Huge power losses living off the grid with nealy nothing that could drain this.

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? Nederlands
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? Latest
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Everything.
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? No clue. I have 2 off the grid lots. Both identical as I started over with a new family. So both houses of the two families are the same.
What happens when the bug occurs? Off the grid living has massive power drains of minus 28. While there is nothing of power on the beside a fridge a laptop, a few candles. and one light in the bathroom. When I made the house on my first family. There is no problem. I actually have a surplus of 8+ power in the harbor. ( I even have 56 ) in storage. However... When I copied the house and put it on Sulani with another family... There is no way I can generate power. It goes +4 ... and as soon I got 1 storage it goes minus 28. and lose instantly all storage. While as said... both houses are identical and I only have the issue on the latter one.
What do you expect to see? Fix it?
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure

‌

Nothing to show.

LeCheffre
6 years ago
@simvasion Right so I might have discovered the "issue" here. Geothermal lot trait. Apparently I have it on my harbor lot but not on my sulani lot. And it really seems to make the difference here. I did what u asked. Put off the grind and on. With geothermal there is a surplus of what I would expect. With no geothermal on both lots. They go deep in the red while still only having one fridge. In my opinion it still does not make sense. But having geothermal on the sulani lot now makes me able to make and store power again.

However... now that I " fixed" this. I still strongly disagree with how power works. There is no way one fridge needs 10 sun panels or 4 power generators to stay equal on usages --> generated. My inreallife house has 6 sunpanels and most days we actaully stay equal or even sell back to the power company on fair days. The power usage of items or generation from the sunpanels is actually very poorly. They need to atleast double if not triple the generation...The only way power generating seems fair is with the geothermal lot trait. Anyways...But what I say now is something else and lingers from my original post. and would be feedback instead.

Thank you anyway. I will continue to test obviously with the geothermal trait.

18 Replies

crinrict
Hero+
6 years ago
@LeCheffre Could you upload your lot to the gallery and put the name here ? The one that's draining energy from Sulani.

Which lot did you put it on ?

Like to test this.
sharonbl
Seasoned Traveler
6 years ago
I have the same problem with a lot in sulani.
i’m playing survival thema with off the grit lot trait.

i had more then 4 sunpower items on my roof and 2 sunpower items on the ground. And i stil had an energie use of -28 or even more?! Like how i only had a view of the grit lights, 1 fridge, 1 stove. (All working with off the grit.)
i figured out that the candles cost power regardless if they are off the grit items!

all fridge are draining power to. does not matter if they are off the grit Items and there is no option to turn the power use off from the item.
there was ice stored inside it and it drained power...
what i did to remove the draining power from my lot:

- i deleted all candle light so my sims living in darkness.
- bought a new fridge and upgraded it with handiness skill a trait so it does drain less power.
- upgraded the stove with the less power energie trait. And set the use power option off.
at the start of the new week my power is 0 again and now for the first time ever i’m making energie with my 6 sunpower items on my roof and the ground.

but at night the poweruse is like -120 again and at daylight its +?? (I dont know the numbers)
crinrict
Hero+
6 years ago
@sharonbl Think this might be related to this issue: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/NEEDS-INPUT-ECO-Off-grid-fridges-drain-power-can-t-turn-off/td-p/9179887 .. not sure what lot they all been playing but it doesn't seem fridge related as initially though
LeCheffre
6 years ago
@crinrict Hi, thank you for willing to help me. The lot is on the Gallery named as: abandoned Oil Rig by LeCheffre. It is placed on the vulcano lot in Sulani. I hope you find a way... because I think I have tried everything ☹️
LeCheffre
6 years ago
@LeCheffre So... Today I did some more testing myself. And I am not sure what is wrong with this game. I did remove the fridge from my lot and I seem to generate power. Which is odd, because that same fridge causes no issue's on the harbor lot with the same house I play on with a different family. My sim took a short shower and there is a minus of 77 water. Which also does not happen on the harbor lot with the same house. Could it be that sulani or specific the lot next to the vulcano is broken for some reason?
simvasion
Hero
6 years ago
@LeCheffre Maybe it’s not broken at all. Different lots will get bonus power or water depending on the eco footprint of the lot and the surrounding neighbourhood. Maybe you have industrial in Port Promise and neutral on Sulani. Or NAPs that enhance power production.

My fridge in Port Promise uses -17 power which is more than my single solar panel with +6 can handle.
LeCheffre
6 years ago
@simvasion That should not be possible. Because the fridge I use is the cheapest one (used one) And shows in the buy menu it uses > one <power. Same fridge as I have on the identical lot in the harbor area. As soon I remove it in Sulani the power problems are gone. But the minus 27 to 88 water problem when showering stays. As soon I replace a new fridge on the sulani lot. The bug starts all over again. Both families play in a neutral setting. To add on that my sulani house has eco footprint turned off. Truly the situation should be identical, but it clearly is not.
simvasion
Hero
6 years ago
@LeCheffre That’s the same fridge I’m using. It says it has a power consumption rating of “1” but I don’t think it says anywhere how it uses that to calculate power production.

What do you think “1” means? 1 unit all day? Or 1 every hour or minute? A fridge is constantly drawing power non-stop.

I if I didn’t have my solar panel making +7, then that means the fridge was actually using -24 units per day, which then means 1 unit per hour.
LeCheffre
6 years ago
@simvasion I agree on what you say. But I believe it is per day. Because when generating power on my harbor lot. The power generator is 4: The fridge is minus 1. And I have a surpluss of +3 storage per 24 hours. Sometimes bit less, sometimes bit more ( depending when I use the laptop or lightning) The identical lot on sulani generates ridiculous ammounts in the minus. As said. Both lots are identical and behave differently. And if my lot on sulani would produce minus 5 or 6.... I would find it wierd. Because both lots are identical. But okay. But minus 88 as soon I have 1 power in storage, depleting everything. Does not seem right.
simvasion
Hero
6 years ago
@LeCheffre until you have any power in storage, none of the appliances are using full power mode - they’re all doing zero consumption. So the bills will show a power surplus.

When you get power in storage, all of the appliances then turn on and start using full power as they would do on the grid, which is when you will see what their true usage is.

Can you test removing the off the grid traits from both lots and see what the power usage is when both lots are on the grid?