Power to underground?

[Chiko]

So I turned an Evac Shelter into my home.

1-I barricaded all windows and some of the doors.
2-My mechanical and electrician skills were high enough to start building solar powered spotlights around it.
3-I managed to gather enough materials to build a solar powered kitchen and floodlight illumination inside my base.

I have my bedroom downstairs and I was wondering if there’s a way to power stuff down there. I mean, I can just build a frame with a battery and a floodlight for illumination but since it’s underground, the only way I know to power it is to feed lots of batteries to it…which is not the ideal.

Also, do refrigerators work? I found a mini fridge but I think the space in those is limited. I’m thinking about dragging one back home.

[i2amroy]

Powered refrigerators work, yes. As for powering things downstairs? The best I can think of ATM would be running it off plutonium cells, but there isn’t anything that could power it through sunlight, no.

[Chiko]

Aww… I was thinking about moving the crafting tools and kitchen downstairs and be done with the surface.

About the refrigerators. Is there a way to power a normal one or are mini fridges the only option so far?

[Reservoir]

I think refrigerators dont need power to work. Minis need a charged battery.

[EkarusRyndren]

I think refrigerators dont need power to work. Minis need a charged battery.

Regular refrigerators don’t work at all

[i2amroy]

Yeah, mini fridges are the only working ones ATM.

[Chiko]

Thanks for the replies. I’m gonna drag a normal refrigerator back home to store non perishables next to the mini fridge. I got a really close town anyways.

I really need to find a welding rig so I can stop depending on making batteries all the time.

[FunsizeNinja123]

First, you can’t drag things down stairs last time I tried.

For your light problem, set up a generator! (We really need a wiki guide on how to do this)

Step 1: Get a frame. Any frame will do.
Step 2: Get an engine. Any one will do.
Step 3: Get a battery. Storage battery or a truck battery are common and have the most electricity storage.
Step 4: Get a metal tank and attach it externally (For gas).
Step 5: Get an alternator from a car. Any car. The alternator attaches to the engine and produces electricity. 
Step 6: Vehicle controls to control the engines and lights.
Step 7: Find a floodlight. Regular headlights are a pain to move.
~~~

After you've found all of these things, set up the frame, install the engine, install the alternator, install the storage battery, install the controls, and install the floodlight. These must be on the same frame. Next, move a space over and install an external gas tank.

Get some gas and fill up the tank. The thing is, you're gonna need about 100 batteries to put into the storage battery to actually turn on the thing and generate some electricity. You can install more things like a welding rig or a forge to expand your crafting capabilities. Hope this helps some people.

[Chiko]

I don’t use gas but I store it for some reason. This will provide an use for all that gas. I just died exploring a Lab, though.

Never thought about making generators. I’ve noticed lots of new vehicle parts like those alternators you mentioned but I stayed clear of them coz I have no idea what some of them do.

[Zireael]

First, you can't drag things down stairs last time I tried.

Yeah, main problem with making your base in a basement.

[pulsefrequency]

for dwelling underground, you really wanna venture down the nightvision mutation tree, or CBM if you have a fairly renewable source of energy (metabolic interchange, solar panels, etc)

if you can swing a generator i guess that would work but is too immobile for me usually though maybe ill try hunkering down… hopefully this will all change with roving zombies and z-levels

[kingorkami]

Sorry if my question sounds kinda retarded, but it follows the OP’s logic.

In my shelter, I can simply build the frame/floodlight/solar panels inside the place to get eternal light? or do I like need to put the solar panels outside then haul batteries to the inside?

[Blaze]

Solar panels inside a building won’t generate power. The building floor tile is the culprit here. If you destroy it you can generate power inside.

Pickaxes are probably the best tool for this, but will create unremovable rubble piles (Which is purely aesthetic).

Building a wall on the offending floor tile and then smashing it down will also destroy it cleanly.

Jackhammers will destroy the tile, but will cause other floor tiles to be destroyed.

Floor tiles can also be destroyed by fire and explosives, but those are just as likely to destroy the rest of the building as well.

[Chiko]

Why not just doing this. Break a wall or door and then build the “vehicle” between outside and the building. Something like this:

     Ouside

    #####

======+======
&*&

    Building

= Wall.

• Opaque Door.

Solar Panel.

• Controls and Floodlight.
  & Powered crafting stations and Battery/Water storage.

The door in there is unnecessary and you could just replace it with a vehicle wall. It works pretty well this way and you can just expand with more stuff if needed.

[KA101]

[quote=“Chiko, post:14, topic:5353”]Why not just doing this. Break a wall or door and then build the “vehicle” between outside and the building. Something like this:

     Ouside

    #####

======+======
&*&

    Building

= Wall.

• Opaque Door.

Solar Panel.

• Controls and Floodlight.
  & Powered crafting stations and Battery/Water storage.

The door in there is unnecessary and you could just replace it with a vehicle wall. It works pretty well this way and you can just expand with more stuff if needed.[/quote]

Or with the new vehicle-door curtains having landed, make it a non-opaque door, add the curtains, and have a quick and easy to check on your panels!

[system]

Can’t you take off batteries from vehicles and they keep charge?

[vulpes133]

Yes they do keep their charge. I tested that myself when I wondered if that was updated like the gas tanks.

[juliawang87]

Doesn’t running a gas engine generator underground end up generating a lot of smoke, too?

[system]

Doesn’t running a gas engine generator underground end up generating a lot of smoke, too?

Not really.

[FunsizeNinja123]

Not if you have a muffler.