x7: -11.605°C
  
−
'''Roof''' is a major part with equalisation with the outdoor temperature. It will always equalize with the outdoor temperature, regardless what the room borders. However, the equalisation rate is also constant for all room sizes at the same temperature difference. There are 4 basic types of roof:
+
'''Roof''' is a major part with equalization with the outdoor temperature. It will always equalize with the outdoor temperature, regardless what the room borders. However, the equalization rate is also constant for all room sizes at the same temperature difference. There are 4 basic types of roof:
 
* unroofed
 
* unroofed
 
* Constructed (Thin Roof)
 
* Constructed (Thin Roof)
Line 192: Line 252:
 
* Thick Rock
 
* Thick Rock
  
−
* Thin Roof at a difference of -9555.208C it is -57.331°C.
+
:* '''Unroofed''' tiles are looked at in relation to the total count of roofed tiles in a room. With at least 1/4 unroofed the room will simply equalize to outdoor temperature on the next tick.  
−
* unroofed tiles are looked at in relation to the total count of roofed tiles. With at least 1/4 unroofed the room will simply equalize to outdoor temperature on the next tick.  
+
:* '''Thin Roof''' at a difference of -9555.208C it is -57.331°C.
−
* thick roof isolate the same as thin roof. However, they also add a cooling effect if indoor temperature is above about {{temperature|15}}; this effect is extremely small compared to other sources, however
+
:* '''Thick roof''' insulate the same as thin roof. However, they also add a cooling effect if the indoor temperature is above about {{Temperature|15}}; however this effect is extremely small compared to other sources.
  
−
=== Active Equalisation ===
+
=== Active equalization ===
 +
While Vents, Coolers and open doors still keep rooms separated, they also equalize temperature at a very high rate. This rate is unfortunately not shown on any tooltip.
  
−
While Vents, Coolers and open doors still keep rooms separated, they also equalize temperature at a very high rate. This rate is unfortunately not shown on any tooltip.
+
Torches, Campfires, Heaters and Passive coolers will directly modify the room temperature instead, adding/removing heat every equalization tick as appropriate for their settings/current state.
  
−
Torches, Campfires, Heaters and Passive coolers will directly modify the room temperature instead, adding/removing heat every equalisation tick as appropriate for their settings/current state.
+
== Version history ==
 +
* [[Beta 19]]/[[Version/1.0.0|1.0.0]] - Equalized [[mood]] penalties for being too hot and too cold.
 +
* [[Version/1.3.3066|1.3.3066]] - Fix: Changing temperature display mode (C to F) doesn’t update temperature readout immediately.
  
−
{{nav|temperature}}
+
{{Nav|temperature}}
−
[[Category:Game mechanics]]
+
[[Category:Game mechanics]] [[Category:Buildings]]

Latest revision as of 18:26, 13 November 2024

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Temperature management is an important part of a productive colony. Temperature mainly affects pawn thoughts, food and corpse spoilage, work bench operation speed, and plant growth. Severe heat or cold leads to pawn injury and eventual death from heatstroke or hypothermia

Measuring temperature[edit]

Players can switch the in-game temperature to display in Celsius (°C), Fahrenheit (°F), or Kelvins (K). This Wiki will list values in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Internally, the game uses Celsius degrees (°C) for all temperature functions, such as "too hot" or "too cold" thoughts. As the game always rounds temperature to an integer ("whole number"), values reported in Fahrenheit are inaccurate by around 0.3°F. For reliable temperature values, and especially when modding, use Celsius or Kelvin.

The maximum temperature is 1,000 °C (1,832 °F) and the minimum is -270 °C (-454 °F), very close to absolute zero. The minimum temperature is not encountered during normal gameplay, but fires in small enclosed spaces can reach the maximum temperature.

Outdoors vs indoors[edit]

An area completely enclosed by walls, doors, and other impassable objects is considered a room, where colonists will automatically build roofing in unroofed tiles (unless otherwise designated). Tiles not inside of a room are considered "outdoors".

Outdoors areas and >75% unroofed rooms will always have the outside temperature, no matter what. Outdoor temperature varies by longitude, time of day, day of the year, and biome. Unpredictable events like a cold snap, volcanic winter or heat wave can also change outdoor temperature unexpectedly. No amount of heat buildings, even in development mode, will affect or change the outdoor temperature. The outdoors is simply treated as a very large room with a uniform temperature.

By turning a place from Indoors to Outdoors, it will instantly become the outdoors temperature. This is caused when any wall or door that borders the outside is destroyed or deconstructed. Buildings like doors and vents, as well as removing roof riles, makes heat transfer faster. Removing roof tiles will cause temperatures to "equalize" with the outside. A room that is less than 75% roofed will remain at outdoors temperature.

