If a stationary bike was used to create electricity, how much energy could be made? This seems to me as a option that could be utilized by many people to power their homes on a small scale, or to charge a fuel cell battery for an automobile. Anybody know anything about this?
2007-07-18 02:45:05 · 5 answers · asked by fugett84 1 in Environment ➔ Green Living
Racer mate has built the computrainer to measure wattage output.
In a group of 24 cyclists ranging 16 - 61 yr in age.
Average Age: 33.17yr (standard deviation 12.97, range 16yr-61yr)
Average Max Power for 1 min: 367.46 watts (st dev 62.74w, range 263w-487w)
Average Max Heart Rate: 187.29bpm (st dev 12.16bpm, range 163bpm-211bpm)
Next they were measured in a simulated 10 mile ride
Average Time: 25min 52sec (st dev 1min 50sec, range 29min 09sec - 23min 02sec)
Average Power Output: 286.46 watts (st dev 49.88w, range 215w - 375w)
Next to object to be powered requirements
Rear projector: 0.14 watt per square inch
LCD: 0.29 watt per square inch
Plasma: 0.34 watt per square inch
CRT: 0.34 watt per square inch
These are not universal as some LCDs are as low as 0.11 watt-per-square-inch, but some go as high as 0.37 watt.
Power consumption compared
TVs:
Average plasma: 328 watts
Average rear-projection: 208 watts
Average LCD: 193 watts
Average CRT: 146 watts
Theoretically this could power a TV needing no more than 200- 250 Watts since a healthy person can maintain this for an hour.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=question658.htm&url=http://www.ent.ohiou.edu/~et181/hpv/hpv.html
Another difficulty comes in translating that power from man to machine with no loss and in a steady supply. The machine costs $319. Meanwhile it costs between $31 and $223 a year to watch TV depending on whether you want a small CRT or a huge LCD set.
Maybe it makes more sense to keep a smaller TV and watch less than buy a machine to process your cycling time into viewing time.
Keeping the rubber on the road
2007-07-18 12:26:06 · answer #1 · answered by gardengallivant 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You always need to look at the data. An average person can maintain roughly about 100 watts for an hour. Obviously an athlete or someone who exercises a lot can do more.
Enough for someone in an undeveloped country to run a small computer, or to give them some light.
Nowhere near enough to make a dent in powering a modern home. Or running a fuel cell car.
It's about 1 cent worth of electricity, and would power an average home for a few minutes.
2007-07-18 02:59:13 · answer #2 · answered by Bob 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Enough to run a small TV so you can have some entertainment while burning calories. As for the calories burned it is cheaper to pay for the electricity than the food to fuel your body.
We really don't need to go to a Flintstones type world.
2007-07-18 03:02:24 · answer #3 · answered by RomeoMike 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In some third international worldwide places table certain motorcycles are used to power computers, washing machines and different hard artwork saving units. I submit to in techniques analyzing some guy who rigged up a pedal powered television because of the fact he became ill and bored with gazing his teenagers lay around and get fat. not a foul theory however the fee of installation and conserving this manner of community might far exceed what it might placed returned. EDIT: turbines have copper wiring. Homeless people, they arrive in 2 training you recognize. people who're down and out wanting a hand up and the "specialists" who like it and are looking in ordinary terms for a handout. i've got come to verify the regular public are the specialists, supply them a handout they're going to in ordinary terms choose greater. How are you gonna save them from tearing them down and recycling the copper? Dude I stay in l. a. and study each and every of the time with regards to the homeless getting fried attempting to strip wiring from streetlights, parks and vacant residences. you're actually not gonna get the regular public of them to do squat except they are pressured into to it.
2016-12-14 12:31:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on who is pedalling.... and how long you want to keep making the electricity.
You aren't generating energy., you are converting food energy via use of muscles into mecanical energy and then converting that into electricity.
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be changed in form.
Matter is just a method of storing energy. E=MC^2
2007-07-18 02:52:08 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