[Narz]

I started a job @ a gym and thought this would be a great idea but haven't found any examples of anyone doing it.

[Narz]

How come I can't see this topic in the forum lists?

[kublikhan]

Because people suck as sources of power. The wear and tear you would put on the equipment costs more than the value of the electricity you would generate:

People are a very poor source of energy. Working flat out, you can maybe generate a third of a horsepower, about 250 watts. That’s about a penny an hour, wholesale, for power. You put more than a penny of wear on the treadmill belt in an hour. If the generator costs $50, it would take 5,000 hours of continuous effort just to break-even. That is over half a year of continuous running. So it looks like the scheme can’t even pay for the equipment, much less pay anyone. And nobody would work for a penny an hour anyway. They would have to eat about $4 of food just to be running for a whole hour. No way to come out ahead on this idea. Never mind the dozens of web sites that promote this idea, it’s crazy.

Why don't we put generators on all exercise equipment and hook the gym to the electrical grid? We could pay people for their effort.

Still, that hasn't stopped people from trying. You can find plenty of examples of things like this on the internet: Power Generator Pulley Rowing Machine, DIY BICYCLE POWERED GENERATOR, This gym gets its power from your workout, Green Micro Gym: Electricity Generating Fitness Equipment, etc.

[theluckycountry]

Yeah, sorry narz, but it's a dumb idea. My Honda lawnmower is 6Hp, that's like 20 men in their prime all going flat out. Admittedly it's self-propelled but the comparison is stark isn't it. This is why we're in a world of hurt when (for all practical purposes) the oil runs out. Buy lots of solar panels now before the crunch if you're young, or look into buying part ownership in a small fuel transport business. The last of the oil will go to the military and farmers no doubt but you could milk some out of the system if you have the right connections. One gas will be like gold, you'll have to keep it under lock and key!

[Pops]

It depends. I'm pretty well of in the scheme of things but I still get up on my own 2 feet to walk to the bathroom. You don't need 20 young studs to power your self-propelled mower, you just need a i-person push mower.

Doing whatever those people in the picture are doing isn't very productive and certainly not worthwhile to power a hair curling appliance or lava lamp but a few minutes on a bike rigged up to a grain grinder can make a week's worth of flour.

The big point that everyone here seems to have forgotten is that there is no replacement for fossils that will allow life as we know it to continue. We won't all be eating grubs next Tuesday but our kids and grandkids are going to have a very different life.

[theluckycountry]

It depends. I'm pretty well of in the scheme of things but I still get up on my own 2 feet to walk to the bathroom. You don't need 20 young studs to power your self-propelled mower, you just need a i-person push mower.

Are you telling me you mow your properties with a push mower pops? Now that would keep you fit. Personally I like to cycle for fitness, and use one of those gyms OP posted to keep my muscles strong.

[kublikhan]

Are you telling me you mow your properties with a push mower pops? Now that would keep you fit.

I used to do this as a kid. Had an old reel mower that was very difficult to push because my dad never maintained it. Fortunately our yards were pretty small. I thought they were all like that. It wasn't until years later that I tried pushing a neighbor's new one. Like night and day, so easy to push. I was so mad at my dad who never did any maintenance on it and made me push the old unmaintained one for years.

[Outcast_Searcher]

Are you telling me you mow your properties with a push mower pops? Now that would keep you fit.

I used to do this as a kid. Had an old reel mower that was very difficult to push because my dad never maintained it. Fortunately our yards were pretty small. I thought they were all like that. It wasn't until years later that I tried pushing a neighbor's new one. Like night and day, so easy to push. I was so mad at my dad who never did any maintenance on it and made me push the old unmaintained one for years.

We had one of those too when I was under 10. My dad made me push it vs. use a power mower, because he didn't want me to do something like get my foot cut off by the power mower.

He was a mechanical engineer and DID maintain it, and it was still a MAJOR BITCH to push, just re the effort of getting the blades to cut thick grass/weeds.

I would cut a thin strip of grass at a time (like a third of a traditional full strip from a push power mower), as that was the optimal force/sweat vs. work plan.

I remember the neighbor kids laughing at me for being so "weak", and when I invited them to try to push it on a full strip of grass, they couldn't even push it and promptly shut up and went away.

So it might not have been you re the effort required, for 60ish year old technology re my experience since I'm sure my dad got his used. I remember it wasn't that it was all that heavy -- the blades didn't cut very well, even when oiled and sharpened.

[Outcast_Searcher]

One of the earliest "Dark Mirror" (GREAT series for those who don't think technology is all unicorns and rainbows, BTW) dystopian technology episodes ("15 million merits") was about a future where people had to earn their keep by using an exercise bike to generate energy, at the bottom rung of society.

Didn't make much sense, as no way would they be able to earn their food, much less their space, medical care, etc, but it made a good story, re social commentary about a possible vision of a very overcrowded earth and limited resources.

[Outcast_Searcher]

Imperfect as they are, green energy ideas like solar and wind and geothermal, which can last for several decades before needing parts replacement, can generate a LOT of net energy over their useful lifetimes.

People, not so much (considering they need to eat, have shelter, etc, coming from that energy budget). There's a reason that farmers, even using horses, oxen, etc. for the heavy work, tended to be rather poor (especially by today's standards) before the era of fossil fuel powered tractors.

[evilgenius]

Didn't they have something like that, an exercise bike, on that show Real People back in the day? It wasn't to combat peak oil, but lazy kids. Whoever's parents had a problem with them lazing around and watching too much TV. They made the kids charge up batteries on the bike to watch the battery powered TV. They called it genius. As a kid, I called it something else.

[kublikhan]

I heard about a guy who did that. The problem was the kids would have to charge up the battery for awhile for their upcoming tv show. Then another kid would come along and 'steal' all of the stored battery power to watch their own show for 'free'. The dad eventually had to go back to the old way of watching TV because of the fighting.

[Pops]

We used push mowers for years. They aren't terrible if the blade is adjusted right. It needs to be straight, sharp and just kiss the reel all the way across. Maybe an eighth turn of the adjustment screw between not cutting and not pushing. And gum trees, oaks, anything that drops little twigs and woody things will bring you up short.

But then lawns are a modern plague to begin with.

It is hard to overestimate the amount of power we consume, completely without thinking. I just bought a Big-Ass LiFePo4 battery bank (the price right now is as low as it has ever been— with the lithium squeeze maybe as low as it will be for a while) and simply totalling up our use is eye opening.

[theluckycountry]

I used to do this as a kid. Had an old reel mower that was very difficult to push because my dad never maintained it. Fortunately our yards were pretty small.

I too used one, I was 11yo from memory, not at home, but for an uncle. The trick was though you had to mow the lawn very very regularly, if it got a bit long the push mower was useless. Then out came the scythe.

[Shaved Monkey]

Reminds me of the episode in Black Mirror

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2089049/

Though they do have exercise bikes in Brisbane airport to charge your phone you pedal (they have regular charging points to )
Not bad to move the legs before or after a long haul flight

[Pops]

Reminds me of the episode in Black Mirror

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2089049/

Though they do have exercise bikes in Brisbane airport to charge your phone you pedal (they have regular charging points to )
Not bad to move the legs before or after a long haul flight

HaHa, yes! I knew I'd seen something like that but couldn't remember where.
Great show, I decided the "black mirror" is a dead screen.