Human Power Generator from Windstream Power
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA 
on 11. 9.06
Good for emergencies, off-grid applications or for when you just want a little exercise, the Human Power Generator from Windstream Power can be pedaled or cranked by hand to charge 12 volt batteries and run small appliances. The product page says the average continuous power that can be generated by pedaling is about 80 watts; 50 watts if you're cranking by hand; a comment from Hugg by a user says 200 watts is attainable (300 if you're Lance Armstrong). The generator is available with a "Portable Power Pack" which includes a storage battery, 300 watt inverter (with 800 watt peak power), LED battery voltage readout, connection cables, and a 120 volt outlet to turn your calories into useful power. For anyone really interested in avoiding grid power, the company's wind turbines and solar applications can also be connected alongside the human power generator to cram even more energy into the power pack. If the Human Power Generators work well enough to power a Medeski, Martin & Wood soundcheck at Orlando's House of Blues (pictured), we're willing to bet it'd be handy around the house. See also the Freecharge pedal generator and a DIY pedal-power project. ::Windstream Power via energyenthusiast at ::Hugg
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I would like to see this incorporate in every school and gym in America.
I would also love to see this combined with a video game console low powered enough so that you could still come up with a net gain in power by playing/cycling.
I would like to see this incorporated in every school and gym in America.
I would also love to see this combined with a video game console low powered enough so that you could still come up with a net gain in power by playing/cycling.
Put 20 of these in a gym and you could take a big chunk out of its carbon footprint. In fact, exercise equipment could all be redesigned to extract the energy expended and turn it into electricity.
I've been looking for one of these ever since I saw the movie Soylant Green. Charles Heston powered his entire apartment by peddling for several hours to charge up the batteries. And after WWIII, I'm gonna still need a way to charge my PSP & laptop.
Indeed, why doesn't every piece of workout equipment feed electricity back into the grid? Is it the cost of a grid-tied inverter for each one, or that each one would need to get approval from the power company?
I'd switch gyms in a heartbeat to one that did something useful with all the calories expended. Go ask your gym!
needs some TI or clipless pedals
For an art exhibition in Brisbane, I created the first prototype for a series of generators incorperated into GYM machines. The rowing concept 2 machine. It's called alpha 4 GENERATOR, and is part of a series of art works which started from 2000.
http://www.seastories.sg/generator.htm
And yes my aim is to Extract the energy expanded the what I see as an urban human condition,gym culture. This current one is powering up an IP camera, and a desk lamp, So it's build for online networking, however we are still sorting out with the system admin in the building to be able to see it on the internet, right now it's just internal networked.
I am currently looking to develop a line of exercise equipment that is also a generator. It would tie into a persons house just like a solar array and so would be easy to use. I doubt that it would be enough to power an entire house (Unless you are training for a triathalon) but it would save some money on electric bills and lower carbon impact. My biggest problem is showing that there is a market for a product like this. If anyone thinks they would be interested in something like this please drop me a line. I'm also working on several other projects like a floor that is kinetic generator to turn all that walking into electricity.
I am currently looking to develop a line of exercise equipment that is also a generator. It would tie into a persons house just like a solar array and so would be easy to use. I doubt that it would be enough to power an entire house (Unless you are training for a triathalon) but it would save some money on electric bills and lower carbon impact. My biggest problem is showing that there is a market for a product like this. If anyone thinks they would be interested in something like this please drop me a line. I'm also working on several other projects like a floor that is kinetic generator to turn all that walking into electricity.
I'm interested in generator exercise equipment
I would definitely be interested - but only if it was realistic. I mean if you could cycle for an hour and your hubby could cycle for an hour and that would generate electricity for one day that would be brilliant!
A more practical way of generating electricity from pedaling is to simply use a bicycle in a training stand with the back tire resting on a DC permanent magnet generator. This generator connects to a charge controller which connects to a battery array which connects to an inverter.
This is more efficient because instead of having to setup a chair that allows you to pedal using this stand alone device it's just like riding a bike which results in more comfortable operation. Also, when you're done you can unhook the training stand and go out for a bike ride. ;)