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Instead of solar and wind power to supply to your own house - which are both weather dependent - has anyone thought about systems that might require some actual work, but provide a usable amount of power?
I was thinking, what if each member of my family
carried a 40lb bag up 3 floors and hung it on a hook that was connected
to a generator; would an effort like that actually provide a
significant amount of energy? Just a thought.
Regards,
Jens,
London
Oh Jens...you don't even know what you've done! Your question is totally a word problem from a physics exam. And as much as this will likely frighten most people reading this, I'm going to treat it as such.
If 120 lbs is lifted thirty feet and then allowed them to drop slowly over twelve hours, how much energy will be produced?
120 lbs * 30 ft = 3600 ft/lbs = 4880 joules = 1.356 watt hours / 12 hours = 0.113 watts.
So, in answer to your question, no, that would not provide a significant amount of electricity. In fact, in order to power one 60 watt equivalent CFL for twelve hours, each member of your family would have to march up the stairs about ten times.
But that doesn't mean that you don't
have an excellent point. Every person is a magical little energy
factory. Whataburgers go in...watt hours come out, and it is possible
to harness that energy.
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Some schemes in converting muscle power to electric power even seem pretty intelligent. A gym in Hong Kong has hooked its treadmills to a battery bank, using the energy of its clients to power the lights. A subway in Japan harnesses the energy used by people walking through turnstiles to power lights. And we've all seen various gadgets that can be shaken, squeezed, cranked or yanked to generate the juice that makes them work.
But a more personal and powerful option for a muscle-powered home is a pedal generator. Basically, it's just your average exercise bike, except there's a generator on the inside. The maximum output for a toned adult would be about 500 watts, but a sustainable level for someone like me (who's eaten his share of Whataburgers) is more like 150 watts. Amazingly, this would be enough to power both of my laptops, two CFL light bulbs and my cell phone charger for as long as I kept pedaling.
There are two problems though. First, no one can pedal forever. And second, they're not yet selling pedal generators at your local hardware store. But if you can get your hands on one, like the $230 pedal-a-watt bike-to-generator conversion kit, you could easily lower your electric bills, or charge an emergency backup battery, and become a healthier EcoGeek at the same time.
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written by Niels R., July 06, 2007
I suppose you'll have to do your share too. Remember when you've been eating at your parents house ;)
Anyways... If they have a conversion kit for a rowing machine, that would be a great addition for me. I always row in front of the television :)
Greetz,
Niels R.
PS: Cool website!
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written by Leon, July 06, 2007
i spend 5 min on a rowing machine and generate about 65 watts!!
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written by Jason Olshefsky, July 06, 2007
Further, that's just the potential energy of bags 30 feet up. Given the weirdness of bags descending over time to generate energy, let's say you could hit a generous estimate of 75% efficiency converting that to electricity. Now we're talking about 300 trips / 75% = 400 trips.
Further, let's say it takes 60 seconds to climb and descend the 3 flights of stairs -- in other words, 2 minutes per round trip. If it's just one person, that's 800 minutes or a bit over 13 hours.
And that's just for one light.
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written by Dave Spicer, July 06, 2007
Any indoor physical activity in winter, though, would warm up both the individual and their surroundings. (These would combine synergistically, but nonparticipants would still have to dress more warmly.) So make the goal heat, not light :-)
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written by vigilant20, July 06, 2007
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written by Saul, July 07, 2007
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written by Jono, July 07, 2007
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written by corwyn, July 07, 2007
Humans are NOT sources of energy. They are users of energy and converters of energy (from one form to another). The increase in food energy you would need to power your house would be more expensive, less efficient, and possibly higher in CO2 output than standard forms of energy.
I once figured out that bicycles get somewhere between 65 and 200 MPG of fossil fuel. (fossil fuel is used to produce and transport all that food).
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written by Josh, July 09, 2007
But nope, it's hardly going to give you much power. Even if you dug a mile long trench, you'd need quite a bit of dropps. (120lbs * 5280 = 633600 ft/lbs = 85903.488 joules = 23.86208 / 12 = 1.98 watts) And then you'd have to pick all these things up. Unless you have a never-ending pit(in which case you could have unlimited energy - a black hole).
When it comes to muscle work, i think the best solution is in synthetic muscles. If we can make a muscle which only requires sugar or dextrose or what have you, then we could feed it and it would turn a generator for us. No death by falling objects, no climbing stairs, and no crying!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4817848.stm
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written by jack downar, May 13, 2008
If you buy it like prepared to do something usefull we're talking $1000...
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written by David Sowerwine, December 25, 2008
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You could finally get a return, for them eating you out of house and home.
Picture the scene:
Kids and grandparents chained to pedal generators in the cellar. Peace and quiet upstairs, helping to save the planet and no more electric bills.
;D