Part Basics
First, we need to understand a bit about System Heat parts. Let's inspect some parts' info boxes, which you find by right clicking in the VAB:
If you see this System Heat box, that means this part participates in the heat simulation. It either adds or removes heat. Various modules on this part will add or remove heat to the system. Ignore the Added Loop Volume item - we'll get to that later
Heat producing parts have some common properties as shown in the Thermal section of their info box. Heat producing parts include Drills, Converters, Engines, Reactors, things like that. Here's a resource converter.
- Heat Generated: This shows how much heat the part adds to the system when it is on.
- Outlet Temperature: This shows the part's preferred temperature
- Maximum Temperature: This shows the maximum temperature of the part. Past this it will get damaged or not work.
Different might parts have different properties. Here's a nuclear reactor:
Note the different Outlet Temperature and much higher Heat Generated compared to the Convert-O-Tron.
Parts like Radiators remove heat. Their part info looks a little different.
The Radiates field show you how much heat gets radiated by the radiator, depending on what temperature it is at. Radiators are more effective when they are hotter (because of thermodynamics), and different kinds of radiator can handle hotter temperatures
See how the stock radiator maxes out at 350 K, the High Temperature at 1000K, and the microchannel radiator at 1300 K. Obviously, if you can use a higher temperature radiator, you should!