Steam Boiler

Steam Boiler

Steam Boiler
Research
Steam power
Construction Material
Planks	13		Cut Stone	5
Iron bars		2
Foot Print
Boils water into steam.				1x3x1

The Steam Boiler is the heart of all steam production for your colony. It consumes water and fuel to produce steam that can be transmitted to facilities via Steam Pipe.

The Steam Boiler can hold up to 3 units of water and 10 units of fuel at any given time. It can also store up to 100 units of steam inside of it self if it has nowhere else to go.

The Steam Boiler has a water pipe inlet opposite of its entrance on the ground floor. The steam outlet is located on top of the 2-tile high building. Steam Boilers can be built instantly.

Once fueled, the Steam Boiler will consume fuel at a rate of approximately 1 unit every 30 seconds. It will only consume fuel if your system needs additional steam (i.e., below the maximum steam capacity). This can continue occurring overnight until all fuel is exhausted which can be helpful for keeping Steam Radiators working during the winter. A Fire Tender must be located nearby to continue to stock the Steam Boiler with fuel.

It is advisable to have multiple Steam Boilers because consumption rates and production rates are incremental. That is a facility might consume 5 units of steam all at once very few seconds while the Steam Boiler needs a few more seconds to produce a burst of 50-100 units of steam onto the system. Having multiple boilers can help smooth out supply/demand issues along with giving you more of an overnight "battery" of fuel left in boilers.

Steam Tanks should also be used to ensure sufficient steam is available on demand.

Steam Boilers do produce a moderate amount of pollution while in operation and should be located down wind and away from your Whiskers when possible. In combination with Steam Radiators, it is possible centralize your heating pollution during winter to avoid the winter smog cloud from other heating sources.