Alchemy Factory Steam System: Boiler & Heating Pad

Quick answer

Steam in Alchemy Factory is a "brand-new heating mechanic" introduced in version 0.4.4.4298. It is two-part: a Steam Boiler generates steam, and Steam Heating Pads deliver that steam to the consumers placed on them. Exact heat values for the steam system were not measured in the source material.

What steam replaces in the model

Most heating in Alchemy Factory flows from a furnace: the furnace burns fuel to make heat, and consumers stacked on it draw a fixed P-per-second amount. Steam is a separate delivery method. Instead of sitting a consumer directly on a burning furnace, the boiler produces steam and heating pads carry it to consumers.

This matters for layout. A furnace-and-stack design concentrates heat in one tile column; a boiler-and-pad design lets you route steam across a floor to consumers that are not physically on top of the boiler.

The two-part setup

The Steam Boiler is the source. It makes steam rather than burning fuel in the conventional sense described for stone and blast furnaces. The Steam Heating Pad is the delivery device: you place consumers on the pad and it feeds them the boiler's steam.

Because the mechanic was described as brand-new when added, it is treated as a distinct heating path from the classic furnace model. How its steam output compares to a furnace's P/s is not spelled out in the source.

How it relates to fuel and heat

The underlying principle is the same: consumers draw a fixed amount and fuel type controls uptime, not speed. Whether steam changes the efficiency maths (for example by removing a base draw or by buffering heat) is 待确认.

What is confirmed is the version marker. The steam boiler and heating pad arrived in v0.4.4.4298, and the 1.0 patch later removed the base heat cost of all heating devices — so any comparison of steam versus furnace heat should be made against post-1.0 values.

When you would use steam

Steam is most relevant once you outgrow single furnace stacks and want to distribute heat across a wider area without stacking everything on one column. For early and mid-game, the coke-powder-in-a-stone-crusher furnace route remains the simpler, well-documented default.

What is still unconfirmed

The Steam Boiler's steam output rate, the Steam Heating Pad's per-consumer delivery values, and how steam interacts with the catalyst-driven Advanced Athanor are 待确认. The source explicitly notes these values were not measured, so treat any steam build as experimental until verified against in-game tooltips.