Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:01 am Post subject: Cycling for Power
Hi
The one thing missing from my potential bolt-hole is running water. I'm thinking wood fueled heating, but thinking of needing electric for light convenience in the evenings. Some of my family have used exercise machines in the past and it got me thinking - How much power could an individual generate in an hour. Would it be enough to power a few low power bulbs for the evening and maybe a CD/DVD player?
Joined: Jan 16, 2005 Posts: 323 Location: Delft, Netherlands
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:55 am Post subject: Re: Cycling for Power
Hi, I can give you some numbers based on my experience working as a mechanical engineer in the design of building installations and power supplies.
A healthy adult riding an exercise bike/generator could probably generate between 50 and 100 usable Watt's of electricity for an hour. A very fit individual might make 200W for an hour, but that is being very sporty.
That's including all technical inefficiencies concerning the generator, invertors/transformers and and battery systems.
Say your average flourescent lightbulb used 10 Watts. The power use of a CD/DVD player is dependent on the power of the sound system. Probably around 30-50W of electrical power use for that including the sound system. A TV-set uses between 30W and 150W electricity dependant on the size and type.
So one hour of an adult generating electricity on a training bike will power perhaps
- 4 or 5 five flourescent lightbulbs for an hour OR
- a CD/DVD soundsystem for an hour OR
- a small TV set for any hour.
If you want to use 4 lightbulbs AND a CD/DVDplayer + soundsystem, AND a TV set at the same time , then 1 hour of bicycle riding will get you about 5-10 minutes of services.
My advice if you want to go this route is:
- use a small LCD TV set.
- use a large battery so you can stock-up on power
However, I would suggest it's much better to get a few dozen square feet of PV panels, which will give you much more power, for longer and qith less hassle.
Another option is to use a draft animal to power a generator. If you have a mule or a horse you can use it to drive a generator by letting it walk in circles turning a turning wheel geared to a generator. This will give you perhaps 500 W of electrical power for 8 hours per day for an average horse. That's about 4kWh of electrical power per day, which is more than enough power for any 'bolt-hole' residence type application I expect.
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:29 am Post subject: Re: Cycling for Power
Pedal Power _________________ 100% of the electricity needed for this post was generated by ME.
<p>
<A HREF="http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedgen/green_virtual_gym.html">Posted from a Pedal Powered Computer</A>
Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 769 Location: northern California
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:36 am Post subject: Re: Cycling for Power
Nano wrote:
Another option is to use a draft animal to power a generator. If you have a mule or a horse you can use it to drive a generator by letting it walk in circles turning a turning wheel geared to a generator. This will give you perhaps 500 W of electrical power for 8 hours per day for an average horse. That's about 4kWh of electrical power per day, which is more than enough power for any 'bolt-hole' residence type application I expect.
You might consider asking yourself if your favorite draft animal is any more interested in going round in circles for 8 hours than you would be. Or better yet, ask them... _________________ "When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon."
Thomas Paine
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:42 am Post subject: Re: Cycling for Power
dunewalker wrote:
Nano wrote:
Another option is to use a draft animal to power a generator. If you have a mule or a horse you can use it to drive a generator by letting it walk in circles turning a turning wheel geared to a generator. This will give you perhaps 500 W of electrical power for 8 hours per day for an average horse. That's about 4kWh of electrical power per day, which is more than enough power for any 'bolt-hole' residence type application I expect.
You might consider asking yourself if your favorite draft animal is any more interested in going round in circles for 8 hours than you would be. Or better yet, ask them...
"Do you hate doing this?"
"Neigh!"
"Right, hook him up" _________________ All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become. - Buddha
Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 769 Location: northern California
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:55 am Post subject: Re: Cycling for Power
MadScientist wrote:
The coolest thing about bikes is they are virtually worthless right now. If you dont believe me check out your local landfill/dump/thrift store.
There are bicycles and there are "bicycles". Most Walmart and other big box store bikes are indeed virtually worthless piles, even for making alternative gadgets. These are endemic/pandemic to the US primarily. An older Schwinn Airdyne exerciser is the perfect platform for making pedal-powered stuff, as it has a large flywheel and stable base. The most effective adaptations I've found are for grain grinding and water pumping. You hook up an agricultural roller pump, ordinarily used for pumping liquid fertilizer from a tractor pto, to your pedal platform. It's designed for low rpms, positive displacement. _________________ "When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon."
Thomas Paine
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:45 pm Post subject: Re: Cycling for Power
I've seen a couple of other applications. My friend's father used to have a really cool bike/band-saw. It was awesome and I so wish I had it today. At my locally-owned bike shop, they have an exercise bike-powered blender. It would be cool to develop a bike station which had easily-swappable appliances.
I was thinking of rigging one of these bikes up in my classroom, to run things like the overhead projector. The kids would love it if someone had to pedal to get this stuff working.
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