Heat transfer between rooms[edit]

Temperature change within a room is instant.

Heat will also transfer from enclosed rooms to other rooms, and the outside. Heat travels through roofs, walls, and doors. Heat transfer from walls only occurs in cardinal directions. Thus the corners of rooms can be eliminated with minimal effect. Open doors and open roofs will quickly "equalize" temperature to whatever's on the other side. Adding another layer of walls increases insulation, but only up to 2 layers of wall. Gaps between each layer will decrease the insulation, but still have an effect.

Larger rooms have more thermal "mass", and their temperature changes more slowly than smaller rooms, but temperature equalization with the outside is proportional with a room's perimeter. A square (shape with the most volume/perimeter) will lose heat slower than thin, rectangular hallways. Rooms with more wall tiles exposed to the outside will lose temperature faster. Open doors and vents will help transfer heat faster, if so desired.

See the temperature mechanics section further down for more details.

Summary[edit]

Temperature has the following effects on:

Crops[edit]

All biomes have a listed growing season. Some are very short (or, in extreme cold, non-existent) and others are "year round". Crops will die, and colonists will avoid planting outdoors, if it isn't growing season. Many players pick their starting location based on this, with year round being the easiest option.

However, a year round climate is no guarantee of trouble-free farming experience. Just getting close to freezing will slow plant growth, reducing the output of crops. Moreover, climates that do not freeze tend to get very hot in the summer season, hot enough to kill crops in some instances. Cold snaps can drop the temperatures below freezing for short periods - but long enough to, again, kill crops.

The short-term solution is to immediately harvest everything to save what you can. The long-term solution is some sort of greenhouse, making use of temperature controlled indoor structures, walled and roofed, with heaters or coolers, sun lamps, and possibly hydroponics.

Food[edit]

Warm temperatures rot food, corpses, and certain plant matter like psychoid leaves and herbal medicine. Even "durable" foods like corn and rice will eventually rot away. Colder temperatures preserve food and corpses by slowing spoilage. Freezing temperatures stop spoilage entirely and preserve these items indefinitely. Coolers will preserve food, so colonists starting with Electricity will quickly want to build a dedicated room. When freezing a room, watch out for heat waves.

Fertillized eggs will be "ruined by temperature" when left long enough outside of its comfortable range of 0 °C – 50 °C (32 °F – 122 °F). "Ruined" eggs may still be eaten as normal, but won't hatch into an animal. In a similar vein, a fermenting barrel must be kept in a comfortable range between -1 °C – 32 °C (30.2 °F – 89.6 °F) for beer to be produced.

Deterioration is an entirely different mechanic, and items left outside will lose health regardless of temperature. Rotting isn't influenced by and has no effect on an item's hit points.

Creatures[edit]

StumpChoppedA (cropped).png
This section is a stub. You can help RimWorld Wiki by expanding it. Reason: Burn/Frostbite chances.
Main articles: Heatstroke and Hypothermia

Pawns have a Maximum Comfortable Temperature and Minimum Comfortable Temperature. Going over 10 °C (18 °F) beyond these limits will start giving them heatstroke or hypothermia. The further above or below this 10 °C (18 °F) limit the faster the Heatstroke or Hypothermia rises. At 150 °C (270 °F) above their comfortable temperature range, creatures will begin to take burn damage. If Hypothermia reaches a severity of 37% and the pawn is in a location at 0 °C (32 °F) or below, there is a chance the pawn takes Frostbite damage. The higher the Hypothermia severity the higher the chance of Frostbite damage. Insectoids will experience hypothermic slowdown instead of hypothermia. Pawns will also receive negative moodlets based on how extreme the temperature is. The Gear tab shows aggregate stats about comfy temperatures.

Hypothermia and Heatstroke are both fatal at 100% severity. Though, both Heatstroke and Hypothermia have significant health consequences and can lead to death before the 100% severity level is reached.

For humans, apparel will increase both comfortable thresholds, depending on the apparel type and material (e.g. wool parkas insulate well against cold). Colonists will try and wear items suitable for the temperature, unless they are forced otherwise. Colonists' moods ignore apparel when considering sleeping moodlets. So piling on the warmest apparel doesn't avoid a "Slept in the cold" bad thought if a bedroom is not adequately heated.

Animals tend to have much higher comfortable thresholds. However, in extreme biomes, it may be necessary to build a "barn" of some sort with temperature control and designate indoor animal sleeping spots to keep your herd warm/cool.

