Pedal Powered Television

Beat the energy crisis and get healthy at the same time. This device is REAL, and you can build it yourself from plans offered at http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedgen/plans.html

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• energy
• pedal
• television
• health
• generator
• blackout
• emergency
• backup
• diy
• off-grid
• green
• exercise
• machine
• gizmo
• technology

[bluedevils22766]

That's a sweet idea, but that guy was pedaling pretty fast and could not keep the capacitor charged. We saw it drop about 2 volts in about 40 seconds. I'm sure that that inverter will shutdown when the voltage gets to about 10 or 11 volts. How long can someone keep the TV on?

[mjnesbitt]

Hi,

The roller drive roller was slipping. Sustaining 120 watts is a workout, but on a properly adjusted PPPM it can be done. I generate at that page for 45-60 Watt-hours every morning. That would more than keep up with that TV.

[kaizercharles]

Very nice and neat setup here.

Charging power caps gives to fill the power needed like a buffer tank.

You can use your cap to run and energize and run an alternator for more power.

[destry3346]

I would love to see these manufactured. I think if different gears and pulleys were used it could be made to be much easier to pedal (e.g. like the gears on a ten-speed bike). What do you think?

[HolySpiritSentMe]

How do you store the power generated?  5*****s

[destry3346]

Beautiful Idea. These should be mass produced at an affordable price, say.... about $300-$1,000. These could reduce childhood and adult obesity, diabetes and a whole lot of other obesity related diseases. Come on President and Mrs. Obama. This is something they should create a task force to design and produce.

[sunharvester]

great video! thanks for sharing

[Cradle2Venus]

i remember soemthing similar being marketed on TV, you just had to plug the TV into the base of a certain stationary bike... The reason it didn't take off is because most that could afford such a gizmo would rather sit on the couch and relax than have a workout...

However, I do think this would be a good way for fitness centers to generate a portion of their facility energy needs (if set up correctly).

[Harwkins39]

53 Farads is a lot of stored energy. How many amp-hrs can you get out this? It must be equivalent to some amount of amp-hrs in a battery.

[BasementBen]

Very Very nice!

[mjnesbitt]

To run TVs with degaussing circuits, yes, you need either a battery or a capacitor. You don't need a 58 Farad capacitor, but you need something. The degauss circuit draws more power than you can pedal, so the voltage drops and the inverter cuts out when it kicks in.

Flat panel TVs don't have this problem (no degaussing circuit).

[ag72]

do you have to have a capasitor? what is it for? cant you just run directly to the 400 watt 12v inverter? great vid!