Oxygen Not Included power and heat guide: prevent overloads and plan cooling

Insufficient generation and overloads need different fixes

An empty battery indicates insufficient supply; overload damage indicates excessive load on the same circuit. Adding generators does not raise a thin wire's limit. Likewise, thicker wiring cannot fix insufficient fuel or generation.

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Potential Load in the Power Overlay estimates demand if everything runs. Even low average consumption can cause trouble if simultaneous demand exceeds the wiring's capacity.

Choose between 1, 2, and 4kW wiring in the covered version

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Any weaker wire left on the same circuit remains a vulnerable point. Upgrade bridges to matching capacity too. High-capacity backbone wires cannot pass directly through walls or doors; use Joint Plates or suitable alternatives.

Worked example: adding a refinery to a 660W domestic circuit

Running Oxygen Diffuser at 120W, Research Station at 60W, Liquid Pump at 240W, and Gas Pump at 240W together totals 660W. Adding a 1,200W Metal Refinery raises this to 1,860W. This is an illustrative equipment selection, not a recommended layout.

1. Connecting the refinery directly to a 1,000W Wire circuit exceeds its capacity when all 1,860W is demanded at once. Put the refinery on a separate circuit or upgrade the entire circuit to the required capacity.
2. Although 1,860W fits within 2,000W wiring, generation may still be insufficient. One 600W Coal Generator plus one 400W Manual Generator provide only 1,000W in total.
3. A battery can cover a temporary gap, but it eventually empties if average supply stays below consumption. Run processing intermittently, increase generation, or reduce simultaneous operation.
4. Separating essential oxygen equipment from industry preserves breathing supplies when processing stops. Check that a single connecting wire tile has not accidentally joined the circuits again.

Place transformers between the backbone and domestic circuits

Combine generators and batteries on a high-capacity backbone connected to Power Transformer inputs, then wire domestic equipment from the outputs. A regular transformer limits output to 1,000W, making it a basic protection component for downstream circuits.

1. Connect the transformer's upper input to the backbone and lower output to the domestic circuit. Verify ports and orientation; extending a wire sideways does not itself create a separate circuit.
2. Two regular transformers can feed the same output circuit to supply up to 2,000W safely to a 2,000W circuit. Both transformers produce heat.
3. Large Power Transformer can supply 4,000W. It does not automatically protect 2,000W wiring. Even with the covered version's 4,000W wires, check for thinner sections.
4. Adding a battery or another generator downstream provides additional power that can exceed the limit you intended the transformer to impose. Keep storage on the backbone side until you understand the protection mechanism.

Connecting more equipment than a circuit can support assumes that it will not all operate together. Initially, keeping all essential machines within simultaneous capacity makes shutdowns easier to diagnose.

Stop coal generation with a Smart Battery

Coal Generator consumes coal and produces heat and carbon dioxide as well as power. Connect Smart Battery automation output to the generator to prevent wasteful burning after batteries are full.

1. Connect the generator and Smart Battery to the same generation-side power circuit, and connect their signal using Automation Wire on its separate layer. Power wires alone do not automate shutdown.
2. For example, a lower threshold of 20% and upper threshold of 80% create a band in which generation starts as charge falls and stops as it rises. These are starting settings to adjust for your colony's load.
3. Check that generation starts at the lower threshold and stops at the upper one. If distant suppliers delay startup, fix delivery routes and fuel stocks as well as settings.
4. Keep the generator room away from farms and provide somewhere to collect carbon dioxide without letting it accumulate indefinitely in living areas. Storage below the floor also has finite capacity.

Smart Battery stores 20kJ, produces 500DTU/s of heat, and loses 0.4kJ of charge per cycle. More batteries do not increase generation; each adds heat and charge loss.

Separate building heat output from heat carried by output materials

Hot materials can warm surroundings even when a building's listed heat output is low. Conversely, high electricity consumption does not necessarily mean the same amount of heat output. Inspect the building, pipes, and their contents separately in temperature displays.

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DTU/s is an in-game heat unit. Do not substitute the same numerical value in watts. Sizing cooling from only the refinery's 16kDTU/s overlooks the substantial heat added to coolant.

Worked example: when a Mealwood farm exceeds 30°C

Select a plant first to confirm that temperature is actually stopping growth. If so, reduce incoming heat before adding cooling. Mealwood grows at 10–30°C, so excessive cooling is not a solution either.

1. Stop avoidable heat-producing work, such as nearby generators or refining. Preserve essential services rather than shutting oxygen equipment down without a plan.
2. Check warm water pipes, hot oxygen vents, and contact with hot outside biomes. Route hot transport pipes around the farm and insulate its boundaries.
3. As a temporary measure, cooler water or another cooler substance can serve as a separate heat sink. Pass coolant through farm pipes, transfer the heat in a colder location, and return it. Cold water alone does not provide unlimited cooling.
4. Use Radiant Liquid Pipe or similar pipes in heat-exchange sections and insulated pipes for transport-only sections. Check the return destination and required circulation instead of continuously pumping water away as waste.
5. Track temperatures at both the farm and the cooling destination. If the destination warms and cooling weakens, prepare permanent heat removal. Delay population growth until food production recovers.

Insulation slows heat transfer; it does not erase existing heat. Even a sealed generator room overheats internally and may stop its machinery without somewhere for heat to go.

Midgame cooling: Thermo Aquatuner and Steam Turbine roles

Thermo Aquatuner reduces passing liquid temperature by 14°C and transfers that heat into itself. A basic division of roles returns coolant to living areas, transfers the aquatuner's heat into steam, and processes it with Steam Turbine. Placing the aquatuner alone in the living area returns heat to the same place.

1. First prepare power and wiring for a 1,200W load, an insulated heat-processing chamber, and sufficient research and materials. Choose placement and construction materials that allow the aquatuner to transfer its absorbed heat into the surroundings.
2. Keep coolant within a temperature range where it neither freezes nor boils inside pipes. Place Liquid Pipe Thermo Sensor immediately before the aquatuner to allow only liquid warm enough to cool.
3. For example, enable living-area cooling only when polluted water exceeds 25°C. Passing through lowers that liquid by 14°C, so liquid just above 25°C comes out just above 11°C. Actual room temperature responds with a heat-transfer delay; adjust by observing plant temperatures.
4. Provide a bypass from the input side around the inactive aquatuner to rejoin its output side, allowing circulation when it stops. Check port orientation and the merge point, then test flow both ON and OFF before normal operation.
5. Steam Turbine operates with steam at least 125°C below it and a turbine body below 100°C. It outputs the incoming steam as 95°C water. Keep its output pipe unblocked and cool the turbine body too.
6. When operation stops, check steam temperature, turbine body temperature, output pipe, aquatuner temperature, and power in that order. Do not assume that a coolant-based aquatuner system necessarily powers itself.

The June 2026 base-game update changed secondary construction materials for Steam Turbine and other equipment to Gaskets. Check current building menus and crafting equipment before using older material lists. This section explains design principles rather than providing a finished layout for every terrain.

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