I made an offhand reference in 1001 Energy Tips about some homemade tech I had found online, people trying to harness the power of their fitness machines into making electricity. I peddle away as often as I can during the day, via two Cubii elliptical machines, one under each main desk I use. I also have two stationary bicycles in the house, one that’s a plug-in monster with magnetic resistance; the other is an old-style, upright bicycle with nothing electrical about it.
I could make some serious watts if all the rotation I do to my exercise machines every day could be converted into electricity. That was one of my “Future Tech!” ideas in the book. I thought for sure it couldn’t be done. Recently, I found out I wasn’t the first person to have this idea.
O.M.G. but I discovered the other day that somebody actually makes such a device. And not just for stationary bikes but for treadmills, ellipticals, and upright bikes, too. They’re made by SportsArt, with their Eco-Powr line of sports equipment. You just plug the machine into a wall socket and – voila! – while you’re working out a small amount of electrical power goes back into the electrical circuit! Naturally, some of the electricity is used to make the machine’s sensors and display work, but they claim 74% of the power you make “goes back into the facility grid,” meaning to power other appliances in the building.
Wow. Sign me up.
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Excerpted from Going Green, available as an eBook at this list of eBook retailers online.