Electricity

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Electricity is a system and resource in Space Engineers that is used to power most devices. It is created using a large or small reactor, or by using a Solar Panel. It can be stored in a Battery. Any device that has a direct block connection to a reactor will be powered by a reactor; that is, if a reactor is on a ship, all devices attached to that ship should receive power granted there is enough power to receive. Electricity can pass through rotor blocks, pistons, and locked connectors (incl. small-to-large connections), but not landing gear. Most blocks have off switches if you want to save electricity temporarily.

Reactors

Reactors are the main source of electricity. They are powered by Uranium Ingots. 1 ingot produces 68.76 MWs or 0.0191 MWh of energy. Consumption of Uranium is solely decided by your current energy consumption. There is no difference in efficiency between large and small reactors. It also makes no difference how many reactors you have online.

The maximum amount a reactor can power:

Reactor Small Ship [KW] Large Ship [KW]
Small Reactor 100 5000
Large Reactor 3500 100000
Solar Panel 30* 120*
Battery 1440* 4000

(*) Solar Panels have a maximum output depending on their angle to the sun and the amount of actually lit surface. Given values are the maximum achievable output with perfect conditions.

Conversion table:

                 1 MW = 1000 KW = 1000000 W 
                 1 W = 0.001 KW = 0.000001 MW

Power Usage

Thruster

Ship Thruster type Minimum Power [KW] Maximum Power [KW] Inertial Dampeners [KW]
Small Small 0.002 33.60 50.40
Small Large 0.002 400 600
Large Small 0.002 56 84
Large Large 0.002 672 1008

Production (Individual Usage)

Machine Idle [KW] Operational [KW]
Projector 0.100 0.198
Arc Furnace 0.999 330
Assembler 0.999 560
Refinery 0.999 560

Weaponry and tools

Device Small Ship [KW] Large Ship [KW]
Drill 2 2
Welder 2 2
Grinder 2 2
Gatling Turret N/A 2
Missile Turret N/A 2
Interior Turret N/A 2
Reloadable Rocket Launcher 0.2 N/A
Gatling Gun 0.2 N/A

Communication

Device Small Ship [KW] Large Ship [KW]
Beacon 0 - 10 0 - 10
Antenna 0 - 20 0 - 200
Laser Antenna 181** 577**

(**) The maximum power usage of laser antenna include both beaming and rotating at once. Beaming alone would be 180 for Small and 576 For large.

Other device power usages

Device Small Ship [KW] Large Ship [KW]
Gravity Generator N/A 0 - 567.13***
Spherical Gravity Generator N/A 0 - 44800***
Artificial Mass 25 600
Interior Light N/A 0.06
Spotlight 0.200 1
Medical Room N/A 2
Door N/A 0.031
Gyroscope 0.001 0.03
Ore Detector 2 2
LCD Panel 0.1 0.1
Wide LCD Panel 0.2 0.2
Button Panel 0.1 0.1
Rotor 0.2 2
Advanced Rotor 0.2 2
Piston 0.2 2
Collector 2 2
Connector 0.05 5
Camera 0.03 0.03
sensor 0 - 30 0 - 30
Remote Control 10 10
Programmable Block 0.5 0.5
Sound Block 0.2 0.2

(***) The power cost of Gravity Generator is directly proportional to the field size and acceleration (absolute value, so 1G consumes the same as -1G).