Billionaire designs stationary bike that can power an entire home (+ video)

hawkinspeter wrote:

It'd be really handy if someone could develop a very low power fridge as refridgeration is a major "enabling" technology for people (e.g. a lot of medicines require cooler temperatures) and arguably made the biggest change to Western civilisation in the 20th century. However, you'd be lucky to find a fridge using less than 100W, so you be cycling 24 hours a day to keep that running.

I've often wondered why fridges can't tap into the naturally cooler air outside the house somehow. I guess there's a good reason, but running a fridge (and even a freezer) in the depths of the British winter seems like a massive waste of energy.

thelimopit wrote:

 

I've often wondered why fridges can't tap into the naturally cooler air outside the house somehow. I guess there's a good reason, but running a fridge (and even a freezer) in the depths of the British winter seems like a massive waste of energy.

The simple reason is plumbing. Whilst modern refrigerants are less hazaradous than in the past,  they're still not great. You would need to create a guarenteed leak-free loop and would limit the positioning in the kitchen, with an addtional need for some sort of outside unit. It's not a terrible idea, it's just that a standalone, plug-and-plat fridge and/or freezer unit is so much simpler.

hawkinspeter wrote:

Nice idea, but I think he's over-selling it by claiming that cycling for an hour will power lights and basic appliances for a whole day. A typical person would produce about 0.1kWh after cycling for an hour which would light up a 4W bulb for a day, but not much else.

It'd be really handy if someone could develop a very low power fridge as refridgeration is a major "enabling" technology for people (e.g. a lot of medicines require cooler temperatures) and arguably made the biggest change to Western civilisation in the 20th century. However, you'd be lucky to find a fridge using less than 100W, so you be cycling 24 hours a day to keep that running.

I can see an even simpler problem than that, solar panels are cheaper.  They also have the advantage that no one needs to pedal them, lots of India's poor work very long hours.

As a confirmed tech head, my view on the future of energy is fairly simple.  It's going to mostly be solar.

hawkinspeter wrote:

Nice idea, but I think he's over-selling it by claiming that cycling for an hour will power lights and basic appliances for a whole day. A typical person would produce about 0.1kWh after cycling for an hour which would light up a 4W bulb for a day, but not much else.

It'd be really handy if someone could develop a very low power fridge as refridgeration is a major "enabling" technology for people (e.g. a lot of medicines require cooler temperatures) and arguably made the biggest change to Western civilisation in the 20th century. However, you'd be lucky to find a fridge using less than 100W, so you be cycling 24 hours a day to keep that running.

I think you'll like this then, 

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/blogs/new-refrigerato...

The team explaining it - https://vimeo.com/135330470

bikebot wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Nice idea, but I think he's over-selling it by claiming that cycling for an hour will power lights and basic appliances for a whole day. A typical person would produce about 0.1kWh after cycling for an hour which would light up a 4W bulb for a day, but not much else.

It'd be really handy if someone could develop a very low power fridge as refridgeration is a major "enabling" technology for people (e.g. a lot of medicines require cooler temperatures) and arguably made the biggest change to Western civilisation in the 20th century. However, you'd be lucky to find a fridge using less than 100W, so you be cycling 24 hours a day to keep that running.

I think you'll like this then, 

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/blogs/new-refrigerato...

The team explaining it - https://vimeo.com/135330470

That looks interesting, I hope they manage to perfect that idea. Keeping food from spoiling would be a major help to the world's poor (estimates are that 40% of food is wasted). Just found a simpler "fridge" tech though: http://permaculturenews.org/2008/08/11/a-refrigerator-that-runs-without-...

Must be Mad wrote:

Bravo

So long as the battery has a decent life span, a very useful invention.

I have often wondered why turbo trainers don't connect to the national grid.

i doubt it's worth it. My best hour was 230 watts. How often do people turbo anyway ? 

Id think the cost of connection doesn't justify it. 

fenix wrote:

Must be Mad wrote:

Bravo

So long as the battery has a decent life span, a very useful invention.

I have often wondered why turbo trainers don't connect to the national grid.

 

i doubt it's worth it. My best hour was 230 watts. How often do people turbo anyway ? 

Id think the cost of connection doesn't justify it. 

Aren't we already connected? What does it take to convert to a feed-in system like solar?

carytb wrote:

Good idea to keep those serving at Her Majesty's Pleasure occupied. Want to watch TV this evening? Well get pedalling.

It might be a way to get my kids more active - no peddling  - no TV!