Cosmoteer: How to Connect Heat Pipes, Radiators and Thermal Batteries

Identify the systems producing heat

The Meltdown Update adds hull heat and thermal networks. Heat-based weapons and overclock modes create the cooling requirement; the developer explicitly says every ship does not need the new heat-management systems. Start with the systems your ship actually uses. Heat spreads between hull tiles, can start fires and makes hot parts more vulnerable to enemy damage. [1]

Steps

1. Identify the heat weapon or overclocked system that the cooling network needs to serve. For Career overclocking, unlock the mode for the individual part through a station’s blueprints tab. [1]

Connect the correct heat-pipe points

Heat Pipes transfer thermal energy between connected parts. The ship editor marks compatible locations with yellow connection points. These often coincide with door positions, but the developer explicitly says that is not true for every location. All connected parts form one heat-pipe system and can share heat within it. [1]

Steps

1. Join compatible yellow connection points with Heat Pipes. Use Crew Crossing Pipes where the layout needs crew to walk under the pipe route. [1]

Give the radiators clear space

Radiators dissipate heat from the connected system. Blocking the area in front reduces their effectiveness, so an armored wall across the exhaust defeats part of their purpose. Thermal Batteries add storage capacity for spikes but do not replace the radiator’s dissipation role. Separate storage and removal when planning a sustained firing setup. [1]

Steps

1. Connect Radiators to the heat network and keep their forward area clear. Add Thermal Batteries when the network needs more heat-storage capacity. [1]

Move hull heat into the network with exchangers

A Heat Exchanger absorbs heat from the hull and transfers it into the connected pipe system, while producing some extra waste heat. This is the link between a hot hull and the heat transported by pipes. The Thermal Resonance Lance can store a limited amount of its own waste heat or transfer it through a connected system. [1]

Steps

1. Connect a Heat Exchanger where hull heat needs to enter the pipe network. Account for its additional heat when arranging dissipation. [1]

Check later balance changes when comparing designs

Update 0.30.4 changes several Meltdown-era behaviors. Radiator heat now heats another ship’s shields rather than bypassing them and no longer applies heat to nearby friendly ships. Overclocked small and medium reactors lose bonus battery capacity. A design based on the launch balance can therefore behave differently even when its pipes remain connected. [2]