Advanced Heat Management

[StarSquid]

Currently, controlling heat within bases is rather difficult, requiring odd solutions to remove heat and lacking finesse. Therefore, I propose some new buildings to deal with the heat.

Thermoelectric Tile

This would be a tile, made from any two different refined metals, that attempts to force heat to flow through it in one direction, as shown by an arrow on the texture. When heat is already flowing through it in that direction, it will output a trickle of power. When it is not, it will consume power to push a little bit of heat in the desired direction. Duplicants or automation wires could be used to reverse the direction once placed by reversing the polarity.

 

Stirling Engine

A generator that generates electricity as long as one side is at a higher temperature than the other. Made from refined metal. More efficient than the thermoelectric tiles

Radiator Panel

When exposed to space, the radiator panel takes in a hot liquid and outputs a cooler one, at the cost of a small amount of power.

Solar Heater

While in direct sunlight, takes in cold liquid and outputs substantially heated liquid.

[crypticorb]

6 hours ago, StarSquid said:

Solar Heater

While in direct sunlight, takes in cold liquid and outputs substantially heated liquid.

I like the idea of the solar heater best because it makes the most sense. This is something I have on my house, and it's incredibly, stupidly low tech. It is a black painted background lined with metal mesh with water piped throughout it. It preheats water for our water heater by a significant amount, even in deep winter of Michigan.

 

6 hours ago, StarSquid said:

Radiator Panel

When exposed to space, the radiator panel takes in a hot liquid and outputs a cooler one, at the cost of a small amount of power.

A modification of this idea, it shouldn't work in direct sunlight. That, or have it be the exact same structure as the solar heater, but with the opposite effect at night, and controllable by automation. The automation input would allow you to disable it during the day, and enable at night, to have the cooling function, and the opposite for heating liquid.

[StarSquid]

8 minutes ago, crypticorb said:

I like the idea of the solar heater best because it makes the most sense. This is something I have on my house, and it's incredibly, stupidly low tech. It is a black painted background lined with metal mesh with water piped throughout it. It preheats water for our water heater by a significant amount, even in deep winter of Michigan.

 

A modification of this idea, it shouldn't work in direct sunlight. That, or have it be the exact same structure as the solar heater, but with the opposite effect at night, and controllable by automation. The automation input would allow you to disable it during the day, and enable at night, to have the cooling function, and the opposite for heating liquid.

I was envisioning the radiator as emitting heat off the back of the screen. The problem with the radiator and solar heater being the same is that the solar heater would want to focus light that’s coming from one direction onto a point or line, while the radiator wants to send off heat in every direction. Still, it might be interesting to give radiators some efficiency factors, for example:

Opaque tiles or a radiator on any side: proportional to the amount of area blocked

Direct sunlight: -50% efficiency

Keep in mind, I’m imagining a roughly vertical panel, not one that lies on the ground. That would almost certainly change the dynamics.

[Sasza22]

I think radiator and solar heater should be one building. It should automatable so you can open and close it (closed would just work like a pipe section). Opened would gain heat during the day and remove it during the night. I think it should be based on the amount of light and require free space straight above itself.

[StarSquid]

On 11/1/2018 at 4:48 PM, Sasza22 said:

I think radiator and solar heater should be one building. It should automatable so you can open and close it (closed would just work like a pipe section). Opened would gain heat during the day and remove it during the night. I think it should be based on the amount of light and require free space straight above itself.

Okay, but again, radiators and solar heaters have pretty substantially different designs, it really doesn’t make much sense to have one machine doing two different jobs.

[Sasza22]

1 hour ago, StarSquid said:

Okay, but again, radiators and solar heaters have pretty substantially different designs, it really doesn’t make much sense to have one machine doing two different jobs.

I don`t know about the actual design of those machines but gamewise they are both bulidings that let liquid pass through and exchange heat with it to either radiate it to space or heat up from solar rays. If it were 2 machines one would be useless during the day and one during the night. One machine doing both would make it less confusing (IMO) and be more intersting to automate if it could open and close based on the time of the day.

[StarSquid]

On 11/3/2018 at 5:14 PM, Sasza22 said:

I don`t know about the actual design of those machines but gamewise they are both bulidings that let liquid pass through and exchange heat with it to either radiate it to space or heat up from solar rays. If it were 2 machines one would be useless during the day and one during the night. One machine doing both would make it less confusing (IMO) and be more intersting to automate if it could open and close based on the time of the day.

The radiator would still be useful in the day, so long as the panel isn't facing the sun. If its edge is towards the sun, it should still be radiating outwards rather than receiving heat from the sun.

[DraconicSiege]

4 hours ago, StarSquid said:

The radiator would still be useful in the day, so long as the panel isn't facing the sun. If its edge is towards the sun, it should still be radiating outwards rather than receiving heat from the sun.

This is how satellites radiate heat to prevent overheating while in direct exposure to the Sun's radiation. Given that heat built up on the surface is a serious problem, I would prefer if a building exclusive to heat radiation existed to help cool it down.

[Chained Phoenix]

I was having issues early game with it but honestly once you get systems in place to cool water down (heaps of options like using the ice biomes, then space, just takes a bit to construct all that pipe!) and have a nice collection of Wheezewort my base is too cold if anything.  I actually had a sudden critter genocide as the temp was too low in their section and they all suddenly became meat with-out warning