Engineers PP Class and heat efficiency

[Nardypants]

I have been building a Diamondback Scout in the past days, trying to find the coolest running I can get it with all modules active. I lurked the net for some ideas and I read somewhere, I think it was on Reddit, that using a lower class power plant would reduce the resting heat level. I only found that mentioned that one time (and I can't find it anymore) and I'm not entirely sure this should be right.

From my knowledge, the only thing that would affect latent heat levels is the heat efficiency of the power plant, i.e. going for a A-grade regardless of the module class should give the same results. That's how I fit my ship all the time and why I run my explorer Asp with an overcharged 2A (but mainly to get lowest mass possible).

I've already slapped grade 3 low emission power plant on a 4A (I have to account for the reduction of power capacity), but before I go ahead and test an overcharged 2A, I wonder if anybody would have a definitive answer.

TL;DR

Does reducing PP class reduce base heat generation or was that reddit guy wrong?

 

[goemon]

you are better off with a higher class powerplant low emission modded, than with a smaller class overcharged.

that said, pre-modding it meets my (and other peoples) experience that lower class powerplants reduce the resting heat. why that is the case i know no consistent theory about.

but you won't rest, you will use thrusters, and weapons and and and .... and therefore heatefficiency will be more imprtant than class.

here is the best thread on heat generation: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/286628-Research-Detailed-Heat-Mechanics

and here is an older experiment on powerplant size and auto-detection range: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=192282

 

[Nardypants]

Wow, that is indeed exactly the information I was looking for. From reading through the first pages, I guess what I should be doing is making all the other modules more efficient, downclassing where I can to lower the power consumption.