Pedal Power

We are going to continue our walk through alternative energy sources. Yes, we are going to use our leg muscles!

The root word for “pedal” is the Latin pes or ped, meaning foot. Thus, a pedestrian is someone using his feet, and a centipede is a 100-footed little fellow. And pedal power is using a foot, either human or animal, to make things happen.

The first thing we may think of in pedal power is a bicycle. But if we stop and think a moment, there is a simpler form than that—walking!

But today's article will jump over the obvious to take a peek into some lesser know possibilities.

First of all, I have to think of a recent trip to Pennsylvania to visit my wife's relatives. One of her uncles near Ephrata, Pa has designed and is marketing a dog exerciser. Basically this is an overgrown squirrel cage attached to the side of the dog pen. When the dog feels like burning some energy, he jumps in and goes for a run. My first thoughts were, upon seeing this, was that it could probably be hooked up to a small alternator to produce energy. Unfortunately, my wife's uncle was not at home when we were looking at the contraption, so I did not get to ask him if he had thought of or tried the idea of generating power with the exerciser. I would imagine that a larger breed of dog could generate enough power in a day to provide lighting for a house, if the house used energy-squeezing bulbs. To stimulate the dog to action, perhaps the exerciser could be made to pop out a doggy biscuit every 500 revolutions! We might as well convert all these overly-priced energy munchers into energy makers.

Next, I am reminded of a recent innovation where the floor of a dance school or exercise gym was fitted with some kind of system that converted the static electricity generated by the moving feet into usable power. While the electricity generated would not power the air-conditioners, it did provide enough watts for the sound system. Oh, well, at least it was a start.

From there, my mind runs to treadmills for horses and dogs. These have been around for a while, with one Mennonite man near Liberty, Ky actually manufacturing them still. There are other models of commercial “exercisers” available for horses, which no doubt could be fitted to a generator or line-shaft. From the 5 digit prices I have seen on these commercial models, they would not be competitive with a simple generator. But keep in mind that these commercial models are built for folks that seem to have money to burn, viz. racing horses. I would think that a simple model could be made for a reasonable price.

Near Scottsville, KY I remember seeing several horses powering a feed-grinder or sawmill, using the differential out of a vehicle to convert the circling of the horses into the usable revolutions of a line shaft. And of course, the concept of pedal power—using the base root of the definition of pedal—includes using horses or dogs to simply pull a cart or wagon from point A to point B.

Finishing up our walk through various ideas, we end up at a good option for those who could stand to lose a few pounds--hooking the exercise bike to a generator. “Crazy Jerry”--a self-given name--Bartlett near Colton, NY has fixed a car alternator to his racing bike, now stationary. For up to two hours a day he pumps out electricity and keeps in shape. While his biking exercise would not start and run a regular refrigerator, it will charge batteries and run small appliances.

I have no idea of the conversion rate of pounds to kilowatts. Anyone out there want to be the “guinea pig” and be a working model of converting excess body weight to kilowatts? I live off-grid myself, and would not object if you bring your exercise bike to my house and charge my batteries!