Power Grid Calculator

How many cables do you need?

Every cable item in your inventory lays 1 m. A section stops at 20 m, and an extender starts the next one.

Counts one straight run. Measure along the path the cable will really take, climbs and drops included, and bring a few spare for corners. Each branch needs its own count.

How the calculation works

1. Measure your planned connection in metres.
2. Round up to whole metres: that is the number of cable items, since each one lays 1 m.
3. Divide by the 20 m section limit and round up for the sections, with an extender at each join.
4. Multiply the cables and extenders by their recipes for the crafting totals.

The result is a layout minimum, not a prediction of power demand or generator output.

The 20 m limit was checked in November 2025; the 1 m per cable and the recipes in Early Access builds from December 2025 to January 2026. None has been rechecked since Update 5.5. Reviewed 2026-11-01.

Cable and Extender Recipes

Wired up but still no power?

This calculator only counts cable. To check whether your generators keep up with what you plug in, day and night, use the power grid setup guide. For a machine that stays dark, start with the troubleshooting guide, and if Lazarus racks read No Power, go through the Lazarus No Power checklist.

Connecting Lazarus power

Extenders join cable sections and let a connection branch to other destinations. Extenders can bring power down the elevator shaft.

The rack screen shows an estimated 10.0 kWh for one human growth cycle. This is an energy estimate for that process, not a continuous power rating or a cable-sizing input.

See the Lazarus power guide for the facility setup.

Version limits

Cable rules and recipes date from Early Access builds before Update 5.5. The Update 5.5 and Update 6 patch notes fix cable bugs but list no change to cable length or recipes.