About

This mod requires the Seasons EP. Enhanced by Eco Lifestyle, Bust the Dust Kit, and Snowy Escape.

Upgrade your homes with the PlumbBros Central Air Conditioning and Heating System! An alternative to the Thermostat/Temperature system that came with the Seasons EP.

In The Sims 4 Seasons, Temperature is represented by states like Freezing, Cold, Cool, Warm, Hot, Burning, instead of using number values we usually see in real life. The Thermostat introduced a whole new way to affect your sims’ home like never seen before in the franchise, however it only provides two simple states that affect your bills more than it affects your sims.

PlumbBros introduces realistic temperature flux to the indoors, with a fully simulated system that is dependent on how you build and optimize your homes.

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Getting Started

By default, PlumbBros is disabled until you activate it for the entire save, or add the Heating & Cooling lot challenge to a specific lot. You can activate it for the entire save by placing a Thermostat on the lot and toggling in the Settings.

To get your HVAC system started, place an Outdoor Condenser Unit, Air Vents, and a Thermostat on the lot. Call PlumbBros from your Phone and receive a Consultation to learn more. Continue reading below to learn how to run your system and optimize savings.

Temperature

To create a temperature flux between the indoors and outdoors, temperature will now be represented by Fahrenheit and Celsius!

Freezing
 28˚F -2˚C
Cold
 42˚F 5.5˚C
Cool
 54˚F 12˚C
Warm
 72˚F 22.5˚C
Hot
 86˚F 30˚C
Burning
 100˚F 38˚C

Throughout the day the outdoor temperature will vary based on the core temperature you see in the Weather UI. Each level of your home will have its own temperature value based on the distance from the ground floor. The higher the level, the warmer it will be on average, basement levels and below will stay cooler on average.

Depending on the size of each level, the temperature difference, the type of Insulation, and other optimizations, the indoor temperature will flow towards the outdoor temperature at different rates. If it’s Burning/Freezing outside, the indoors will more likely become hotter/cooler quicker but take longer to heat/cool which may affect your strategies in different worlds!

Each Sim will have their own Preferred Temperature depending on their traits. You can learn others’ Preferred Temperatures and Ponder about your own Preferred Temperature through Sim Interactions.

You can view the current outdoor temperature and the current indoor average through the Thermostat tooltip. Only available on the HeyHoney Thermostat.

More Realistic Billing

A core feature of the Seasons Thermostat is to increase your overall bills depending on which setting it is on. The way this works is by adding a multiplier to every electronic in your home. Which exponentially increases your bills based on the electronic objects you own. This is not anywhere close to how your Air Conditioning/Fans would affect your bills in real life???

Instead of affecting the cost of all other electronics, the PlumbBros HVAC System uses normal Power on its own which can incur high costs if it must run more often and can save money if it’s run less often from the temperature factors above and optimizations listed below.

Heating, Cooling, Air Conditioning, Ventilation (HVAC)

To keep your home at your Preferred Temperature, you’ll need to strategize and optimize your HVAC system through these different components:

Condenser Unit

PlumbBros is inspired by a split air conditioning system. In real life homes, an Outdoor Condenser Unit is paired with an Indoor Furnace to pump refrigerant, filter, heat and cool. To keep things simple, only an Outdoor Condenser Unit is required with this mod.

The Outdoor Condenser Unit is the most important component to managing temperature. Place this object outdoors near the wall. Be sure at least one side is unobstructed to allow access by sims for maintenance. The tooltip will show the current Refrigerant and Air Filter levels and should be maintained periodically by a technician. Learn more about HVAC with a Consultation from a PlumbBros technician.

Note: Apartment residents do not need to place a Condenser Unit. They are maintained by the building landlord. Only ventilation and a thermostat are required. Common areas are always safe zones and do not require vents.

Ventilation

Another component to the split-system are ducts and vents distributed throughout your home to distribute air. Depending on the size of each level, you will need to place a specific number of Air Vents to ensure your system is heating and cooling at its maximum potential. If you do not have enough Air Vents, your Condenser Unit will need to run longer to reach your Preferred Temperature and may not succeed. You can ask your local PlumbBros technician to evaluate your home and provide the recommended number of vents for each level!

To keep your sims happy and healthy, air will first be filtered before pushing through the ventilation. Disposable Air Filters can be purchased from the computer and can be replaced via the Outdoor Condenser Unit. If you own the Bust the Dust Kit, the dustiness of your home will affect how often you will need to replace your Air Filter.

Each Air Vent has its own Damper. Closing the damper will prevent air flow and decrease the number of available vents. This can help balance temperature on levels that are getting too hot or cold.

Large buildings can optimize by using more than one condenser but will multiply bills exponentially.