Many work benches, such as a electric stove or stonecutter's table, have a comfortable range between 10 °C – 35 °C (50 °F – 95 °F). Above or below this range, the bench's work speed is multiplied by 70%.

Fire[edit]

Main article: Fire

Fire is a destructive force capable of destroying plants, buildings, and pawns alike. Pawns and items can spontaneously ignite when temperature is at or above 235 °C (455 °F). Fires can spread via embers from up to 2 tiles.

Fire itself provides a massive amount of heat.

Managing temperature[edit]

Temperature management is important for any colony, regardless of climate. It can be simply managed with a good power supply and the following structures. Temperature changing buildings will still work while "outdoors", but have no noticeable effect.

Temperature thresholds[edit]

Temperature Effects
1,000 °C (1,832 °F) Maximum value
~235 °C (455 °F) Items spontaneously catch fire
60 °C (140 °F) Maximum comfortable temperature of any animal (Dromedary / Insectoids / Iguana)
58 °C (136.4 °F) Plant growth stopped.
42 °C (107.6 °F) Above this value Plant growth slowed.
35 °C (95 °F) At this temperature and above work benches show "Bad temperature" and Work Speed is reduced to 70%.
30 °C (86 °F) Campfire max temperature
26 °C (78.8 °F) Default human upper comfort limit without clothing modifiers.
Sleeping above this temperature creates "Slept in the heat" thought in baseline humans.
23 °C (73.4 °F) Torch lamp/Fungus darktorchContent added by the Ideology DLC/DarktorchContent added by the Ideology DLC/BrazierContent added by the Royalty DLC/Darklight brazierContent added by the Royalty DLCContent added by the Ideology DLC max temperature
21 °C (69.8 °F) Heater and Cooler default target
17 °C (62.6 °F) Passive cooler min temperature
16 °C (60.8 °F) Default human lower comfort limit without clothing modifiers.
Sleeping below this temperature creates "Slept in the cold" thought in baseline humans.
10 °C (50 °F) Below this value food spoiling slowed.
Food spoiling between 10C and 0C is multiplied by a factor of (Temp)/10, in Celsius.
Below this value work benches show "Bad temperature" and Work Speed is reduced to 70%.
9 °C (48.2 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.9, or time to spoil multiplied by 1.11.
8 °C (46.4 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.8, or time to spoil multiplied by 1.25.
7 °C (44.6 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.7, or time to spoil multiplied by 1.43.
6 °C (42.8 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.6, or time to spoil multiplied by 1.66.
Below this value plant growth slowed.
5 °C (41 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.5, or time to spoil multiplied by 2.
4 °C (39.2 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.4, or time to spoil multiplied by 2.5.
3 °C (37.4 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.3, or time to spoil multiplied by 3.33.
2 °C (35.6 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.2, or time to spoil multiplied by 5.
1 °C (33.8 °F) Food spoiling rate multiplied by a factor of 0.1, or time to spoil multiplied by 10.
0 °C (32 °F) Plant growth and food spoiling stopped.
Toxic wastepacksContent added by the Biotech DLC do not dissolve. (They can still deteriorate)
-10 °C (14 °F) Most plants die.
-65 °C (-85 °F) Minimum comfortable temperature of any animal (Thrumbo)
-270 °C (-454 °F) Minimum value.

Cooling buildings[edit]

Passive cooler[edit]

Passive cooler.png

The passive cooler is a very low-tech option automatically unlocked for all default starts. They operate at the same strength as a Cooler and will cool rooms to a very comfortable 15 °C (59 °F). Passive coolers last for 5 days; it needs to be fueled with wood when it runs out of fuel. Due to the temperature limit, passive coolers are unable to preserve food.

Passive coolers are a life saver in extremely hot climates as they can be quickly built, are immune to electrical events and are easily massed in a heat wave. Use passive coolers to keep your living spaces survivable and chill rooms surrounding a freezer to further protect the products inside.

Cooler[edit]

Cooler south.png

The cooler is primarily used to lower the temperature of a room. It has two states of power consumption: low and high. In its low state, the cooler produces no heat or cold but still requires 20 W. It can be used to lower the temperature of a room to a comfortable 20 °C (68 °F) (room temperature) in the summer or create a walk-in freezer for your food. In hot biomes such as desert or rainforest, having comfortable air conditioning is a necessity for any base.

Coolers are heat pumps that produce both a cold side and a hot side. The hot side is rarely useful and should be directed to an outdoor space (or a 1x1, unroofed room) to not inconvenience your colony. The heating side is useful when outdoors temperature is uncomfortable, but not freezing. This is between 1 °C – 16 °C (33.8 °F – 60.8 °F), but in practical terms, you should point the heat side at the colony when the outdoors temperature rarely goes above 20 °C (68 °F). Never block a cooler's intake or exhaust port, or else it won't function.

