Cycling for Power

Quinny · Intermediate Crude Joined: Jul 03, 2008 Posts: 610

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?

Nano · 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.

SolarDave · Heavy Crude Joined: May 19, 2005 Posts: 382

Pedal Power
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dunewalker · Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:36 am Post subject: Re: Cycling for Power

davep · Expert Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 1405 Location: Europe

MadScientist · Heavy Crude Joined: May 19, 2004 Posts: 418

Cycling for power!

electricity, as mentioned
transportation

you can also hookup to your grain mill, water pump, clothes washer, etc. Most belt or crank driven machines can be modified for a bike.

I've got an idea I've been developing for a few years now regarding a bicycle powered rail car.

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.

manpower baby yeah
_________________
"The future power is manpower"

dunewalker · Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:55 am Post subject: Re: Cycling for Power

StevenSlaughter · Coal Joined: Aug 20, 2008 Posts: 11

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.

Steven