Are there any sites about charging batteries by bicycle power for running appliances or lights in the home?

Question

In our area, the electricity is often interrupted. I would like to be able to charge a battery using bicycle power that would run some lights or perhaps run a toaster when this happens. Do you know of any websites that might assist me? (I'm probably using all the wrong words for a search. I have looked.)

Answer 1

There used to be (and may still be) a magazine called The Mother Earth News, along with a spinoff called Lifestyle.

These magazines had lots of articles about home energy generation. I think they had one about using bicycles to generate power

See if you can find the content for these magazines by searching on their names. If nothing else, they might provide some additional search words.

There is also an old book called How to Design an Independent Power System by T. D. Paul and published in 1981. If you could get a copy, like from Alibris (it was $4.95 new), you could probably design a bicycle battery charger yourself with the info you get from reading it.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Maybe it would first be appropriate to mention that a human in really good shape can pump about 1/3 of a horsepower. That's equivalent to about 250 watts, definitely not enough to run a toater unless some stored energy is involved.

What you're asking for is a UPS. It's possible to have one capable of supplying your whole house, but the price goes up with kilowatt-hour capacity.

Answer 3

try the real world. Ever tried kerosene lamps; or maybe moving?

Good idea, try some new words!!!!