If you own the Industrial Stuff Kit, a modded version of the “Action-Packed Vented Ventilation Duct” is available with PlumbBros functionality. The original EA variant is only décor.

Thermostat

Commandeer your HVAC system with the HeyHoney Thermostat, Partnered with PlumbBros! The Thermostat included with the Seasons EP (and any object with the same Func_Thermostat tag) can also be used when PlumbBros gameplay has been enabled. They will return to their normal functionality when gameplay is disabled.

Thermostats act as sensors to get a better reading of your home’s temperature. They are only able to sense the temperature of the level they are placed in. To ensure your entire home is heated and cooled comfortably you should place a thermostat on each level with ventilation.

  • Toggle between Fahrenheit and Celsius within the Settings (Applies to your entire game).
  • Toggle gameplay for the entire save within the Settings.
  • Set your Preferred Temperature and your Condenser will automatically turn on and off to heat and cool your home once it has reached a threshold of a 1.5˚F temperature difference.
  • You can set the Fan Mode to Continuous the Condenser will stay on until turned off manually. This is useful to balance out your whole home, if necessary, but can cause certain floors to become too warm or cold if left on for too long.
  • The HeyHoney Thermostat is equipped with an “Auto” Temperature Mode which will automatically set the mode to Heat or Cool depending on the outdoor temperature.
  • The HeyHoney Thermostat is also equipped with a usage log. As the system turns on and off, it will record how long, and what temperatures it ran between for recent activations. View the Usage Trend to see if your optimizations are working or if you still need to make improvements.

Insulation

The best, but most expensive (in up-front costs) way to optimize savings and efficiency is to insulate your home. PlumbBros provides a Standard and Premium package of your choosing to keep your home at your Preferred Temperature longer. Pricing scales depending on the size your home, call PlumbBros for a Consultation to learn more.

If you own Eco Lifestyle, the Eco Footprint of the world will affect the base insulation of your home. Green lots will stay at the Preferred Temperature longer than Industrial lots.

Apartments in San Myshuno and Evergreen Harbor now have a default insulation package based on the quality of the buildings and cannot be upgraded.

  • Both buildings in Evergreen Harbor include Standard Insulation
  • ZenView, 21 Chic Street, Hakim House and Medina Studios in San Myshuno also have Standard Insulation
  • Torendi Tower Penthouse, Spire Apartments, Alto Apartments include Premium Insulation.
  • Fountainview Apartments, and Landgraab Apartments have Premium Insulation
  • Jasmine Suites, and Culpepper Apartments are Uninsulated

Roof Turbines

Roof Turbines provide a cheap alternative to balance the temperature of your home by expelling hot air and moisture trapped in the attic space. They will spin dynamically based on the wind conditions outside!

The Base Game Turbine is still available as static décor.

Water Heater

Although not a component of HVAC, Hot Water is an important luxury Sim-kind has come to depend on for completing chores and staying clean. Taking Cold Showers can lower your Sims temperature but also be uncomfortable for most who do not Prefer the Cold.

Purchase a Hot Water Heater Tank and place it on your lot to enjoy steamy hot showers. As water gets used the tank will deplete depending on the duration of your shower. The tooltip will show the Current Hot Water level to help plan showers and share hot water with the family, or not…

Torendi Tower Penthouse, Spire Apartments, Alto Apartments in San Myshuno now have unlimited hot water, no need to place to a hot water heater on the lot.

Plumbing Fixtures and the Hot Water Tank can be repaired by PlumbBros or your usual family handyman.

Water Main

Water has been provided on-the-grid since the ancient Tartosian times. It’s currently provided by the Alto Water Company, however the main pipes that run directly from the grid to the home are not serviced by Alto and are the responsibility of the homeowner!

Place a Water Main Valve on the lot to control the Water Utility of your home. You can turn it on and off if your sim is strong enough to turn the valve. They’re quite pesky.

It’s important to keep your entire home warm during freezing cold temperatures. If it gets too cold inside your pipes will begin to freeze and you will be at risk of a Water Main Break causing your house to flood! Call PlumbBros to complete repairs as only a licensed technician is permitted by Alto. If you cannot afford emergency fees, you can call the Fire Department to shut off the water main at no cost.

If the Water Main breaks, a Valve will be placed outside automatically if one is not already placed, allowing the technician to perform repairs.
Active Career

Join PlumbBros and work your way up to an HVAC Specialist through a commission-based Active Career! Study HVAC Knowledge and share it with other Sims in your neighborhoods. Daily Work Orders will take your sim around town to complete tasks like providing Consultations, Repairing Condensers, Replacing Air Filters, Recharging Refrigerant, Insulation Installation, and Repairing Water Mains + Plumbing. Use the Technician Tablet in your Sim’s inventory to study knowledge and view daily work orders.