A cooler is theoretically able to cool a single square by about 1800 kelvin [K]. But this is not a linear relation, as a room always exchanges heat with adjacent rooms and/or the outside.

Analysis[edit]

Electric coolers are the only way to create freezers. Building one is as simple as making a room and replacing some wall tiles with coolers. Direct the cold "blue" zone of the cooler inside the room and the hot "red" tile to an outdoor area. Reduce the cooler's target temperature to below 0 °C (32 °F). As the room cools down any food left inside will decay more slowly until it freezes. Frozen food will stay fresh indefinitely and incurs no other benefit or penalty when eaten.

If your freezer area is more than about 50 squares, and/or you are living in an area with a hot summer, you will want 2 coolers (and perhaps more, see "adding coolers", below). Put one at 0, and the other at -2. With double walls, this will let one cooler "idle" at 20 W of power in cooler weather while the other easily keeps things frozen, but be available to help when needed for warmer weather. Batteries are useful for power outages; you may want to keep charged batteries disconnected via power switch for these situations.

Freezers lose heat through walls and doors. The material of a wall doesn't matter, but for maximum insulation, you should put a double layer of them. Doors will cause heat loss when opened. This loss can be offset by having doors arranged in sequence, one after another, at points of egress, in an "airlock" like fashion. The loss can be examined by mousing over the sections of the airlock to see the temperature. Using doors rather than autodoors can help reduce the cooling lost, though this slows down colonists.

Adding coolers[edit]

There may come a moment when you realize "I don't have enough coolers for this area...". If the weather is cool, that's not a big problem, but it's more likely that the weather will be brutally hot when you realize this. And it's also likely that it's your freezer that's not at "freezing" (since colonists can tough it out). If you open a wall to put in an additional cooler, your freezer immediately rockets to "outside" temperatures - which is probably a dealbreaker, rotting all your frozen items. So here's what you do...

Decide where in the current wall you will put your new cooler, and build a door outside where you will tear the existing wall down (you don't need "side walls" to support it). (A wall would "block" the cooler exhaust and prohibit construction, but a door will not!) Then, [f]orbid the door (so it doesn't get opened), and deconstruct your wall; the new door will maintain the area as "inside". Then build your cooler (remembering the orientation, warm side "out"). Once the new cooler has been installed, deconstruct the door, and you're done.

Heating buildings[edit]

Campfire[edit]

Campfire.png

Campfires are a quick and dirty solution to produce heat in a hurry. They require no energy, but are temporary structures and must be refreshed with wood every few days. Otherwise, they produce the same amount of heat as an electrical heater. They cannot raise the temperature to over 30 °C (86 °F). They can't be controlled, so may make pawns uncomfortably hot - open doors or roofs to lower heat..

Heater[edit]

Heater.png

The heater is used to raise the temperature of a room. It has two states of power consumption: low and high. In its low state, the heater produces no heat but still requires 18 W. It can be used to raise the temperature of a room to a likable 20 °C (68 °F) (room temperature) in the winter or create a walk-in heat trap for your foes. In any cold biome, such as the Tundra, the heater is a necessity for any base.

A heater (in theory) is able to heat a single square by about 1800 kelvin [K]. But this is not a linear relation as a room always exchanges heat with adjacent rooms and/or the outside. This heat conduction effect can be pretty noticeable in extremely cold or hot environments. Example: In a realistic setup, this means it can heat a room with 50 squares by an average of about 36 K per square. So a room with 50 squares and an outside temperature of -10 °C (14 °F) can be heated up to comfortable 26 °C (78.8 °F) or something near that with a single heater.

Incidental heat[edit]

Generators[edit]

Chemfuel powered generator.png

Generators produce a non-negligible amount of heat for the room they occupy, especially when placed in numbers. If placed strategically, you can reduce the number of heaters and coolers necessary to manage the temperature in your base.

It's also worth noting that generators will continue to produce heat (and burn fuel) during solar flare events. If your colony is in a very cold climate, this can be used to ensure that critical sections such as hydroponics or barns for sensitive animals don't lose all their heat in a power outage.

Steam geysers[edit]

Steam geyser.png

A steam geyser will heat up a roofed room even when covered with a geothermal generator. They are extremely useful for staying warm in frozen climates, but can overheat an indoors space in warmer biomes.

