Get fit, make electricity!

[Kingfish]

Recently I read about a local company just up the road where they have a new system of fitness machines that turns the watts generated while working out into electricity to power the gym. The full article is here, reported today on MSNBC: New Year's Resolution: Get fit, make electricity

The Green System consists of recumbent and upright bikes as well as elliptical trainers, each with a box that captures 75 percent of the watts you generate during a workout.

Boxes in several machines are hooked together and routed through an inverter that can handle up to 2,000 watts. Assuming an average of 133 watts per person, a pod might have 15 machines on it…

…Nevertheless, 2,000 watt hours are enough to power a clothes washer for 6 hours, a microwave oven for 2.5 hours, or a 27-inch flat screen TV for 17 hours, according to SportsArt Fitness.

Someone finally got smart and figured out how to actually put people to work!
Cleverly well done, KF

[Alan B]

Great, so they can pay you for your workout then?

[REdiculous]

If you can put out 100w for 10 hours you'll have one whole kwh - personally, I think I'd rather give my utility company 12 cents.

[dogman]

Too amusing calling it green too.

Take oil and make it into fertilizer or tractor fuel, convert to overpriced food for young urban office workers. Then take a building, burn more fossil fuel to heat and cool it 24-7, heat water for the showers etc. Then extract 100wh from each office worker as they ride an hour.

Man, thats what I call green. Folding green that is.

Nothing wrong though, with charging the smart phone with the power. No doubt, they were yakking on it the whole time they worked out. Gotta charge it somehow. Getting back .1% of the energy it cost is better than nada.

[nechaus]

I thought about doing this.. im glad someone is actually doing it!!

[Dauntless]

First I gotta say that Kingfish is the ES answer to Sandra Tsing Loh. http://lohdown.caltech.edu/

So there's some value to be gained from this, such as powering your iPod with your own sweat when you go running. Not only are you not taking power from the grid, but your music won't go dead. And I think it doesn't wait for the heat to come to it, it just takes it. You might cool off if an iPod needs more heat than you can generate. http://www.gadgets-reviews.com/index.ph ... &page=post

My own thought on the "Peltier Effect" is that it can cool off those controllers for the RC motors, sucking the heat right off the surface. That has value even before you make electricity, it might save your controller. Oh, wait, I'm not even talking about the mechanical generator Kingfish was talking about, I'm talking about the thermoelectric effect. Looks like this is my own LohDown on Science moment. Hopefully I've just spurrrreeeed KF to go bring back more on it.

http://lohdown.caltech.edu/listen.html

http://tunein.com/radio/Loh-Down-on-Science-p60711/

carbon control and sequestration (CCS).

[Hillhater]

there was a UK TV show last year where they had 50+ pedal powered generators hooked up to power a typical home.
End result was basicly a failure, all the pedaling could not supply enough power to cook the dinner ( 2kW ? oven for 1.5 hrs ?,
and electric kettle etc). After 10 hrs or so all the cyclists were shot !

[Dauntless]

After 10 hrs or so all the cyclists were shot !

Heavens! And they say the Chinese are strict. Good thing we gained our independence from THOSE people.

[dogman]

Sounds like a top gear style stunt. Designed to fail just to get a good belly laugh.

[Hillhater]

Sounds like a top gear style stunt. Designed to fail just to get a good belly laugh.

Well it was a TV show !
But i think its point was to make people aware just how much energy we use in normal everyday household use.

[CrazyJerry]

...."But i think its point was to make people aware just how much energy we use in normal everyday household use."

--- I would hope so, although most folks won't pick that up instead they will bring forth the limited power that is generated by the humans to power inefficient appliances. Over 10 years ago this is how I got started - if I could power it with my legs, I kept the appliance. If I could not, I either modified the appliance or got something more efficient. http://www.diesel-bike.com/System/slide12.html

For example, my old fridge used a measured 1300 watts in a 24 hour period - not do-able with my legs. My replacement fridge uses only 150-165 watts in the same 24 hour period. One hour on the bike will power it for 24. The fridge only needs to be powered about once every 3 days since it will hold it's cold unlike most. Lighting with legs is cake with the addition of leds and the list goes on. I learned a long time ago that efficient "stuff" is worth it's weight in gold if it's of any decent quality at all. I continue my quest.

~CrazyJerry

[Joseph C.]

...."But i think its point was to make people aware just how much energy we use in normal everyday household use."

--- I would hope so, although most folks won't pick that up instead they will bring forth the limited power that is generated by the humans to power inefficient appliances. Over 10 years ago this is how I got started - if I could power it with my legs, I kept the appliance. If I could not, I either modified the appliance or got something more efficient. http://www.diesel-bike.com/System/slide12.html

For example, my old fridge used a measured 1300 watts in a 24 hour period - not do-able with my legs. My replacement fridge uses only 150-165 watts in the same 24 hour period. One hour on the bike will power it for 24. The fridge only needs to be powered about once every 3 days since it will hold it's cold unlike most. Lighting with legs is cake with the addition of leds and the list goes on. I learned a long time ago that efficient "stuff" is worth it's weight in gold if it's of any decent quality at all. I continue my quest.

~CrazyJerry

I think there is an Australian engineer selling a chest freezer conversion kit...off to Google.

http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.html

Tom Chalto is his name. He also has a parts list if someone is interested.

Of course the downsides of this are the fridge has no freezer and it takes up more space than an upright fridge.

Having said that, the benefit, apart from its 100 watts per day consumption, is the fact that cold air won't escape when the door is opened.

[CrazyJerry]

Of course the downsides of this are the fridge has no freezer and it takes up more space than an upright fridge.

Not a conventional separate space for a freezer but make no mistake, the stuff in the lower section can easily freeze with a simple lowering of the thermostat knob. Also, the fridge I have is at counter-top level and adds to that usable space - so it may be a bit wider - but does not stick out from the wall nearly as far as the old fridge. The space above it now houses usable shelves that are accessible - far better than the top of the old fridge. Aside from a huge decrease in power use, my experience in this tiny house is more usable space than with the old style - no contest.
~CrazyJerry

[grindz145]

I thought of this idea as well, was super-psyched, then I did the math.... You'd never make any money back. You could definitely tout it as green though.

Consider this:

Riding exercise bike for 1 hour: + 100wh
Running on a treadmill for an hour - 800wh

So that part makes sense anyway.

[Hillhater]

Running on a treadmill for an hour - 800wh.

Where does that figure come from ?

[REdiculous]

Where does that figure come from ?

I've no idea, but it doesn't look to me like it'd be too far off...

I think most treadmill motors are 1HP -- mine's 1.5HP continuous.

[Hillhater]

Ahh ! .. OK now i see the NEGATIVE 800w for the treadmill !
.. i thought there was a suggestion you could generate 800W by running on a treadmill ! Duhhh !
sorry i must learn to pay attention to the details more !

[cbr shadow]

After 10 hrs or so all the cyclists were shot !

Heavens! And they say the Chinese are strict. Good thing we gained our independence from THOSE people.

How did nobody else comment on this? This comment made me burst into laughter at the end of a meeting at work!

[Samd]

We were all out riding our chinese e-bikes!

[Thud]

My favorite:
http://www.gulland.ca/homenergy/lindabike.htm