Would you consider a power generating bike in your home??

[alfiethetortoise]

Just watched an interesting programme on BBC. 80 cyclists worked to generate power in a home of two adults and two children. They unplugged the house from the mains and the house relied extremely on the cyclists. Every time an electric appliance was used, the cyclists had to pedal harder and faster.

So it got me thinking, would you have a bike in your home in order to cut down on some bills? Or even, if you could use the power to provide for the tortoise? Or in a power failure, you could use the power bike as a 'generator'. In the credit crunch world of sustainibility doesn't everyone have a duty to be providing ourselves with some of the power we use?

Though i try to be 'environmentally aware' i am first to admit by 8am i have normally boiled the kettle twice, used the microwave, toaster, and turned on the washing machine. All this added on to the central heating, lights, and Alfie's heat lamp and UVB strip.... perhaps i should get myself off this power crunching machine, light some candles and start peddling....

 

[Stephanie Logan]

If they could hook a generator up to my Stairmaster, I'd be an enthusiastic motor! Biking is hard on my wrists, but my husband, our older son (an avid triathlete), and our middle daughter could provide quite a bit of power...as with solar energy though, the probable "glitch" is that the power cannot be stored to use later. Boy, someone could sure get stinking rich by inventing a device or process to store solar/wind(?)/bicycle power!!

 

[dmmj]

I would prob go for it, but one person prob can not generate any long term energy. It might be a good idea for blackouts though.

 

[chadk]

I would love it if you had to pedal while watching TV or play a video game. My kids would be hooked up for sure As it is, we don't have TV (just netflix) and only free games they can play online....

Where i live, most of our electricity comes from hydro power. So at least I don't have to feel the 'guilt' (not that I would...) of increasing my 'carbon footprint' if we relied on coal for example. And no guilt leaving the tap running when I brush my teeth or take a long shower. Our water comes from massive reservours in the mountains here and the snow pack has been way more than they can handle. Between all the fall rain and spring rain + snow melt, most of the water is let out of the spillways.

They want to be able to sell our water\electricity though, so they as us to conserve... And they lie and tell us we are helping the environment when we do. No, we are helping you make more money - at least be honest about it!!

 

[Stephanie Logan]

They want to be able to sell our water\electricity though, so they as us to conserve... And they lie and tell us we are helping the environment when we do. No, we are helping you make more money - at least be honest about it!!

Wow! And I thought they only did that here in Colorado.... We conserved so much water after the drought of '02 that they had to raise rates, to keep their profits up! It's a curious business model.

 

[dmmj]

It happens in calif all the time, the Water company pleads and begs with us to conserve water and when we do they raise our rates because they are not making enough money, and then I drive in the rain and see the city watering the grass, that makes me sick.

 

[Kadaan]

"Every little bit helps", and I think it would be cool to have a little monitor saying how many kilowatt hours you've generated and how much savings that ends up being.

Nothing is free though, and I wonder how many years of pedaling it would take to generate enough electricity to offset how much energy was required just to make the bike and all the wiring to hook it up. For such a small gain, it seems like more of a novelty than a real energy/money saver.

 

[Madkins007]

If they could hook a generator up to my Stairmaster, I'd be an enthusiastic motor! Biking is hard on my wrists, but my husband, our older son (an avid triathlete), and our middle daughter could provide quite a bit of power...as with solar energy though, the probable "glitch" is that the power cannot be stored to use later. Boy, someone could sure get stinking rich by inventing a device or process to store solar/wind(?)/bicycle power!!

Storage batteries are already used for wind, mechanical (pedal, etc.), and solar systems. Pretty common solution.

 

[fhintz]

It happens in calif all the time, the Water company pleads and begs with us to conserve water and when we do they raise our rates because they are not making enough money, and then I drive in the rain and see the city watering the grass, that makes me sick.

It irritates me when I'm driving and I see the city watering concrete (i.e. their water sprinklers aren't even hitting grass but landing mostly on a street or sidewalk)

 

[dmmj]

It happens in calif all the time, the Water company pleads and begs with us to conserve water and when we do they raise our rates because they are not making enough money, and then I drive in the rain and see the city watering the grass, that makes me sick.

It irritates me when I'm driving and I see the city watering concrete (i.e. their water sprinklers aren't even hitting grass but landing mostly on a street or sidewalk)

Me too but the concrete watering is usually overflow from grass watering, not always but most of the time, but it burns my britches when I see the city watering when it rains.

 

[stells]

If you get someone to pedal it then yeah i'm game... maybe a nice bloke in cycling shorts.....

If not no thanks....