For brevity, not much description. Answers would be appreciated though. I'm using the Direwolf20 1.6.4 mod pack, version 1.0.21.
(1) If you're producing more steam than you're using in a steam boiler, will that let the boiler cool down? Or will only lack of fuel do that? Will the steam boiler use less fuel when it doesn't need to produce steam at full power? If it always runs on full power, what happens with excess steam?
(2) A maximum-size HP boiler will use a piece of charcoal every ten seconds. Which means I need to produce wood at that rate. Is there a way to calculate how big my tree farm must be (in number of trees) to produce wood fast enough? I'll be using an Ars Magica Sigil of Nature's Bounty for speeding up growth but no other methods.
(3) I've been using a Steve's Carts tree farm which worked extremely well so far, but I'm looking for a magical alternative since I'd like to put all my industry below the ground and leave only magical stuff out in the open. I can plant them using an MFR planter (below ground, so acceptable) and cut them down with a Sigil of the Felled Oak. The problem is finding a means to gather the harvest. I have a few Thaumcraft golems for other farms, but I'm afraid that won't work for trees since they'll get stuck between the leaves of growing trees. Any ideas?
BTW, I've thought of using peat instead for the boiler since it lasts four times as long as charcoal, but Forestry farms are insanely expensive (3.2 stacks of copper just for the farm blocks of a maximum-size farm, and that with copper being more scarce than gold in terms of the supply/demand balance), and making it part of a renewable cycle is more complicated. Does anyone have experience with that?
(1) If you're producing more steam than you're using in a steam boiler, will that let the boiler cool down? Or will only lack of fuel do that? Will the steam boiler use less fuel when it doesn't need to produce steam at full power? If it always runs on full power, what happens with excess steam?
(2) A maximum-size HP boiler will use a piece of charcoal every ten seconds. Which means I need to produce wood at that rate. Is there a way to calculate how big my tree farm must be (in number of trees) to produce wood fast enough? I'll be using an Ars Magica Sigil of Nature's Bounty for speeding up growth but no other methods.
(3) I've been using a Steve's Carts tree farm which worked extremely well so far, but I'm looking for a magical alternative since I'd like to put all my industry below the ground and leave only magical stuff out in the open. I can plant them using an MFR planter (below ground, so acceptable) and cut them down with a Sigil of the Felled Oak. The problem is finding a means to gather the harvest. I have a few Thaumcraft golems for other farms, but I'm afraid that won't work for trees since they'll get stuck between the leaves of growing trees. Any ideas?
BTW, I've thought of using peat instead for the boiler since it lasts four times as long as charcoal, but Forestry farms are insanely expensive (3.2 stacks of copper just for the farm blocks of a maximum-size farm, and that with copper being more scarce than gold in terms of the supply/demand balance), and making it part of a renewable cycle is more complicated. Does anyone have experience with that?