Fire weapons[edit]

Molotov.png

Weapons that generate fire such as molotov cocktail and incendiary launcher can be used to quickly generate heat inside your colony. Under normal conditions this is a bad idea because fires will quickly bring your base to intolerable temperatures. However in a bitter arctic climate with no wood and inadequate heaters, these weapons are your last defense against freezing to death. Draft your colonist and force them to open fire on an empty space, or burn spare corpses and rags to increase heat output.

Body heat[edit]

Colonist.png

Living creatures[Details] generate a small amount of heat dependent on their body size[Details]. Heating is inconsistent, as creatures are prone to wandering, population and sizes fluctuate with births, culling, and growth, and livestock are frequently left in outdoor pens where heat will dissipate.

Solar pinhole[edit]

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This section relates to content added by Royalty (DLC). Please note that it will not be present without the DLC enabled.

SolarPinhole.png Solar pinhole is a psycast that creates heat and light. It lasts five days. It is useful for emergency situations, such as power shortages during cold snaps.

Heat transfer[edit]

Vent[edit]

Vent.png

A vent allows transfer of temperature and gases from one room to another.

Vents can have any building in front of it, but no walls. Vents work best when connecting directly to a climate controlled room. Trying to chain vents across smaller rooms will lead to each successive room getting less effective climate control, and connecting to a hallway won't work well if the hallway is blocked with doors. A vent can be designated to be closed, an action carried out by colonists assigned to Basic.

Doors[edit]

Door.png

Similar to double thick walls, double doors (not side-by-side, rather, both in the path of travel) improve insulation and reduce temperature equalization. A door can be left permanently open (mark the door to 'hold open' and have a pawn pass through) to help control temperature. Open doors allow temperature to more quickly equalize between rooms or the outdoors. Equalization through open doors is less potent than vents.

Temperature mechanics[edit]

Equalization calculations happens once every 120 game ticks.

Temperature seems to be measured to an extreme precision. A outdoor of -9 °C (15.8 °F) and a room of 2,000 °C (3,632 °F) have a difference around -9555.292C

Passive equalization[edit]

This is equalization via walls and roofs.

Walls will equalize towards the room on the other side. This can be another fully realized room or simply the outdoors. If the other side is not outdoors, that room will also equalize towards this room.

  • The material of the walls does not matter. Wood is as insulating as any stone or metal. And unmined rocks are equally effective.
  • The surface area does seem to matter. Basically, the game is using a 2D variant of the square-cube law, with walls taking the place of "surface area" and room size taking the place of "volume". As such square rooms are the most efficient at keeping temperatures.
  • A 2nd layer halves the temperature equalization via walls. Adding more than a 2nd layer of wall does not seems to have any effect.
  • Furniture acts highly variable for this and even just the definition what is a room. Nutrient dispensers are one of the few items working fully like walls for equalization purposes

Example wall equalization values at -9555.208C difference:

  • 1x1: -161.470°C
  • 2x2: -81.235°C
  • 3x3: -54.157°C
  • 4x4: -40.618°C
  • 5x5: -32.494°C
  • 6x6: -27.078°C
  • 7x7: -23.210°C

Example double wall equalization values at -9555.208C difference:

  • 1x1: -81.234°C
  • 2x2: -40.617°C
  • 3x3: -27.078°C
  • 4x4: -20.309°C
  • 5x5: -16.247°C
  • 6x6: -13.539°C
  • 7x7: -11.605°C

Roof is a major part with equalization with the outdoor temperature. It will always equalize with the outdoor temperature, regardless what the room borders. However, the equalization rate is also constant for all room sizes at the same temperature difference. There are 4 basic types of roof:

  • unroofed
  • Constructed (Thin Roof)
  • Thin Rock (Thin Roof)
  • Thick Rock
  • Unroofed tiles are looked at in relation to the total count of roofed tiles in a room. With at least 1/4 unroofed the room will simply equalize to outdoor temperature on the next tick.
  • Thin Roof at a difference of -9555.208C it is -57.331°C.
  • Thick roof insulate the same as thin roof. However, they also add a cooling effect if the indoor temperature is above about 15 °C (59 °F); however this effect is extremely small compared to other sources.

Active equalization[edit]

While Vents, Coolers and open doors still keep rooms separated, they also equalize temperature at a very high rate. This rate is unfortunately not shown on any tooltip.

Torches, Campfires, Heaters and Passive coolers will directly modify the room temperature instead, adding/removing heat every equalization tick as appropriate for their settings/current state.

Version history[edit]

  • Beta 19/1.0.0 - Equalized mood penalties for being too hot and too cold.
  • 1.3.3066 - Fix: Changing temperature display mode (C to F) doesn’t update temperature readout immediately.
Architect
Temperature
Campfire • Heater • Cooler • Passive cooler • Vent

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