I'm having problems figuring out the generators and lights. So I build a small generator, I build a signal radio tower right next to it, run a wire and, yeah, that's easy.

But now I put lights in my house. I have a large generator outside. Should I put up a pole? Run wires? How do I use switches? What are these other ... things ... I can build?

Can someone give me a brief primer on how to use electricity? Also, is there a down side to this? More raider attacks, or whatever?

Don't know what all those things are but you just attatch one of the boxes with a connector rod on it (like what you connect the power wires to on the generator and antenae), put that on an outer wall of the house and run a wire to it. Now everything in the house should get power. Looking at the castle it seems like anything coming out the other side of your house down to say water purifiers can run in tandem assuming you have wires coming out the other side of the building and enough juice. Some of the switches are just that, switches, to turn on or off the power from that point forward. Mostly for traps. There are pressure plates and trip wires too or just a lever you pull.

The main issue is that wire requires copper and so do the generators and several other things. Easy to run out of copper if you're not careful, so just watch your supply.

what you are looking for is the connectors, they look like metal nipbles and they come in 3 variations, one facing down for placing on ceillings, one facing up for placing on floors or other surfaces and one facing sideways you can place on walls and stuff.
These work like wireless antennas in a 360 radius. You run a wire from the generator to the connector and it will power any light source within about 12 feet of it. including above and below.

My base is 3 by 5 premade floors large and 4 floors high. I only need 4 connector that face down, placed on the ceilings in the middle floor to power all the lights, tv, radios. anything that doesnt require a numerical power source. anything that requires 1+ power needs a direct connection.

I attached a small nipble connector straight up above my generator and then another at the top floor. the wires go through the floors. so my wires all more or less inside the walls and not hanging all over the place, this way I can connect my beacon and spot lights on the roof without wires criss crossing through my base.

You build a little power box/needle thing and plant it near the light source to power the light. There should be three variations - pointing up, pointing to the side (for walls) and pointing down (for ceilings.) Then you run a wire to that, and as long as it's in proximity to a light, it will power the light. Note that most lights don't actually consume power, they just need a power source.

Their are are a bunch of videos on YouTube about building your settlement. Here is one specifically on simple electricity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc5Q5gGfcjE

I am an electrician, the easiest way to think about electrical components is like running water pipes.

Pipes are wires, switches are like on/off valves.

"Pylons and conduits serve as anchor points for wires, and you can link them to deliver power to buildings and devices located anywhere within a settlement. As long as they’re attached to a suitable power source, these connectors also radiate energy needed to power televisions, jukeboxes, and most lights.

Use switches to determine when and if power is transmitted to specific areas or devices. You’ll find everything from basic on/off switches to programmable power counters. Connect switches to terminals to access additional options; combine switches to create new effects. Like basic connectors, switches radiate the energy needed to power simple devices. Of course, this energy field is only active while a switch is turned on. " Fallout 4 eGuide

The pylons keep the wires off the ground and the power conduits allows power to be mounted to floors, walls and ceilings. Switched items allows power to be turned on or off. Pressure plates need to be stepped on to work, tripwires have to have the laser beam broken, delay switches have a time delay before switching after being activated, interval switches have timed on/off cycle and the power counter counts the times activated before turning on.

All of these can be connected to terminals to change the time, count, delay and such of the device. I hope that helped some. They are basis of all electrical components, you can basically build anything with those components if you have the time and knowledge. Good luck

Okay, thanks to everyone for the answers. I really do appreciate it. I looked at the video and it was very helpful, but one thing wasn't clear. From the video, it looks as if the guy ran a wire from the generator to the pole to the rooftop connectors (he put two on the roof. But the lights were inside the house? Do you just need to get a wire to the house in order for all the house to have power or do you have to run it to every light in the house?

Also, am I the only one that finds it strange that televisions require power but radios (in sanctuary) can be activated without it?

Thank you! That was very helpful.

Those poles (and conduits) are like wireless power sources. As long as your generator can produce enough power and there are wires traveling from the generator to a conduit/pole which is located near your lights, your lights will turn on.

Wow, I hadn't even considered that we'd be able to build up 4 floors! I have trouble getting my people to get onto my rooftop lookout post. How do we create stairs please?

Cheers.


Edit - I think the video just answered it for me. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so hasty at NOT looking under wood structures.

If I don't have any trouble setting this stuff up in the game, does that mean that I *am* an electrician?

There's alot of cool stuff you can do with the electricity in FO4. Shameless advertising here, but I made an entry level video tutorial on a subject, "Laser tripwires to set off a siren alarm and light up a spotlight". If that's something you'd find interesting you can check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ww4KCWsEl0