Why don't healthclubs harness energy from people on treadmills?

Question

Seems like there should be a way to generate/ harness the energy from everybody running on treadmills in healthclubs, even at home I guess- seems like since they're working so hard anyway- the energy should be put to good use. Could it work?

Answer 1

It's more plausible for exercise bikes, and at my gym they are all self powered (meaning that exercise bike runs on the power you produce to measure pulse, do your program, etc.).

However, in Hong Kong, they do have a gym that runs on Human Power. It was a news story a while ago.

Answer 2

Theoretically it could work, but that's only if everyone were to use treadmills that require no electricity to run. If you've ever been on one of those so-called treadmills that consist of a track stretched between two rollers, you'd know that they are junk. Plain and simple if you want a good challenging work-out, then you need electricity to regulate the resistance and speed and sometimes the slope of the track.
If someone could come up with a treadmill that uses no electricity but you can still vary the resistance and slope and then figure out a way to hook it up to a generator or some other type of energy storage unit, then yes your idea would be possible. Hey, how about you design something like this and get a patent for it and make a billion dollar industry of it. No joke, you really could make some big moola from that idea if you could figure out how to make it all work.

Answer 3

You could get energy from the people on treadmills and it sounds like a good idea on paper, but let's be real.

At anytime of the day, a gym may only have so many people on treadmills. If there's only 7 people on the treadmills while everyone else is weight lifting, you be working out in the dark, or at least a very poorly lit room. Also, people get tired, as soon as someone stops for a water break you lose power! Basically, the people working at that gym need more trustworthy sources of power, and people on treadmills aren't one of them. They'll just have to stick to generators like the rest of us.

Answer 4

The problem is that gym treadmills, I presume you mean the ones with a flat moving surface to run on, always require electric power to move the endless belt. Unfortunately, not enough push could be produced by a 'runner' to move the belt without it being powered.

Remember that the belt rides on a flat surface underneath and is not freely suspended just at the ends. The weight of the runner pressing down acts as a brake to prevent momentum. There is also a lot of inertia to overcome just to get it started.

Exercise bicycles and rowing machines which could be expected to produce power, would require not just modification to fit generators but associated control gear, wiring and safe power storage. Then the question has to be, 'would the power produced be more environmentally practical than the impact of producing/fitting the equipment which would stand idle if unused?'

Nevertheless, it is an interesting question that shows both observation and thought.

Answer 5

Yes, in theory it could work, but I'm sure that most health clubs wouldn't think about it probably because of economical reasons. Considering that solar power is the purest form of energy it is the most expensive also. Creating and putting into use some thing like a energy-generating treadmill will be just as (or more) expensive. Keep on dreamin'.

Answer 6

They don't because of cost, probably. The treadmill would have to be redesigned so the runner/walker could push the belt instead of a motor. They do make some treadmills that do not require power. Exercise bikes could easily be linked to generators too, but at cost. And lets not forget those machines. In theory, they too could generate electricity. if the belts were attached to gears that turned cogs that spun a magnet around wire, energy could be produced. Heck a hamster on a wheel could probably generate enough to light up an led bulb. Energy is everywhere. It just costs money to capture it.

Answer 7

That's not going to work. First of all, a treadmill actually needs power or energy to turn on the treadmill to work. So really, people on treadmills dont produce any extra energy. Its not the best source of energy from gyms and fitness clubs because they would have to pay those people to produce energy. That's why its better if we rely energy from solar power or wind power. Its not expensive in the long run and nature gives way more energy than off of people.

Answer 8

No, it can't work because a treadmill USES energy in order to run. With a bicycle, however, it COULD work because the person using the bike is not needed energy other than their own movement to make it work. I have seen it on some science show, but I can't remember what right now.

Answer 9

The treadmills are powered by electricity so the treads roll forward, if you removed the power source and attached generators and required runners to use even more energy to use the treadmills then a significant amount of energy could possibly be produced.

Answer 10

that could be a great way to harness a new easy and clean type of energy, you could put them on a contraption like a pin wheel that a hamster would run on and put a kind of motor or a generator on one side of it, and even better you could charge the public to use it so your getting paid and helping society at the same time, and your getting a free light bill. i think the a good idea....

Answer 11

Good idea but all the health clubs care about is their money and honestly what if only (ex.) wednesday they only had one patient that used the treadmill? Then where would they get the rest of their energy But VERY good question u get a star!