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--- pedp:pedal-powered [2025/12/17 04:30] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1
+++ pedp:pedal-powered [2026/03/26 18:33] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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-# Pedal-powered machines
+This topic is part of [[gt:power|Power & heating]].
+====== Pedal-powered machines ======
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-## What are pedal-powered machines?
+===== What are pedal-powered machines? =====
 Pedal-powered machines can either be driven directly by the turning pedals, or by electricity generated by the turning pedals. The former is very simple, relying on belts, friction wheels and / or gears rather than motors, batteries or inverters – although they’re used for machines that involve motion, like grinders, blenders or sewing machines (and of course, [bicycles](/cycl/cycling)!), rather than non-moving or digital kit like lights, laptops or TVs.
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-## What are the benefits of pedal-powered machines?
+===== What are the benefits of pedal-powered machines? =====
 - Good exercise – but even better, you don’t waste your energy. On a stationary exercise bike all the energy produced is simply wasted as heat. Replace the resistance unit with a generator or a mechanically-driven machine and you can do useful work as you’re cycling ...
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-## What can I do?
+===== What can I do? =====
 You can’t power an entire house via pedal-power. A fit (every day) cyclist may generate an average of 70W for an hour, and 160W in short bursts; and a Tour de France rider can sustain approximately 400W, or up to 1kW peaks! Let’s work with a figure of around 100 Watt-hours from an hour’s cycling. A unit of electricity on your bill is a kilowatt-hour (1 kWh), so you’d be generating one-tenth of a unit of electricity with an hour’s cycling – the value of which would be less than 2p. But you can power small items as you’re using them, and bigger things if there are several cyclists working together; or you can re-charge things like laptops, mobile phones or batteries, whilst exercising.
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-## Further resources
+===== Forum =====
+This topic belongs to the section [[gt:power|Power & heating]]. You can ask questions or add information on the corresponding [Forum section](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/power).
+===== Further resources =====
-## Specialist curators of this topic
+- [Mother Earth News](https://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-living/human-powered-machine-zl0z1211zrob/) - human-powered machines resource list
+- [Building a bicycle-powered generator](https://waterlution.org/pedal-power-building-a-bicycle-powered-generator/)
+- [The 12-volt side of life](http://marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm) - lots of info on 12-volt batteries and charging
+- [Human Powered TV](https://www.scienceshareware.com/human-powered-tv.htm) pedal-power generators
+- [Instructables](https://www.instructables.com/How-to-create-a-human-powered-bike-blender-for-les/) - how to make a smoothie-making human powered bike blender
+- [Low-tech Magazine](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/05/the-short-history-of-early-pedal-powered-machines/) - short history of early pedal-powered machines
+- [Maya Pedal](http://www.mayapedal.org/) - Guatemalan NGO developing pedal power for rural areas
+- [Pedal Power Generator](https://www.pedalpowergenerator.com/) - events, kit, education, US
+===== Related topics =====
+- [[batt:Batteries]]
+- [[cycl:Cycling]]
+- [[lien:energy|Low-impact energy]]
+===== Specialist curators of this topic =====