Human power

[Surfsidevicki]

Hi everyone:

Has anyone ever thought of hooking up a treadmill (human) somehow to create your own power? I know, sounds crazy, but...how crazy? You know, get in shape, make some power.. maybe an alternative and productive way to walk the dog, too? Seriously though, I do want to build my house with alternative forms of energy sources included even though I have all utilities at the street. I'm thinking of solar of course.. but I need to learn ALOT. I just bought one book.. if anyone has suggestions for good resources on this subject I would appreciate it!

Vicki

[rreidnauer]

The thought has been bounced around the net for some time, and I agree, if you're waste energy on an exercise machine, at least put that energy to use. The problem is, the average human can only sustain about 60 watts of output over extended periods. In this case, the better solution is to go out and get your exercise from necessary chores. Use a reel mower to cut the lawn, shovel snow, hand work a garden, chop wood. Not only do you get the exercise, but you're no longer burning gas and oil in mowers, snow blowers, rototillers, chainsaws, and log splitters. Double benefit!

[rreidnauer]

I'll tell you one thing I've learned about solar. There are two ways thinking. 1. BIG and expensive, trying to meet a household's demand. 2. Affordable solutions, where conservation plays a key part to it's success. The question is, which philosophy are you interested in. The answer to this will help as to where to steer you.

Example: I subscribed to Homepower Magazine. I dropped it after the subscription ran out. Why? Because it concentrated solely with large installations, and my interests lie with affordable energy production and conservation efforts. It's amazing how far folks will complicate their lives with compounding problems, when conservation can make life so much easier at times.

"Compounding problems"? Yea, what I mean by that, and I'll take an example from my previous post, is this. A person buys a riding mower to mow their lawn. They also get a treadmill to get the exercise they supposedly need. So now, you got this expensive mower, and you got to feed it gas and change the oil, then the time to do the actual mowing. After that, you got to go spend more time on the expensive treadmill. Instead, ditch the expensive treadmill, the expensive mower, the gas and oil, and just get a reel mower. This way, you eliminate all the expense, maintenance time, and cut your hours down significantly since the chore and exercise are now combined. You now have more money and time to do with as you wish!

The same applies directly to energy production. I can have goo-gobs of solar on the roof to power all kinds of home conveniences, leave the lights/TV/computer on when I'm not in the room, use inefficient lighting, etc. Or, I can ditch all the fancy gadgets, turn off a light switch when I leave a room, and install efficient bulbs. And yes, while the bulbs will cost more upfront, I don't need nearly as many solar panels, I can go with a smaller inverter, and all the associated wiring, saving big bucks.

Modern conveniences or modern headaches? Human power is good, it's just misplaced now-a-days.

[Surfsidevicki]

Hello Rod:

Thanks for your input.. I like your way of thinking! I don't actually own a treadmill.. I prefer being outside running and my remodeling projects do provide exercise! I don't have a yard now, but when I did.. I did have a push mower! As far as conservation goes.. i can give you an example too.. I'm currently switching my electric water heater on and off each day to conserve electricity! It seems that one hour on is enough to heat the water enough for what I need it! I keep the thermostat down at 62 and wear a sweater, bought all the energy efficient lights, etc. So, I'm all about conserving, not consuming...now, if I could just get my kids to turn off the lights! So, I am interested in learning how to build and install solar power (or other) for my (eventual) log home! There's a class offered from Crestone Solar School called Solar Heating and Natural Building Workshop that I'm thinking about (the website I found from someone's post on this site!). I don't want to buy big expensive system, but not sure where to learn what I need to learn!
thanks!

[rreidnauer]

Great! Now I got a good picture of your energy philosophies. Good idea on the water heater, especially if you have peak/off-peak rates, to take advantage of them. 62 is chillier than I care to run, (67~68 for me) but more power to ya!

Sounds like you have a great class lined up. I wouldn't mind taking that one by the sound of it.

Alright some excellent online resources for the conservative thinking type:
Mother Earth News Magazine (http://www.motherearthnews.com/)
Backwoods Home Magazine (http://www.backwoodshome.com/)
Build it Solar (http://builditsolar.com/)
OtherPower (http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_solar.html)
And I'm not sure if it would be a good book, but Solar Power Your Home for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Power-Your-Dummies-Garden/dp/0470175699/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203895897&sr=1-1)

If you read my thread on living off grid (http://loghomebuilders.org/so-ive-pretty-well-decided-go-grid), you can get some interesting ideas on conservation efforts I intend to utilize.

[willmolinar]

You and I think the same way, Rod. It is similar to people that have these high stress jobs and complain about having to work so much. They have so much overhead in their monthly expenses, car payments, high mortgage, going out to fancy restaurants, etc., that they are forced to work a lot to pay for all these things. So when do they have time to enjoy them? Doesn't make sense to me.

I am a personal trainer (among other things) and I have seen so many of my clients stressed out over so many aspects of their lives it has changed me over the years, changed my attitude. These people have tons of money, tons of stress and little happiness. Why not strip away all the crap and live a simpler life? I ride a scooter so I have no car payment. I am about to move onto my land so my rent will be the cost of the loan (about 175/month) so right there I have eliminated a huge portion of expence and stress in my life. Now I can concentrate even more on my writing and other things I want to do like build a log home.

So using this post's example, compounding problems is a common theme in this country. People think all these 'things' will make them happy or a big bad solar array or energy system will give them all the creature comforts they want or think they need but all it does is make things more complicated and stressful. So my philosophy is less is more and simpler is better. People are different but I think most would be surprised if they tried it another way. I have had cable TV or AC for going on five years. I don't miss either. I haven't owned a car, used a microwave, a dishwasher or a bought a new TV for even longer. I just don't want that stuff any more. I like to read. And write.

I am not saying everyone needs to run out into the woods like we all want to and live a Waldon like dream but designing a complicated solar system seems contrary to the idea of this class/organization. Anyway, tangent complete. (=

[battleship]

TAKE ALOOK AT THIS WEBSITE THIS WEBSITE IS (www.StevenHarris.net) or buy the book sunshine to dollars for $20.00 has a whole lot of info about using solar power

Randy Shelby Marlyn Battles