A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
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A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
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Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#2This reminds me of an old (misleading) graphic in Wired magazine suggesting that people on treadmills could be significantly reducing their electricity bills.
Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#3This reminds me of an old (misleading) graphic in Wired magazine suggesting that people on treadmills could be significantly reducing their electricity bills.
I've often wondered if it would be viable to run a gym where all of the equipment is designed to harness customers' energy to help power the building. I suspect it wouldn't make enough of a difference to be worth it but have never seen anyone run the numbers.
Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#4TIL one gallon of gas is 120 lightning bolts, and the relative cost of energy between electricity and fuel is near equilibrium.
Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#5This reminds me of an old (misleading) graphic in Wired magazine suggesting that people on treadmills could be significantly reducing their electricity bills.
I've often wondered if it would be viable to run a gym where all of the equipment is designed to harness customers' energy to help power the building. I suspect it wouldn't make enough of a difference to be worth it but have never seen anyone run the numbers.
Let's say a person outputs 500W and we can somehow capture all of it. That would be 10cents worth of electricity in an hour.
Note that these are very generous estimates, but it does demonstrate how silly the idea of trying to generate electricity by capturing exercise output is (in a purely economic sense).
Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've often wondered if it would be viable to run a gym where all of the equipment is designed to harness customers' energy to help power the building. I suspect it wouldn't make enough of a difference to be worth it but have never seen anyone run the numbers.
Let's say a person outputs 500W and we can somehow capture all of it. That would be 10cents worth of electricity in an hour. Note that these are very generous estimates, but it does demonstrate how silly the idea of trying to generate electricity by capturing exercise output is (in a purely economic sense).
Yes, and the Wired graphic was particularly misleading in that it showed, as I recall, multiple dollar amounts accumulating on per-session treadmill displays.
On the other hand, it is possible to imagine lifestyles enhanced by various 10W contributions. 10W for heated clothing. 10W for a laptop. 10W average to power a several km electric bicycle or Aptera-size commute. And so on.
Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#7This reminds me of an old (misleading) graphic in Wired magazine suggesting that people on treadmills could be significantly reducing their electricity bills.
Olympic track cycling medallist powers toasting a slice of bread, which takes everything he's got and leaves him exhausted: https://youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ
Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's say a person outputs 500W and we can somehow capture all of it. That would be 10cents worth of electricity in an hour. Note that these are very generous estimates, but it does demonstrate how silly the idea of trying to generate electricity by capturing exercise output is (in a purely economic sense).
Yes, and the Wired graphic was particularly misleading in that it showed, as I recall, multiple dollar amounts accumulating on per-session treadmill displays. On the other hand, it is possible to imagine lifestyles enhanced by various 10W contributions. 10W for heated clothing. 10W for a laptop. 10W average to power a several km electric bicycle or Aptera-size commute. And so on.
This isn't exactly what you are talking about, but this art/concept for self-powered student housing came to mind: https://www.humanpowerplant.be/human_power_plant/human-power...
Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#9This reminds me of an old (misleading) graphic in Wired magazine suggesting that people on treadmills could be significantly reducing their electricity bills.
It would because people would become very aware of the energy sinks and its cost :)
Some city noticed changes in consumption when new houses had meter installed on ground floor rather than in the basement.
Re: A lightning bolt would be worth only about a nickel (2015)
#10This reminds me of an old (misleading) graphic in Wired magazine suggesting that people on treadmills could be significantly reducing their electricity bills.
Olympic track cycling medallist powers toasting a slice of bread, which takes everything he's got and leaves him exhausted: https://youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ
That reminds me of a thread I saw on an Internet forum a few years ago about some guy suggesting powering his fridge with a bicycle during a power outage. Turns out this is an extremely complicated problem which is probably best solved by ignoring it.