Start harvesting all the energy from the gym, there is so much mechanical energy that is waiting to be harvested but it goes nowhere, we should harvest it all.

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cpt_ugh@reddit

This BBC video has 80 cyclists trying to keep up with powering a single home.

And I suspect that stationary bikes would be far more efficient and energy conversion than other gym equipment.

I would also argue it's probably not worth it or else we'd have done it already.

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Under_Average_8713@reddit

On average it would probably be a few cents per bike a day. So even if it was free or nearly free to implement not worth th hassle for most gyms. But it could be used for marketing.

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Wide_Philosophy_8109@reddit

Maybe hook it up to phone chargers? That'd motivate you to go fast?

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Nectarpalm@reddit

That's just a shitty product and bad user experience

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I used to work for a fitness-equipment company, and the Product team suggested we add a feature on the control panels of our treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc., showing calorie equivalents of the user workload. So, a Candy Bar, Cheeseburger, Pizza Slice, Hot Fudge Sundae, etc..

"Great idea! Work out the numbers, Jim."

Well, when Jim came back with the numbers, they were very disappointing. As anyone who works out knows, the human body is very efficient at storing energy, but not so efficient at converting/producing it.

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cpt_ugh@reddit

I can see it now.

"Phew! That was a good 20 minute run and I worked off ... WTF? 3 lousy French fries? Screw this."

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Piece_Maker@reddit

Also this video of Robert Förstemann, a renowned track cyclist who's legs are so massive they literally became a meme, struggling to power a toaster long enough to actually make toast

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speculator100k@reddit

A toaster has a very high power requirement though.

He could "easily" output 150W for hours, which would be more than enough to light up a family home with 30 5W LED lights.

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IamLeven@reddit

Him individually might not be great at putting out 150w for a while. A lot of track sprinters have pretty awful sustained power even if that is what should be z2 based on how much his max is.

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SPARKLEOFHOPE6IB@reddit

150w is peanuts for him, like you said easy z2, he could do that for a long time if needed

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IamLeven@reddit

I have a friend has competed at the olympics and they have an few minute power but they got almost 0 endurance. The average ride will be under 150w.

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speculator100k@reddit

But the average ride is also longer than a couple of hours, isn't it?

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IamLeven@reddit

Most aren't above 2. Spends a lot of time at the track.

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Openingfines@reddit

It really speaks to how efficient bicycling is.

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Piece_Maker@reddit

Well, my family home has more things in it than a few 4W LED lights (a toaster, for example!)

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SamLooksAt@reddit

If you want to see what true hardcore cycling for (hydraulic) power looks like go and watch footage of the last America's Cup.

Each boat had a crew of cyclists powering all the sail trimming etc...

It looked like freaking torture!!

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TheGrumpyre@reddit

Is that guy from Belleville?

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Smokin_belladonna@reddit

I think a better use would be to harness the potential energy of lifting weight plates. Could essentially just have them “never come back down, except by expending potential energy” these could act more as a type of battery to help power the grid during only peak hours.

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Anon-Knee-Moose@reddit

The major downside is that lowering the weights is a big part of the workout.

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anonymfus@reddit

Moving 200 kg on 1 m vertically makes a 200 kg ⨯ 9.81 N/kg ⨯1 m = 1962 J difference in the potential energy. This is enough to power 5 W LED for 6 minutes 32 seconds or that 700 W toaster from a video in a sibling comment for 2.8 seconds.

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PeterNippelstein@reddit

The electricity produced by the bikes probably wouldnt even be enough to run the lights in the gym.

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Extension-Profit67@reddit

it is not much energy

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Watthefractal@reddit

Wait till you realise how much energy is wasted with every single word any and all humans speak…..

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stoneoftheicemen@reddit

Have you not seen the matrix? Don’t give the machines ideas.

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-soros@reddit

You said harvest 3 times in one sentence.

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ddollarsign@reddit

Not to mention the fuel that's thrown away by lipo clinics.

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Independent-Fruit4@reddit

that’s for making soap

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Ok-Library5639@reddit

You would be surprised how little energy a human generates, even when doing a sustained effort.

A normal non-athelete human can generate continuously about 100W. That is a lot of power for a human and incredibly nothing for our power grid.

Even if you had 10 gym users jogging or doing elliptical or whatever, you'd barely barely cover the power requirements of their office, computers, Wi-Fi and maybe some lights. And that is as long as those people are doing the exercise. Forget about water heating and HVAC.

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kunislaw101@reddit

Mechanical energy itself is crazy small compared to other types.

To get 1 litre of water from 20 to 100 degrees needs 1420080 joules of energy. To lift an 80 kg object by 420 metres needs very approximately 1042080.

Your one hour hike 400 metres uphill that takes an hour? To cover the elevation you need as much energy as you need to make a few cups of tea.

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felicitywins@reddit

I almost thought it would take two hours

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frivolousfry@reddit

There's a whole Rick and Morty episode about this concept.

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rasputin1@reddit

and black mirror

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CloudCumberland@reddit

15 Million Merits

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bionicjoey@reddit

That just sounds like slavery with extra steps!

