Using Human energy to power appliances?

Mojo said:
Why bother with all that tedious mucking about with levers and stuff? Why not just run it directly off the energy that practitioners of reiki, acupuncture, therapeutic touch etc. assure us is teeming through your body?
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That's a great idea.
 
Which makes one wonder why it can't be done.

Did you know, back in the old days, watches didn't have batteries?
 
Um, I don't know Dustin's posting habits but come on, no matter how annoying some of you find him, this is a pretty interesting question. It's a thought that I've had, as well, but never really looked into. Thanks to those of you who have posted actual info.
 
rebecca said:
Um, I don't know Dustin's posting habits but come on, no matter how annoying some of you find him, this is a pretty interesting question. It's a thought that I've had, as well, but never really looked into. Thanks to those of you who have posted actual info.
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I think the point most people are making is that if you want research something, google is your friend. If you want to discuss something, a web board is your friend. Dustin is asking a question that is easily answered with google, and is not the most appropriate for discussing.

In case you were wondering, the first hit I got from google when I searched for human powered appliance was http://www.green-trust.org/2000/humanpower.htm

Answers all of his questions.
 
It's easier to post it on a forum where everyone with competing views can discuss the topic. It's better that way because you see all of the facts and viewpoints presented opposed to having to spend so much time googling dead ends and wild gooses.
 
Flat panel technologies in general are more efficient than ancient vacuum tube TVs. A lot of the energy consumption depends on how bright you want the TV to be - note that laptop computers extend battery life noticably by dimming the LCD backlight. And of course, larger TVs you generally want more light output than smaller ones, so a given area has the same relative illumination.
 
Dustin said:
It's easier to post it on a forum where everyone with competing views can discuss the topic. It's better that way because you see all of the facts and viewpoints presented opposed to having to spend so much time googling dead ends and wild gooses.
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But that's the point. There aren't competing viewpoints. A human can create a certain number of watts. That has been well researched. An electrical appliance requires a certain number of watts to run. That is normally stamped on the applicance. Not a lot of room left for discussion, really.
 
Grimoire said:
Not a lot of room left for discussion, really.
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Okay, then don't open the thread anymore. There, that was easy!

For the record (if anyone's still reading now that the discussion is over), Dustin asked in the OP, "Could this work? Does anyone here have any expertise in this sort of technology?" (So of course Google didn't "answer all his questions" in the least.) I'd also be interested in hearing if anyone here has tried to generate power for an appliance by pedaling.

When I was a kid, I had a light on the front of my bike that was powered by a generator hooked to the wheel. Flipping the generator down would result in the bike being about 10x harder to pedal (I think an episode of the Simpsons showed Bart doing this exact thing).
 
Can it work? Yes. Is it practical? No. Appliances like a tv or computer really like clean, continuous power. A direct connection would not cut it. Now you are talking about adding your power to another supply/storage. Rather than power a specific device, why not just add your power "to the grid?" I may not be able to generate enough power to watch Lawrence of Arabia (3-4 hours is a heck of an indoor training ride) and make microwave popcorn during the film, but I can certainly offset some of the power purchased from the electric company. Unfortunately, the entry price (at least around here) is pretty high because to sell power back requires special intertie and other equipment.

I'd love to be able to hook my bike trainer up to my hybrid car and charge the batteries to improve my mileage.

CT
 
Flip-down generators have high losses. But even a hub-based generator is fairly noticable when you turn on the light.
 
rebecca said:
When I was a kid, I had a light on the front of my bike that was powered by a generator hooked to the wheel. Flipping the generator down would result in the bike being about 10x harder to pedal (I think an episode of the Simpsons showed Bart doing this exact thing).
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Been there done that. Bite the bullet and shell-out for batteries. A self-winding watch is a very different proposition.

Capel "Visible Going Downhill" Dodger
 
I think modern technology have made such direct connections to bicycle lights much easier to use and more efficient than they were 20 years ago.
How about getting a generator that has an outlet that you can plug appliances into it? A generator that is connected to a bicycle that I can charge regularly? I've been browsing those websites but I don't know if they sell them or not.

How much would they cost?

How efficient would they be?

How easy would they be to build?
 
I'm just looking for a device that I can plug into my corpulent abdomen that converts lard into electricity. I'm fairly sure I could power a small town for a day or two. Failing that, converting lard to beer would be an acceptable alternative.

Cheers,
Rat.
 
We could ride our exercise bikes at night to charge up our electric cars.

Don't laugh, who wants to get to work all sweaty? So do the sweating at home. Then take a nice cold shower. (You have to cycle for an extra hour really hard to earn a nice hot shower)!.

Oh! and carbon credits, I wan't carbon credits for all the polution I'm not putting out then I can sell em for new sweat pants. (Buying new sweat pants each day is easier than cycling to power the washer/dryer, That things a hog!).

;)
 
A top-flight racer like Lance Armstrong can put out around 400 watts for some time, as during the ascent of one of the big alpine stages in Le Tour.

The average cyclist is only good for about 100 watts sustained.

Track sprinters (and presumably road-racing sprint specialists) can put out nearly 2000 for a few brief seconds.
 
I have heard of people using a stationary bicycle to power a TV. Some of the rigs I've read about have the bike charge a battery that powers the TV. Parents do it to give the kids some exercise, then the kids become experts at getting the youngest or most gullible sibling to do all the pedaling.

--Scott
 
Dustin said:
I think modern technology have made such direct connections to bicycle lights much easier to use and more efficient than they were 20 years ago.
How about getting a generator that has an outlet that you can plug appliances into it? A generator that is connected to a bicycle that I can charge regularly? I've been browsing those websites but I don't know if they sell them or not.

How much would they cost?

How efficient would they be?

How easy would they be to build?
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Off the top of my head:

We have a store here, Canadian Tire, that sells solar panels of various sizes, inverters, deep cycle batteries. Most of that stuff is sized for camping uses, due to the nature of the store.....automotive and outdoor activities supply store. I would think that such things are available in the US at places like Target, or Wal Mart. One could always experiment by buying some of that stuff (contains outlets to run appliances off) and getting a car alternator linked in as a power source instead of a solar panel, then getting an old exercise bike and hooking the alternator to that.

Cost would probably be several hundred dollars. They probably wouldn't be amazingly efficient. It'd probably be a fun weekend project to try.
 
I thought we already are batteries powering the world...

This reality is being provided by a giant computer that is tapping the power I produce. Well, saw it in The Matrix, so it must be true.
 
Back when audio cassettes were state of the art, I saw a mechanical device that extended battery life. It was a hand cranked tape rewinder.
 
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