Heating, Cooling, Light and Creative Death

[BeastNips]

Loved my first week of Rimworld, it's absolutely great! I'm completely addicted.

I have some questions about heating and cooling...

• Am I correct in thinking heaters can elevate the temperature beyond outside norm, and coolers the opposite? I know this sounds obvious, but just double checking there is no situation where a cooler will elevate the temperature and vice versa, regardless of their setting? Meaning you always need both if the map temperatures call for this.
• Is there a calculation for coolers and heaters to work out how many you need for a particular space? Does this change depending on outside temperature? If it does, is there a nice rule of thumb?
• I always double layer my freezer walls; is it worth double layering all my colony walls? Will this save on heaters/coolers?
• What is the optimum temperature for colonists without any temperature traits such as cold lover?
• What is the optimum temperature for plant growth or does it depend on the plant?
• Is it possible to harness an indoor geyser for heating or is it more practical to use them for energy and then power heaters?
• I put all of my bedrooms in one structure to save on heaters/coolers but I've seen lots of pics of colonies with separate structures for bedrooms. The weird thing is that I can't see any heaters or coolers; is there another way to control temperature in small spaces, or are they just playing on a forgiving map in terms of temperature?
• How many squares away from an electric light will a colonist not be 'in the dark' so I know how to space them?
• Do multiple sun lamps increase the growth rate of plants?
• Do plants closer to the sun lamp have a greater growth than plants at the edge of the shown radius?
• I have a colonist that is - to use the technical terms - a massive useless ball ache. How can I 'dispose' of him without upsetting my colonist who seem to like him for some bizarre reason?

I'm aware I could have researched all of these myself. Sorry, I'm work pretending to write a report; the wiki is harder to hide.

Thanks guys!

[CannibarRechter]

> I'm aware I could have researched all of these myself. Sorry, I'm work pretending to write a report; the wiki is harder to hide.

It would appear that rimworld addictions preceeded A15. ;-P

[ShadowTani]

1. Yes, kinda, to be more precise the coolers will activate when the room temperature rises above their set temperature. Heaters will activate when it drops under their target temperature. Both will try to maintain their target temperature.

2. Probably, but not as I know, sorry. And yes, temperature will leak through walls so if the temperature difference between outside and/or surrounding rooms become too large you will notice when you need more, it's usually a good idea to add one more than you need in case of heat waves or cold snaps though (depending on your biome).

3. Insulated walls will save on coolers and heaters yes, but there should be no need to do this outside rooms where you don't have heaters or coolers. Personally I also don't bother to do it for smaller rooms that I for some reason needed a cooler or heater for. Between rooms that try to maintain similar temperatures I only put single walls, such as two adjacent freezers. I also do double walls on the wall perimeter around town, but I suppose that's just a personal preference.

4. You can see a pawns temperature range on the Gear tab, anything inbetween the lowest and highest temperature there can be considered ideal. It depends on their clothing.

6. A geyser will produce heat even if you put a geothermal generator over them.

7. You could create a heater/cooler room, with vents going inside separate sleeping cubies (2x1 rooms) for an efficient compact bedroom setup (no shared bedroom debuffs). There's many ways of doing it. It's worth noting that if a room does border a hotter/cooler room (assuming single wall) then it will benefit from the temperature leak from that room, sometimes this is a sufficient way of heating/cooling certain rooms.

8. 7 spaces until the light levels start dropping. It'll be considered dark from 9 tiles away.

9. Nope, just make it possible to grow crops under a roof without growth penalties.

10. No.

11. I believe you can arrest him, then release him. (no, that will just make the colonist rejoin the colony, sorry). Relationship mood debuffs should only happen if you kill or sell the pawn. Selling into slavery have less of an impact than murder though.

[Jimyoda]

I'll leave some for others to answer - I won't attempt what I don't really know about.

4. What is the optimum temperature for colonists without any temperature traits such as cold lover? Should be minimum 12C and maximum 32C. Confirm by looking at the colonist's stats.

