Goodbye electrical bill

[Veloo]

But seriously. The third world implications could be huge.

http://cyberwarzone.com/an-hour-on-this-bicycle-will-give-your-house-enough-power-for-24-hours/

[8aaron8]

Thanks for sharing, however it raises so many questions for me. On a lighter note I think if this is a legitimate device it could be useful in the U.S. to curb not only carbon emissions but also obesity, which isn't so much an issue in third world countries.

[AngryScientist]

awesome.

this could bring totally new meaning to kids having to do "chores" at home.

"no desert until you pedal for 1/2 hour!"

[RFC]

But seriously. The third world implications could be huge.

http://cyberwarzone.com/an-hour-on-this-bicycle-will-give-your-house-enough-power-for-24-hours/

Ho Ho! I like these types of solutions. I wonder if it would cover my AZ summer electric bill.

Have you seen school yard merry go round used to pump water in Africa?

[tuscanyswe]

Im not sure i buy into the 1 hour = 24 hour supply of electricity for a house.

They must not have seen R. F?stemann try to toast that slice..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4O5voOCqAQ

[NHAero]

Assuming most of us aren't world class cyclists, on a typical ride we might be expending about 150-250 Watts. So one hour of riding is 0.15 - 0.25 kWh. For a family in a location without power, that could run an LED light and other small loads. In the US, the average home uses about 10,932 kWh/year (eia.gov) for an average usage of 1.25 kW. So this average household would need five riders putting out 250W 24/7/365, and that's before accounting for transmission and generator efficiency.
I'm sticking with my solar electric system :-)

[oldpotatoe]

But seriously. The third world implications could be huge.

http://cyberwarzone.com/an-hour-on-this-bicycle-will-give-your-house-enough-power-for-24-hours/

Great idea..but this house. :D

[MattTuck]

Ok, let's just be clear about a few things.

1. That is not a bicycle. A bicycle, by definition has two wheels ;)
2. I'm looking for investors in my new company that will fit people for maximum electricity output. That guy needed to be closer to the pedals.
3. Please, in your next version, put a cover around that fly wheel. It looks like it could rip someone's arm off if it got caught.
4. This seems too good to be true. Unless your house consists only of a few 10 watt light bulbs, I'm not sure what this thing will power. I mean, I have a pretty good sense of what 200 watts feels like, and it is not something that a lot of people are going to want to do.
5. This may be a fantastic new way to discover talent for the pro peloton.

[Pastashop]

Look, a normal person can produce up to about 200 Watts of mechanical power for an hour, after which they would be awfully tired. That generates 0.2 kW-hrs of energy. That's approximately the amount of energy you need to boil 2 liters of water.

Now, how much does this contraption cost?.. Where do you store the energy?.. You'd have to pay extra for that. I'm guessing all-in you'd be >$1,000 even when it's manufactured at scale.

For comparison, one horsepower is ~745 Watts. Typical car engines are rated at 100 horsepower, but we don't use all the power for just driving along at constant speed (usually less than 10 hp at highway speeds). Just idling your car could produce on the order of half a horsepower and not consume a whole lot of fuel. That half a horsepower would be ~370 Watts, almost double what a person huffing away on a stationary bike would be producing. You've already paid for the car, so just plug the car into your house (or house into the car).

Fossil fuels FTW!

Oh, pollution, you say...

For another alternative, use a solar panel instead... $500 could buy you a nice 200 Watt panel rated for 25 years of service. You'd also need another $300 for a nice battery system. Put it up and over the day, while you're at work, you'll get ~5 hours-worth of that wattage, or 1 kW-hr of energy. That's 5 times better than the stationary bike, and cheaper.

Solar panels FTW!!

[CampyorBust]

This is great and looong overdue.

Goes hand and hand with the water bottle light bulbs...

https://youtu.be/hkVLjQ61ZYw

Our problems on this planet are not insurmountable if we focus on actually solving them and not profit.

[RonW87]

Look, a normal person can produce up to about 200 Watts of mechanical power for an hour, ...

A "normal" cyclist ... maybe.

[Steve in SLO]

That idea is so 60s.

[cinema]

Now, how much does this contraption cost?.. Where do you store the energy?.. You'd have to pay extra for that. I'm guessing all-in you'd be >$1,000 even when it's manufactured at scale.


you could store it in a flywheel but the new bleeding edge ones being produced are over 6k for just one. they work in a vacuum with advanced bearing technologies. it would be a cool project for rich pro cyclists (do they exist anymore?) when they retire but not really accessible to regular folks. I've heard gyms are doing something similar I'd love to see that actually in action and get the data

i'll take the solar panels and ride my bike outside for fun imo

[notsew]

Have you seen school yard merry go round used to pump water in Africa?

My buddy wrote an interesting article for the New Republic that touched on the folly of that attempt at good work. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120178/problem-international-development-and-plan-fix-it

[oldpotatoe]

This is great and looong overdue.

Goes hand and hand with the water bottle light bulbs...

https://youtu.be/hkVLjQ61ZYw

Our problems on this planet are not insurmountable if we focus on actually solving them and not profit.

good luck with that-(lots of sarcasm intended..this 'election' season)

[jmoore]

My buddy wrote an interesting article for the New Republic that touched on the folly of that attempt at good work. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120178/problem-international-development-and-plan-fix-it

That is a great article. Thanks for posting it.

[Davist]

I'm in the electrical business, in data centers, we see all sorts of these "get green quick" schemes. Even a cursory look at the math says it's not even close to viable. (herbal EPO or not!)

To the solar comments, that's getting real, in Chile, a recent article says that it's the cheapest source of generation, beating out coal in a power auction, no subsidies needed. This is at utility scale, which can really affect change..

http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2015/11/07/solar-power-thrives-in-chile-no-subsidies-needed/