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:

Icon Reactor Small Ship [KW] Large Ship [KW]
Small Reactor Icon.png Small Reactor 100 5000
Large Reactor Icon.png Large Reactor 3500 100000
Solar Panel Icon.png Solar Panel 30* 120*
Battery Icon.png 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

Thruster type Block type Minimum Power [KW] Maximum Power [KW] Inertial Dampeners [KW]
Small Thruster Icon.pngSmall Small Ship Icon.pngSmall 0.002 33.60 50.40
Large Thruster Icon.pngLarge Small Ship Icon.pngSmall 0.002 400 600
Small Thruster Icon.pngSmall Large Ship Icon.pngLarge 0.002 560 840
Large Thruster Icon.pngLarge Large Ship Icon.pngLarge 0.002 6,720 10,080

Production (Individual Usage)

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

Weaponry and tools

Icon Device Small Ship [KW] Large Ship [KW]
Drill Icon.png Drill 2 2
Welder (Tool) Icon.png Welder 2 2
Grinder (Tool) Icon.png Grinder 2 2
Gatling Turret Icon.png Gatling Turret N/A 2
Missile Turret Icon.png Missile Turret N/A 2
Interior Turret Icon.png Interior Turret N/A 2
Reloadable Rocket Launcher Icon.png Reloadable Rocket Launcher 0.2 N/A
Gatling Gun Icon.png Gatling Gun 0.2 N/A

Communication

Icon Device Small Ship [KW] Large Ship [KW]
Beacon Icon.png Beacon 0 - 10 0 - 10
Antenna Icon.png Antenna 0 - 20 0 - 200
Laser Antenna Icon.png 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

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