Do the amount of batteries really matter?

[anti678]

I have seen lots of people put in multiple batteries of the same type next to their power supplies and I was wondering if that really mattered? I've never really noticed a plus side to having multiple batteries. I only see a downside, which is creating more heat. To me, that is a downside because I have very little problems generating heat but I find it difficult trying to cool everything down. Is there any benefit to creating multiple batteries of the same type and hooking them up to your power supply? For example, putting down two small batteries and connecting them to a single coal generator, rather than simply creating one small battery?

[NeoDeusMachina]

Batteries offer you flexibility:

- It means that you can store energy when you have resources available (e.g., during the day for solar) and use it when the resource is not available (e.g., during the night for solar). The amount you need depends on your power consumption during periods where you are not producing, as well as on how long those down periods are, plus a little bit more to compensate for batteries losing energy over time.

- It also makes sure that if you produce more power (in W) than you consume, you can store the excess to avoid wasting power. This means you don't need to keep your power production running at all time and waste resources and power. Only a little bit of automation should do the trick here.

The answer to your question is therefore: it depends.

I am more in line with you, I usually have 5-10 smart batteries (because they lose less energy over time and generate less heat), and I rarely find myself needing more than this. I have playthroughs both in the base game and in the DLC that made it past cycle 1000 on only that amount of batteries.

I have never built huge battery banks because in most cases, it is really pointless and only ends up in wasted power (loss from the batteries themselves + power needed to cool them).

[anti678]

46 minutes ago, NeoDeusMachina said:

Batteries offer you flexibility:

- It means that you can store energy when you have resources available (e.g., during the day for solar) and use it when the resource is not available (e.g., during the night for solar). The amount you need depends on your power consumption during periods where you are not producing, as well as on how long those down periods are, plus a little bit more to compensate for batteries losing energy over time.

- It also makes sure that if you produce more power (in W) than you consume, you can store the excess to avoid wasting power. This means you don't need to keep your power production running at all time and waste resources and power. Only a little bit of automation should do the trick here.

The answer to your question is therefore: it depends.

I am more in line with you, I usually have 5-10 smart batteries (because they lose less energy over time and generate less heat), and I rarely find myself needing more than this. I have playthroughs both in the base game and in the DLC that made it past cycle 1000 on only that amount of batteries.

I have never built huge battery banks because in most cases, it is really pointless and only ends up in wasted power (loss from the batteries themselves + power needed to cool them).

I know all of this but I'm just curious if having one battery or two batteries really makes a difference if they are connected to the same power source? Are their reserves exclusive from each other?

Like if I just started a new colony and built my first manual generator, would adding one small battery be the same as adding two small batteries or would two small batteries hold more power in reserve? I've never noticed a difference before.

Sorry it's difficult trying to word what I'm trying to ask lol. And if you answered my question already could you dumb it down a bit, I'm not that smart xD

[degr]

No, it make no sense. I have 1 battery connected to 24 nat gas generators,  all generators work approximately 90% of time. They charge it during a second, and it lost energy faster then second. No any power outages.

As it was mentioned before, it make sense if you build solar panels. But I'm afraid to imagine, how many of them you need.

[NeoDeusMachina]

1 hour ago, anti678 said:

Like if I just started a new colony and built my first manual generator, would adding one small battery be the same as adding two small batteries or would two small batteries hold more power in reserve? I've never noticed a difference before.

If it is early game and you are running dupes on wheels, having 2 batteries instead of 1 means you have twice the available energy stored. It means you approx. double the time you have before duplicants need to go back and run on the wheels again (neglecting battery losses). However, they will also spend twice as long on the wheel to recharge it. I personally put 2 small batteries and replace those with 1 large battery when its available. The reasoning here is that I don't want my duplicants to walk back and forth all the time between their tasks and the wheels, because that's a waste of time. Hope that makes sense.

[anti678]

4 minutes ago, NeoDeusMachina said:

having 2 batteries instead of 1 means you have twice the available energy stored. It means you approx. double the time you have before duplicants need to go back and run on the wheels again (neglecting battery losses). However, they will also spend twice as long on the wheel to recharge it. 

Yes it does. That was the answer I was looking for, thank you.

[cezarica]

On top of what NeoDeusMachina said change the hamster wheel settings from the default 50% to 25% so your dupes don't run on it when power is down to 50%, but instead at 25%. Early game you shouldn't have much power usage anyway.

[Hjoyn]

Other than one or two for automation, you won't need a lot of batteries until you have either very spiky load or generation. The main source of spiky load is a large amount of bunker doors, and the main source of spiky generation is solar. Smart batteries are of course the most efficient, and should be the only battery you ever use with the exception of a single small battery in early game when you are using manual generators

[Craigjw]

Using batteries helps prevent brownouts during times when the total power consumption exceeds the total power production.

ie, if I have an Aquatuner (1200w) as long as this is active only some of the time, well no more than 50% of the time, I can power this with a 600w coal generator by adding batteries.  When the AT is inactive, the generator charges the batteries, when it's active, the AT draws power from the batteries as well as the generator.

 

[Sasza22]

Basically early game batteries help you save on dupe travel time as you`d rahter have a dupe spend the whole cycle running on the hamster wheel than run to it twice per cycle. Once you get your generators automated extra batts don`t add much as long as you got your generators fueled all the time.

But then there are generators that can`t be turned off like solar or steam turbines. Extra batteries will make sure you don`t waste the power they produce.

[Craigjw]

I'd like to add, heat production from the batteries & generators isn't always a bad thing, if you enclose your generators and batteries in a 125c+ sealed room, you can harvest that heat with steam turbines, although this is quite expensive in steel.  This has the added benefit that you automatically convert the PW from generators into water without having to refine it, while also allowing the perfect environment for slicksters to thrive in, in particular molten slicksters, which means free petrol to boot.

To conclude, batteries are awesome.

[cezarica]

The 125+ °C room assumes he has steel for pretty much everything, while if you read original post will see it was an early game question.

[ToiDiaeRaRIsuOy]

Ideally you want to have just enough batteries to get through the energy deficit periods.

However, there are also other factors to consider: a whole heap of batteries means a dupe will work in one big period to fill them and then will not have to bother for a long time to refill them, vs small battery banks which require multiple smaller work errands to continuously refill the batteries. You can potentionally save on dupe travel time.

Also, my own power system is tiered: I first and foremost have my natural gas genators producing power. Should that be insufficient and battery charge drops below a certain percentage, the petroleum generators kick in. FInally, if battery percentage gets really critical coal generators will start running. To do this, I do need several batteries for each type of generator.