I'm very curious about how many energy we loose, what are the math ? Do you have some numbers for some setup ? you write:

• eat loss of all other containers scales with volume: (V / 100)^(2/3). Larger vessels retain heat better, but also require more energy to keep their temperature
• One storage tank equals 40 pipes of heat loss. This may sound expensive, but storing steam in tanks is still more efficient than storing the same total volume in pipes (1 storage tank = 25,000 volume; 1 pipe = 100)

Does this mean I should store tons of steam in storage tank ? What about modded storage tank ?

Overall, I really like the feeling of this mod, it's like boiler effectiveness depend on the usage, mostly how it's work in our world. I just love the way my max theoretical power move like if my factorio is more random more like a living entity.

What's next ? heat pipe loose temperature overtime ? Thus there is this for aquilo but I play without space age I didn't test https://mods.factorio.com/mod/HeatDissipation

I still didn't test this extensively but I guess early game is harder (I added it on late stage of a run).

Water stay at 99.9C in pipe... should this mod affect all liquid in pipe ?

Could this use on_nth_tick to be able to have more UPS ? (Option for tick rate)

I did not calculate the losses in terms of energy. I just tried to find a balance that feels more arcade-like. But the thing is, 100 degree steam gives less output:

• Steam engine: 56.6% compared to 165 degree steam
• Turbine: 17.2% compared to 500 degree steam

If steam condenses into water, you lose 100% for now.

Does this mean I should store tons of steam in storage tanks? What about modded storage tanks?

Actually, you can, but you still need to renew the steam constantly. I have not tested modded storage tanks, but I think it should work, because the dissipation factor is calculated as (V / 100)^(2/3).

What is next?

Yes, I am thinking about heat pipes and their interaction with fluid pipes.

Water stays at 99.9C in pipes. Should this mod affect all liquids in pipes?

I think the next step is to affect all liquids in pipes. By the way, you can reuse hot water to make steam in the boiler again, and it will be more efficient than heating water from 15 degrees. It works automatically thanks to vanilla fluid mechanics.

Could this use on_nth_tick?

Yes, it is also at the top of my to-do list :)

Thanks for your feedback and questions!