Using a stationary bike to make electricity
 

Has anyone heard of any ideas on how to convert a stationary bike to be able to produce electricity to feed into the grid? I understand the concept of how solar power is fed into the grid, put what about a bike? I know I wouldn't produce too much energy, but some is better than none. I'm going to use the bike anyway might as well get something out of it if I can.

You would still need an inverter (think solar/wind) to feed it back to the grid so figure a grand plus to install that.....


Human Power Generator -- Generate electricity yourself

Human Power Generator.The Pedal-A-Watt Stationary Bicycle Generator.

Human Power Trainer -- Windstream Power

Bicycle experiment

I ride a stationary bike whenever weather won't allow me to ride the real deal. I thought of configuring the bike to generate power to watch TV while pedaling. So I did math and finally concluded that it would never pay for itself. The electrical power that I could produce would be on the order of a penny a day, or not even that much.

The place that a generator on a stationary bike makes sense is if you have no electrical power, i.e. in your cabin in the hills. Or if you want to power a TV or stereo and use them as your incentive to do the exercise.

Consider that 1 horse power is 740 watts (or there abouts). That is 3/4 of a KW. If you can pedal at a rate of 1 HP for 1 hr. (you cannot) you could produce maybe 7 cents worth of electricity (@ $.10/KWH) if your machine were 100% efficient (it would not be).

Realistically you might produce 1/4 that much power if you are in really good shape. Your equipment and the transfer from pedal to electricity and then through the circuitry required to change it to 60Hz AC is probably gonna be 50% efficient at best. You are now looking at 1/8 of 7 cents for an hour of very hard pedaling. Not even a penny an hour.

Even if your equipment cost you a mere $100 it would take 10,000 hours of pedaling to break even. In that many hours your equipment would probably need replacement. You would never break even. In fact, my guess is that it would be a considerable net loss.

From what I have seen an adult in decent shape can put out around 75-100 watts of usable electricity on a bicycle with a generator on it, if you built it I would say that you should use a synconise motor as a generator and gear it so that motor starts to generate when you are pedaling around 70 RPM as that is a nice pace, then have a switch that doesn't make a connection until you hit that speed, this would do away with an inverter and everything else making it really simple.

saunders1313 -

I have always wanted to power my TeeVee with a bike, but I'm too lazy to get it done.

Wasn't there a post/thread on a fitness center in China that gets it's power from it's members?

CarloSW2

Didn't they prove this on Gilligan's Island? Not a new idea then either I would suppose. Didn't early radios (WWII) have hand crank generators?

Yes, and they still have hand-crank generators for a lot of emergency devices such as radios, sirens, lights and even a cell-phone charger. (I've got HC lights for my car and house) I'd use the stationary bike just for the exercise. If it could provide enough power for a fan or radio, that's just gravy for the goose.

If this could be done it would be great for all the fat kids and their xbox's. you can play video games all you want if you charge up your battery first. I can then see the fit kids sell themselves to power the lazy ones and profit. Maybe it wouldn't work, this is the US.

The idea of using a stationary bike to generate energy is being done here in the Philippines. In a City Jail to be exact. The inmates are required to use the stationary bikes to charge a battery that powers their lights at night. They do take turns and are required to do this. The article can be seen here Jail guard’s invention saves on power - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos with the photos and all.

Just an idea I wanted to share, since they are using an ordinary outdoor bike I believe it won't last in the long run. Wouldn't it be a great idea if they purchased used stationary bikes (buying a new one costs $$$) and use the recumbent stationary bike instead of the upright stationary bike (for those who doesn't know the difference check this site used stationary bikes it has photos of different kinds of stationary bikes) to maximize the usage of the bike since it is more relaxed. What do you guys think?

You forgot to factor in the fact that being as skinny as Tiffany Yep would improve your MPG and that during the winter, you'll stay warm and save a lot of energy by reducing heater use. (Conversely, during the summer, it would increase A/C use and not be worth it, unless it's evaporative or hybrid.) And for some, just being skinny like Tiffany Yep is a big benefit in itself.

Although it probably would make even more sense with a load that is already mechanical in nature, such as an air compressor. Now you're comparing the cost of a set of pedals to the cost of a motor, and it's clear what would win.

Building a pedal power bicycle 12 volt generator, ghetto style - EcoRenovator