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[Leslie <cayadopi AT yahoo.com>]

Don, do you have any idea how one might be able to hook up a stationary 
bicycle to an ??? alternator???? and then to a battery to help charge them 
while exercising?
What would I do, just somehow fix the alternator so it wouldn't move and 
attach an alternator belt?  There is a local alternator shop, is this 
something they might be able to rig up?
 
 
I saw it in an old movie the other day and thought it would be a good idea to 
help out on cloudy days,
 
 

 
 
 
Leslie wrote:
> 2000 watts is not going to going to provide much electricity.  That is 2k 
> for an entire day.  There are some "solar generators" available for low 
> cost that provide that kind of KW.  They are similar to a backup gas 
> generator for short power outages, except instead of an engine they have a 
> deep cycle battery, and a solar panel.  The ones I've seen have wheels and 
> a handle to make moving them around easy.
>  
I doubt if they would provide 2KW for any length of time.  2 KW is a bit 
over 16 Amps at 120 VAC and 166 Amps at 12 VDC.  A T-105 Deep cycle 
battery weighs 45 pounds and two are needed.  Maximum discharge rate of 
a battery is C/20 or 20% of the Ah rating.  For a 220 Ah that is 44 
Amps.  44 Amps in 10 hours will completely discharge the battery and 
that 44 Amps is 480 Watts at 120 VAC.  Plus batteries do not being 
discharged below 50% State of Charge, it leads to a very early battery 
death.

There is no free lunch and god does not exist.

-- 
Don Bowen          KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html

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From: Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Thu, February 4, 2010 3:50:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Homestead] Shaking the grid




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I

> >Don, do you have any idea how one might be able to hook up a stationary
> bicycle to an ??? alternator???? and then to a battery to help charge them
> while exercising?

This is going to fall into the 'no free lunch' category.  How much exertion
are you going to have to expend to generate one kilowatt hour of
electricity?

If you weigh 150 lbs and can run a mile in 8 minutes, you will burn about
128 kilocalroies of energy doing so ... about what's in one slice of bread.

One kilowatt of electricity is 860 kilocalories.  If you could convert your
muscular activity directly into electricity with no loss (100% efficiency),
 you would be doing the work equivalent of running six and three quarters
miles in a little less than an hour.

But alas, you're body is not 100% efficient, nor is your bicycle,
generator, nor batteries.  A optimistic estimation of the cumulative 
inefficiencies
would put your kilocalorie of food conversion into electricity at 50%.

This means to charge your home electrical system with one kilowatt hour of
electricity, you will do the work equivalent of running (running, not
walking or jogging) more than thirteen miles in two hours.  And that's if you
weigh 150 lbs and are unbelievably fit.

In practical terms, if you wanted to run one fluorescent shop light fixture
(80 watts) for one hour, you have work out on that bicycle the equivalent
of running that 8 minute mile.  (factoring in my above 50% efficiency in the
system).

And if you are on the grid, you will have saved a little more than half a
cent.

James

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