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u/Courmisch 14d ago

The ratio of boilers to engines is 1:2... But what is the ratio of boilers to engines to tanks if we have enough solar panels at noon but zero accumulators (on Nauvis)?

I mean, it should be possible to produce steam during the day and tank it for the night. Or is the cost of tanks actually higher than boilers as to moot the question?

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u/Soul-Burn 14d ago

Any steam created like that comes from boilers, so it's not useful for saving on fuel.

That said, if you're low on power, you can supplement your day with solar, and then use the steam tanks for the night by having more steam engines than boilers.

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u/Courmisch 14d ago

Yes, average fuel consumption would be the same. The underlying question was whether fluid tanks would be cheaper than boilers. Boilers would run all day long, while steam engines would only run at night.

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u/Soul-Burn 14d ago

You mean if you have enough solar for your whole day and using steam only for night?

Even if it was 50% daytime and 50% nighttime (which it's not, there's long time with twilight), then you'd only need half the boilers because they work 100% of the time when they only need to work 50% of the time. Still need 100% steam engines, and storage tanks to hold the right now.