Wood-fired generator

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

Acquisition

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

Summary

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

It outputs light in a 6 tile radius, with the nearest 3.442 tiles being above 50% light level and considered lit. Note that the light source is centered at the bottom-left tile of the generator, rather than the "true" center of the generator. It heats at a rate of 6 heat per second^{^{[Exact mechanic unclear]}}. Unlike many other heat sources, it does not appear to have a maximum temperature and will continue to heat up rooms indefinitely.^{[Confirmation needed]}

Analysis

Though having a considerable labor cost for chopping and hauling wood, the wood-fired generator nonetheless represents a big improvement in fuel efficiency from neolithic heating and cooling technology.

For example: The passive cooler and the electric cooler have the same cooling power (meaning, they will cool the same space by the same number of degrees -- down to the passive cooler's minimum, anyway). The passive cooler uses 50 wood and cools for 5 days, for a wood consumption of 10 per cooler-day equivalent (CDE). Electric coolers use 200 W when on, meaning the wood-fired generator can power 5 of them, and its wood consumption is 22 per day. This gives a wood consumption per CDE of 4.4, which is more than a doubling of fuel efficiency! This is very noticeable if you are playing the tribal scenario and have need for constant cooling.

In comparison, the wood/CDE for a chemfuel powered generator is 1.8. Though chemfuel has a labor cost for refining, the lessened workload for your choppers and haulers more than makes up for this; thus, the wood-fired generator is strictly obsolete once you have access to chemfuel.

Wind turbines, the other generator type unlocked by the electricity research, require batteries to provide stable power. As such, they in practice require additional research, which you may not want to wait for. They are also a bigger investment (particularly if you take the need for batteries into account), and require more space and care in their placement.

Conclusion: If you have good access to wood, wood-fired generators are a natural choice for your first generator or two, since they provide stable power with little investment and no need for additional research. Longer-term, the labor cost of chopping down trees and hauling the wood makes the wood-fired generator unattractive compared to non-fueled generators, and it is made obsolete by chemfuel. Since it can be turned off, it can serve as emergency backup after you have made the transition to more efficient generators.

Version history

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

Architect

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

Wood-fired generator

Contents

Acquisition

Summary

Analysis

Version history

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