Power, doors and furniture

Power

A generator burns fuel in proportion to the load and still burns a quarter as much when idling. Starting one draws the dead. The small generator takes fuel, kerosene or diesel, and the diesel generator gives the most power. A Solar Array works in daylight and less under cloud, a Wind Turbine turns all day, and a Battery Bank stores power, including from a charged car battery.

Look at a power piece and choose Run a cable from here, aim at another piece, then place with ENTER or left click. Every ten meters of cable costs a Power Cable. A Junction Box reaches further and has a switch, and a Cable Pole reaches furthest.

• Fridges, grow lights, pumps, the base radio, electric fences, lights and benches in use all draw power. A bench in use pulls far more than anything else.
• A stalled generator needs spark plugs, a tripped breaker needs resetting, and a short needs splicing with copper wire.

Doors and locks

A door or gate with nothing fitted opens for anyone. Fit a Padlock and Hasp or a Keypad Deadbolt to keep it shut to strangers, the same way you lock a crate. See Storage and locks.

Furniture that works

• Fridges on power keep food three times longer, and a fridge-freezer five times. Without power they're only cupboards, and rotten food stays rotten. Feel if it's cold to check.
• Sofas are beds: sleep and rest on them.
• A bathtub, shower or wash basin washes off your scent, using two water. You come out wet.
• Battery lamps (the puck light and LED tube) take batteries and switch on and off. Grid lamps light up by themselves at night.
• Counters, bookcases, sideboards and cupboards store things, and anyone can open them until you fit a lock. A longcase clock tells the time.

Light and stealth

At night, standing close to a lit lamp makes you much easier for the dead to spot. Every powered light at a base also draws hordes at night, while battery lamps don't. Switch off what you don't need.

Fireplaces

Fuel and light a fireplace like a camp fire. It keeps burning in the rain, warms you like a stove close up, and heats a closed room from wall to wall. It needs a chimney, so it gives off no smoke indoors, unlike an open fire. See Fires and cooking.

A diesel generator is loud enough to hear across a valley. Run it by day, and run the lights off batteries at night.