NOTE: It’s recommended you opt your entire save into gameplay or opt in multiple lots, plus setup HVAC systems through World Edit mode to ensure the best Active Career experience!

HVAC Trainees will start off giving Consultations as they study HVAC Knowledge. Promotions will give higher commissions and access to more advanced Work Orders.

If you ever need help on the job, call a PlumbBros partner and give them a task to do. Depending on your career level they will take a cut of your final profits. If you enjoy working with a specific partner, try asking them to become your Permanent Work Partner! They will always be assigned to your job when requested.

Career Levels

Trainee: §7/hr, 10% Commission

Technician: §12/hr, 25% Commission

Specialist: §18/hr, 50% Commission

Cheats

Instantly Make Home Comfortable

With testing cheats enabled, shift click the Mailbox or Thermostat to “Make Home Comfortable”. This will set every level to 72˚F. You can also enter the cheat hvac.make_comfortable

hvac.live_stats

Toggles live hvac telemetry. Open the lot51_hvac.log file to view all the stats of the HVAC system in real time.

hvac.shutoff_water

Turn off the Water Utility

hvac.restore_water

Restore the Water Utility

hvac.break_pipes

Break the Water Main

hvac.fix_pipes

Instantly repair the Water Main

hvac.super_mop

Instantly clean up all puddles on lot

hvac.puddle

Spawn a random puddle

hvac.place_spawners

Spawns multiple broken pipe water sprayers

hvac.destroy_spawners

Removes all broken pipe water sprayers on lot

hvac.clear_trends

Clear the recent Usage Trend logs

Frequently Asked Questions

(Active Career) My Work Order List is Empty!

This means there are not enough households opted into PlumbBros gameplay. Toggle the save-wide setting on the Thermostat, or add the Heating & Cooling Lot Challenge on each lot.

(Active Career) I’m not receiving Work Orders to Change Air Filters, Repair Condensers, or Recharge Refrigerant!

This means there are not any households that have a Condenser on the lot. Go to World Edit mode and upgrade some lots with HVAC systems for the best Active Career experience.

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Release Notes

v1.4 (March 19, 2023)

  • Updated to support the new pie menu categories for socials.
  • Fixed an issue preventing the mod from starting up properly with the latest Core Library versions.
  • Fixed an issue preventing Young Adults and Elder Technicians from completing certain tasks.
  • Your home temperature should no longer reset to zero, and if it does it should recover automatically and reset to 72F.
  • Sims should no longer feel the effects of the indoor temperature while outside. You may have seen your sims with the Chilled buff even if it was burning outside, or the Overheated buff when its freezing inside.
  • The Recharge Refrigerant interaction on the Outdoor Condenser Unit should only appear when it’s necessary to recharge.

v1.3 (January 22, 2023)

New

  • Bumped Core Library requirement to version 1.6. Please update if you have not already.
  • You can now upgrade your Thermostats to give you Smart Alerts when an issue is detected with your HVAC system! Additional info will be provided to help resolve your problem. If you do not have Level 2 Handiness, you can ask your PlumbBros Technician to install it for you for §74.
  • Added cheat interactions to modify refrigerant levels for the Outdoor Condenser Unit.

Fixed

  • Sims’ comfort buffs will now refresh immediately when moving between levels of a home/building to help give a more accurate effect.
  • Technician NPCs should now shut off and repair your Water Main as requested.
  • Technician NPCs should be able to perform refrigerant boosting even if they don’t have the necessary skills as a played sim.
  • Fixed an issue preventing the Water Heater Tank from being repaired if you do not own Eco Lifestyle.
  • Unlimited hot water should be available without a hot water heater in specific apartment buildings as expected from the 1.2 update.
  • [Active Career] Fixed an issue introduced in 1.2 where all plumbing objects would break during work orders instead of a random selection.
  • [Active Career] Fixed an issue preventing lots that have gameplay enabled from being selected for work orders when gameplay is not enabled for the entire save.

v1.2 (December 4, 2022)

New

  • Apartments in San Myshuno and Evergreen Harbor now have a default insulation package based on the quality of the buildings and cannot be upgraded.
    • Both buildings in Evergreen Harbor include Standard Insulation
    • ZenView, 21 Chic Street, Hakim House and Medina Studios in San Myshuno also have Standard Insulation
    • Torendi Tower Penthouse, Spire Apartments, Alto Apartments include Premium Insulation, plus Unlimited Hot Water (no water heater required).
    • Fountainview Apartments, and Landgraab Apartments have Premium Insulation
    • Jasmine Suites, and Culpepper Apartments are Uninsulated

Fixed

  • When placing platforms with a rooftop the game still internally considers the platform a valid “level” of the house. This would cause the average temperature of the home to be incorrect and freeze your pipes even when the thermostat reflected a safe Whole Home temperature. To fix this, any level that has zero objects will be ignored. For example, if you have a completely empty basement or empty rooftop platform, it will no longer influence the temperature of your home until you place objects in it.
  • Uncomfortable buffs will now properly remove from dogs and cats once they become comfortable again. The average comfort zone for pets is 61F to 76F
  • Removed WIP code that was causing exceptions with the drama scheduler.
  • Fixed an exception thrown when a technician is on the lot without any Teen or older household members on the lot.

v1.1 (August 27, 2022)

I’ve hopefully fixed the issue preventing sims from routing to Invite or Dismiss a Technician! Please continue to report issues with this in Discord.

