All across the land, people go to the gym to get fit. This is a good thing, as healthier people reduce the burden on the NHS.

However, all those machines trundling along, be they rowing machines, treadmills, cross trainers or whatever, why has no one ever thought of hooking them up to a little generator and using all the gym bunnies to put a little electricity back in to the grid or something? Perhaps even power some of the lights in the gym, maybe?

(Post comes from one with virtually no knowledge of electricity generation, so may be a complete non-starter!)

Or why not ban exercise completely, more people would die of obesity related diseases then they would defiantly be less strain on the NHS!

Your not alowed to think like that though.

I’ve been thinking along the same lines for a while. Your major problem is the massive variation of machine manufacturers and the ways they make you “work”. A power generation system in a bike for example would be a LOT more expensive than the current systems of simple flywheels or fans connected. These would need electrnic control and even more electronics to hook them up to the grid. It would require either a company to produce a whole range of like-generating products or a standard to be devised across the industry. Many many barriers.

I’ve had exactly the same thought, there must be enough energy produced to supply the gym itself, surely? I suppose the problem is storing it, I don’t think it would be constant enough to go back into the grid?

Mrs BigJohn gets grumpy if the gym car park is full and she has to park in the one 200yds away.

She tends to drive down to Aerobics but cycle down to spinning.

it’s a good idea, and has been done though obviously not widespread.

The Green Micro Gym

sofatester – Member
Or why not ban exercise completely, more people would die of obesity related diseases then they would defiantly be less strain on the NHS!

Brilliant! We could then render them down and use the tallow to fuel the few remaining power stations that will be required for those thin people who are left. We could start by intoducing free Fish & Chips and Big Macs for BNP supporters – solve several problems in one go.

I’ve thought the same about prisons… replace pool tables and TV’s with electricity gernerating treadmills so all the sickintheheads can do something worthwhile for the rest of us who have to pay to keep them in there.

Kev

If you could have power generating keyboards, that generated leccy every time a key was pressed, STWers would probbly generate enough energy to power Birmingham (or a simliar sized city).

Power generated by human muscles is miniscule in real terms.
You can get equipment that powers itself, I doubt that there would be any additional power left after that.

I wonder how much power your average gym person can actually produce? If you then assume the machines are actually going at 50% of the time or so, and that there is some level of inefficiency in converting it to electricity, I’d be surprised if you could power very much with it.

Although Rinky Dink sound system manage to power a whole sound system off two cyclists: http://pages.zoom.co.uk/rinky-dink/technical.htm

They are getting 120W off two people constantly pedalling. So I guess with a gym full of machines, you might get a bit of power. But then you’d have to look at how much energy is used in running a gym, I bet it wouldn’t even power that.

Joe

However it has given me an offshoot idea.

All fast food outlet sales points MUST have a running machine going at 5mph (TBD) infront of them and the consumer must be able to stay there long enough to fulfill their order……. that should help a fair bit, sure it will cost some extra electricity but just imagine the spectator sport value ….

brilliant !

Going by my gym no one will use anything that doesn’t have a TV built into it which would probably negate any power produced

i stayed on a hippy commune in Oz for two months. there they had a washing machine rigged up to the rear end of a bike. if you wanted someting washed you’d have to pedal away like mad for 45 mins.

worked well if you could stomach riding nowhere in swealtering heat. as it was my mate and i never really wore much other than a pair of shorts or jeans so only used it once.

lots of things on the farm were powered using wind or solar energy.

we helped build dig and build a pond/dam. they had a small turbine about the size of your arm that they were going to sink into the out-flow pipe. they reckoned it’d produce enough power for the whole farm (15 people)

I’ve only been into a gym a few times (nasty horrible places). Lots of people exercising on the machines are reading magazines, which implies that they’re not working very hard, so producing very little power.

Heh Alpin did the Oz ladies have any personal equipment that needed an alternative to batteries? – this I believe is a matter of some concern

miketually – Member
I’ve only been into a gym a few times (nasty horrible places). Lots of people exercising on the machines are reading magazines, which implies that they’re not working very hard, so producing very little power.

Or frickin’ talking, all the way through a spin class. Now if there was a way to harness the power of their jaw muscles, we may be on to a winner.

Matt

You can get equipment that powers itself

obviating the need for exercise ??