5. What is the optimum temperature for plant growth or does it depend on the plant? AFAIK, same for all plants...
For normal growth rate, plants require temperature between 10C/50F and 41C/107F. Plant growth rate drops by 10% for each degree Celsius below 10C or above 41C. The plant's info window will show 'Out of ideal temperature range (growing at xx% of normal speed)'. Plants will not grow when the temperature falls below 0C/32F or rises above 59C/138F. The plant's info window will show 'Out of ideal temperature range (not growing)'. If the temperature drops below -10C/14F, it will either die or lose its leaves, depending on the type of plant. Leafless plants cannot grow, and will take a full day to regrow their leaves after the temperature rises back above -2C/29F.

6. Is it possible to harness an indoor geyser for heating or is it more practical to use them for energy and then power heaters? You can't regulate a geyser's heat output, so not recommended.

9. Do multiple sun lamps increase the growth rate of plants? No.

10. Do plants closer to the sun lamp have a greater growth than plants at the edge of the shown radius? No. The sunlamp provides a consistent 100% light level within its radius, so proximity within the radius makes no difference.

11. I have a colonist that is - to use the technical terms - a massive useless ball ache. How can I 'dispose' of him without upsetting my colonist who seem to like him for some bizarre reason?
Sounds like his death will sadden the others and give mood debuffs, so...
Option 1: Cryptosleep casket. Search for hidden rooms that have them before you try to make one.
Option 2: Won't be easy to pull off, but getting kidnapped in a raid might do the trick.

[BeastNips]

Thanks for all the useful information fellow colonists!

Coming back to the indoor growing questions...

What to hydroponics actually do? Would it not be more material efficient to simply make an indoor farm with sunlamps and temperature control but soil floors? Do they provide some kind of growth buff? If so, is it worth it for their steel/component costs?

Edit: Another question... Can colonists walk over Hydroponic plant beds or do I need to leave space between them?

[CannibarRechter]

> No. The sunlamp provides a consistent 100% light level within its radius, so proximity within the radius makes no difference.

As a nit, there is a radius outside of the preferred radius of the lamp, that is less than 100% light, bu more than 0% light. This is an impractical nit, as people tend not to care about it, but for those folks placing plants in a square pattern of the lamp, you will clearly see plants stunted plants growing in the corners, with insufficient light for growth.

[Mr.Cross]

-Hydroponics Questions-

I believe they significatly speed up the plants growth, however they are a constant and heavy drain on power (mainly because you more often then not have a sunlamp to use along side them)

Colonists can walk over them however it slows them down as well.

[BeastNips]

-Hydroponics Questions-

I believe they significatly speed up the plants growth, however they are a constant and heavy drain on power (mainly because you more often then not have a sunlamp to use along side them)

Colonists can walk over them however it slows them down as well.

So if I simply increase the size of the plots (to make up for the lost growth time) it would probably be more efficient in terms of power/metal/components to simply make in-door farms in the dirt instead of hydroponics? All that I would lose would be the extra time to harvest, but in theory that might end up more efficient because there wouldn't be as many trips back and forth given that the plot sizes are bigger and the growth period shorter.

If all of this is correct, it begs the question: Why use hydroponics? Simply for space?

Edit: I realized that the more I increase the plot sizes, the more sunlamps I have to use. I wonder what the tipping would be where hydroponics are more efficient?

[Mr.Cross]

I don't think that Hydroponics are very good for a normal colony, however if you have some made (or are doing a tundra with them already researched) they could be very good in a pinch.

[Serenity]

I put all of my bedrooms in one structure to save on heaters/coolers but I've seen lots of pics of colonies with separate structures for bedrooms.

Vents don't work all that well anyways. In my experience you can do three adjacent bedrooms with a heater in the middle and the two other rooms just about manage to keep up. If you put the heater in one of the outer rooms, the other outer room won't get heated well.

What to hydroponics actually do? Would it not be more material efficient to simply make an indoor farm with sunlamps and temperature control but soil floors?

This works very, very well in a boreal forest biome where you have issues with temperature, but not soil. One geyser/geothermal plant and one heater can heat up an enclosure of four sunlamps. I also like this with a mod that has timed switches, so you can turn off the lamps at night.

Also has the advantage that your plants don't immediately die if the power goes out.

Hydroponics are something for ice sheets or extreme deserts. Or if you really want to have your whole base in a mountain.

[Britnoth]

11: Arrest them so they are a prisoner, and then 'accidentally' let them escape by leaving the door open. They will leave the map.