Wheezewort (2024)

This article contains outdated information that is inaccurate for the current version. It was last updated for EX1-466203. Unreflected changes in the discussed game mechanics are detailed here: U38-486708

Wheezewort is a non-reproducing plant that is found in the Frozen Biome. Wheezeworts are extremely useful for temperature management since they destroy heat from the surrounding environment.

Growth[ | ]

A Wheezewort requires temperature range of -60°C to 95 °C. It has no requirement on air pressure.

Wild[ | ]

A wild Wheezewort cools 250 g gas per second.

Domestic[ | ]

Wheezeworts can be uprooted and replanted into a Planter Box, Farm Tile or Hydroponic Farm. It needs to be fertilized with 4 kg/cycle of Phosphorite.

A domestic Wheezewort cools 1 kg gas per second.

Technical info[ | ]

Wheezeworts cool the gas around them by absorbing the gas (1000 g/s Domestic, 250g/s wild) in the bottom block of the Wheezewort, and releasing it 5 °C colder. However, the Wheezewort itself weighs 400 kg, and exchanges heat relatively well with the gas, so its own temperature can significantly slow down the overall cooling effect.

Wheezewort's cooling factor is expressed in absolute temperature rather than energy. Neither heat conductivity, heat capacity, nor volume of the gas being cooled affect the change in temperature. That means that the best way to utilize it is to cool high density of high heat capacity gas - for which Hydrogen is best, resulting in an effective cooling of 12 kDTU/s:

Wheezewort will never cool any gas below 5 °C above its condensation point, meaning it will never liquify the gas being cooled, but it can cool the gas so much that the plant stifles itself.

Atmosphere Comparison[ | ]

Cooling Rates for Domestic/Wild Wheezewort in Various Atmospheres
Atmosphere	SHC	Domestic Wheezewort DTU/s	Wild Wheezewort DTU/s	Minimum Operating Temperature	Notes
Hydrogen	2.400	12000	3000	-60 °C	Most cooling and highest TC of all gases in Wheezewort temperature range.
Polluted Oxygen	1.010	5050	1262.5	-60 °C	Highest-cooling Sleet Wheat atmosphere, but accelerates food spoilage.
Oxygen	1.005	5025	1256.25	-60 °C	Slightly less cooling than Polluted Oxygen but does not spoil Sleet Wheat Grain.
Natural Gas	2.191	10995	2748.75	-60 °C	Second-highest cooling. High SHC and low TC make it usable for insulation.
Sour Gas	1.898	9490	2372.5	-60 °C	Comparable to Natural Gas as an insulator, trades SHC and cooling for slightly lower TC.
Carbon Dioxide	0.846	4230	1057.5	-43.15 °C	Nosh Sprout atmosphere.
Chlorine	0.480	2400	600	-29.6 °C	Least cooling of all base game gases. Lowest TC of gases in Wheezewort temperature range.
Nuclear Fallout	0.265	1325	331.25	71.9 °C	Least cooling of all gases in Wheezewort temperature range. Produces additional Radiation.
Gas Ethanol	2.148	10740	2685	83.4 °C	Third-highest cooling but highest condensation point. Useful if high minimum temperatures are desired.

Wheezewort Airpump[ | ]

Due to Wheezewort gas interaction, namely, creation of vacuum in its bottom tile, Wheezeworts can be used as unpowered airpumps in one tile wide tunnels. However, such pump will reset itself if the tile that feeds into bottom tile of Wheezeworts gets above 2 kg of pressure or becomes vacuum too.^[1]

Rad Emission[ | ]

In the Spaced Out! DLC, Wheezeworts emit radiation; origin from the lower half of the plant, at 480 rads per cycle in a vacuum. The radiation emission means that they are no longer entirely safe to use for cooling living spaces.

The radiation given off by Wheezeworts can be captured with Radbolt Generators. In general, the best practice is to have the Wheezewort as close to the generator as possible. However, since Radiation gets absorbed by the Farm Tile (if the Radbolt Generator is underneath the Wheezewort), one should choose a Farm Tile with as little Radiation Absorption as possible.

The is one more practical application for the radiation, and that is in disinfecting food storage, since it keeps the food mostly frozen and kills any Food Poisoning germs that may exist on the food.

Radiation Absorption Rate for Farm Tiles
Farm Tile	Radiation Absorption
Dirt Farm Tile	75%
Clay Farm Tile	65%
Copper Ore Hydroponic Farm	56%
Aluminum Ore Hydroponic Farm	72%
Cobalt Ore Hydroponic Farm	58%
Gold Amalgam Hydroponic Farm	30%
Iron Ore Hydroponic Farm	61%
Wolframite Hydroponic Farm	65%
Steel Hydroponic Farm	74%
Uranium Ore Hydroponic Farm	30%
Niobium Hydroponic Farm	49%
ThermiumHydroponic Farm	60%

Wheezewort radiation in a vacuum and oxygen...
...with the rads per cycle marked...
...and on a Gold Amalgam Hydroponic Farm

Note: these values are not applicable to every wheezewort, and can change up to 2 rads/cycle. It is currently not known what causes this difference, but it likely has to do with their position on the map since a Wheezewort planted in the same place will yield the same result.

Trivia[ | ]

According to the in-game database, the Wheezewort is an animal, not a plant.
Does not work in vacuum because vacuum has no heat conduct, or heat cap.

Codex Entry[ | ]

Plant?

“

The Wheezewort is best known for its ability to alter the temperature of its surrounding environment, directly absorbing heat energy to maintain its bodily processes.

This environmental management also serves to enact a type of self-induced hibernation, slowing the Wheezewort's metabolism to require less nutrients over long periods of time.

Deceptive in appearance, this member of the Cnidaria phylum is in fact an animal, not plant.

Wheezewort cells contain no chloroplasts, vacuoles or cell walls, and are incapable of photosynthesis.

Instead, the Wheezewort respires in a recently developed method similar to amphibians, using its membranous skin for cutaneous respiration.

„

History[ | ]

AU-217187: Can now be planted in Flower Pots.
LU-347957: Can't be planted in Flower Pot or Wall Pot.
LU-356355: No longer a decor plant and requires fertiliser.

References[ | ]

↑ Why Wheezewort pump works / when not works on r/Oxygennotincluded