  • Added Simplified and Traditional Chinese translations by Konansock
  • Added Polish translations by Robbybaseplate
  • Added Russian translations by B3
  • Added a new PlumbBros Air Vent with Damper for the Ceiling!
  • Added a cheat interaction (shift-click) on the Water Main Valve to instantly repair, restore water, and clean up puddles in one sweep.
  • Added shortcut interactions to Call PlumbBros from the condenser and Water Main Valve.
  • Moved “Ask about Comfort Zone” interaction to Likes and Dislikes category introduced in HSY patch.
  • Comfort Zone buffs should better represent the state of the thermostat and direction of temperature change
  • The Water Heater Tank now consumes Power and Water. Lots with the Geothermal Trait can enjoy 1.5x increase in speed heating up water, and half the Power usage required.
  • Water spraying from the broken water main will now consume Water on the lot.
  • The thermostat now consumes Power and the screen will turn off when Power is unavailable.
  • Pipes will no longer freeze on non-owned lots and will auto repair if they previously broke.
  • Rebalanced the indoor temperature threshold to start freezing pipes.
  • Fixed an exception that may appear when the pipes freeze or burst, and you should now see the proper warning notifications when your pipes freeze and break.
  • Fixed a bug allowing free Water Main repair.
  • Adjusted the Water Main repair sequence to autonomously restore water after completing repairs.
  • Fixed an issue with the Condenser propeller appearing in the wrong place when burnt/struck by lightning.

v1.0.9 (August 2, 2022)

  • Fixed an issue preventing the mod from initializing.

v1.0.8 (August 1, 2022)

  • Fixed an issue introduced with the High School Years patch preventing an active career day from ending properly.
  • NPC Thermostats will now be set to Auto when traveling to their lot for the first time.
  • Fixed an issue preventing Technicians from being invited in. Sims have reverted back to a simple wave.
  • Adjusted the rate that Sims experience a temperature change from sitting near an Air Vent. They should no longer get very cold or very hot quickly.

v1.0.7 (August 1, 2022)

  • NPC Thermostats will now be set to Auto when traveling to their lot for the first time.
  • Fixed an issue preventing Technicians from being invited in. Sims have reverted back to a simple wave.
  • Adjusted the rate that Sims experience a temperature change from sitting near an Air Vent. They should no longer get very cold or very hot quickly.

v1.0.6 (July 29, 2022)

  • Now available for everyone! Seasons EP is required.

vEarly Access ()

1.0.6 (July 27)

  • Fixed an issue introduced with the High School Years Patch preventing the indoor temperature to change.
  • All levels should start at 72˚F instead of 0˚F when opting in to gameplay.
1.0.5 (July 26)
  • Updated to be compatible with 1.90.358 (High School Years Patch)
1.0.4 (July 25)
  • Added new cheats for cleaning up puddles, managing the water utility and more! You can find these at the bottom of https://lot51.cc/plumbbros
  • Fixed an exception caused when managing the Lot Challenge through world edit mode.
  • Rebalanced the temperature delta that triggers the system to turn on. It will now trigger when 1.1˚F from the preferred temperature instead of 1.6˚F.
  • Fixed some typos in strings.
  • Fixed circular shadow cast from the thermostat
1.0.3 (July 15)
  • Fixed a bug causing air vents to lower the environment score (this would make the Filthy Surroundings buff appear even if the room was clean).
  • Air Filters should no longer get dirty in apartments as designed. However in the future it would be nice to have landlord gameplay for maintenance. Also to have “preinstalled” insulation depending on the buildings/district.
  • Fixed an issue with the Ask about Preferred Temperature notification not showing the correct temperature when using Celsius.
  • Vampires will now prefer the cold indoors similar to Mermaids and Father Winter.
1.0.2 (July 12)
  • !!! Fixed a UI error when reaching the 3rd career level (HVAC Specialist)
  • Added cheat interactions on the Water Heater Tank to set the hot water level.
  • Added a few strings to string tables that were hard coded.
1.0.1 (July 10)
  • Copied English strings to all languages.
  • Removed Eco Lifestyle requirement preventing the Outdoor Condenser Unit from appearing if the pack was missing.
  • Fixed an issue preventing floor vents from being placed.