UserName | Title | Description | Update |
eng58 | Prediction of powering homes with the physical activity of the residents isn’t feasible | At the Niagara Falls Power Project visitor center they have an exhibit with an exercise bike, alternator, and 100 watt light bulb. If you peddle as hard as you can you can just get the bulb to full brightness. It’s hard work though, and you can’t keep up the pace for more than about a minute. Even a small energy efficient house uses many more times the energy of a 100 watt bulb. Any amount of energy harvested from physical activity is going to impede that activity and make it more difficult. You can’t generate energy without a cost. Just to generate a tiny fraction of what your house would require would make daily life in the house difficult and tiring. You could save yourself that by purchasing that same amount of energy from your utility for about a buck or two per month. |
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
11:43 AM
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