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A_Rolling_Baneling@reddit

Eek barba durkle someone’s gonna get laid in college

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Legitimate-Web-5540@reddit

That’s just slavery Rick!

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DuckMySick44@reddit

Fuck you? No no no, fuck me!

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ysfex3@reddit

Utilities sponsored gyms. Free membership and help to lower your power bill in the process!!

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r5r5@reddit

Every treadmill should at least power one toaster. It’s basic sustainability.

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John_Tacos@reddit

A toaster is one of the most energy consuming household appliance.

You can power a blender with a hand crank, and an enter house worth of LED lights with an exercise bike.

But a toaster uses as much energy as a microwave.

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Invisible7hunder@reddit

The absolute strongest track cyclist in the world when going at an all out short effort can barely generate enough energy to run a toaster.

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allenrfe@reddit

Do you understand that it takes energy to make a treadmill turn, and most could not generate enough energy for a toaster.

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Anachronism--@reddit

A world class cyclist going all out for an hour could average about 400 watts. That’s about ten cents worth of electricity. Your average gym goer would generate much less and would rather use their energy in a way that improved their fitness more vs generating a few more pennies of electricity.

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eyeballburger@reddit

My zombie apocalypse setup includes having my house surrounded by treadmills with dynamos.

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One_Recover_673@reddit

Unfortunately it doesn’t create enough to justify the cost of setting it up in the first place.

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Cryogenicist@reddit

Even if you could pull this off economically (that’s the killer!) the gym goes still waste more energy driving their huge cars to the gym and back

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Limp_Bookkeeper_5992@reddit

It’s been done a few times as a marketing gimmick, but it’s a bad idea overall. Humans put out very little energy overall, for an average workout you’d get around 100w/hour.

Now that seems like a useable amount until you realize that adding in the ability to capture and use that power requires the machines to all be built differently. The energy used to develop, build and install all of the new machinery will far outweigh the energy harvested by the machines in their lifetimes, so you’d end up with a net loss of energy from the project.

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Wendals87@reddit

There really isn't that much. Maybe 200 watts for so for a really fit person. Not really enough to even cover the equipment

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Limp_Bookkeeper_5992@reddit

Cycling is by far the most efficient way to harvest energy from humans, and spinning wheels like bikes have are the best way we have to generate electricity in this kind of setting, so let’s use cycling for an example.

Putting out 200W of power for an hour straight is something that only mid to high level enthusiast cyclists can do, an average person would be down around 100W. Then you have the inefficiencies of your generator and all of the friction in the system to deal with, so for an average person you’d get maybe 75w/hour.

So you’re correct, it’s quite useless as an energy source.

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speculator100k@reddit

It could be a novelty thing, e.g. 10 bikes hooked up to 1-2-3 EV chargers on the outside. When all bikes are occupied, they would charge one of the connected cars for 10 minutes, then switch to the next one.

10 bikes could generate 1500-2500W, enough to slowly charge an EV.

It would not make much of an energy saving or environmental impact, but it would be fun to set up as an engineering project.

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Remarkable_Sorbet319@reddit

rather than harvesting, they are investing energy into it

a treadmill uses electricity. ..idk about the rest because I don't go there

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speculator100k@reddit

There are passive treadmills. They are sort of banana shaped.

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Only_Information7895@reddit

The bike actually generates electricity. It doesn't have wires and if you pedal the screen comes on with the sensor data.

There is also a treadmill design in a similar way. The "ground" is curved so as you run you can roll the thread on your own power which again powers the display (speed and distance info). Imagine it like a quarter hamster wheel.

Also electric resistance doesn't wear out parts like friction resistance and isn't super loud like aerodynamic resistance so you can freely adjust the pedaling difficulty without the bike wearing out faster.

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Remarkable_Sorbet319@reddit

that sounds really cool, I think we will manage to get back to the mechanical engineering 1800-1950 stuff, just this time with electricity that can self power every item somehow. would be so cool if that can happen

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Phssthp0kThePak@reddit

These ideas are why average people should have no say in energy policy.

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moneyprinter101@reddit (OP)

oh wow, look a crazy most probably a not practical idea in r/crazyideas, lets call the op a average person and spread bs

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PlayPretend-8675309@reddit

What's the math? Like a bench press, moving 100 lbs roughly 2 feet, 12 reps a minute, 16 hours a day, that's... 8.4 million feet.

How much energy is that?

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Traveller7142@reddit

Assuming 100% energy conversion, it’s an average generation rate of 35 watts. Enough to power a handful of LED light bulbs

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Freltunes@reddit

Didn't Top Gear do this to charge an electric car?

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XROOR@reddit

Harvest it to heat a huge Sauna the size of a division 1 basketball stadium

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moneyprinter101@reddit (OP)

Why do i hear the bald eagle cry?

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DalenSpeaks@reddit

Had this idea 20 years ago.

Call it: The Power Plant Gym.
Free to join.
Free to workout.
Fees for when you don’t go.
Fees to cancel.

Problem: VERY hard to capture the energy.
Solution: everything is group. Group treadmill. Group riding. Group bikes.

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moneyprinter101@reddit (OP)

yep sure i can contribute my 3.67 dollars