From: muratlanne@gmail.com   
      
   "Bob F"  wrote in message news:soh80f$l24$1@dont-email.me...   
      
   You could buy/build a "bicycle" generator to charge a large battery   
   which you could use for re-charging devices or operating a small LED light.   
      
   ----------------------   
      
   IMHO crank power is practical only for rarely used flashlights and radios.   
   It makes them immediately usable when and where needed. For flashlights it   
   gives enough light to find a better light source and change its dead   
   batteries. The problem is that you need both hands free to frequently crank   
   it, making it less useful than a headlamp for retrieving boxes from storage.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_power   
   "Over an 8-hour work shift, an average, healthy, well-fed and motivated   
   manual laborer may sustain an output of around 75 watts of power."   
      
   "While attempts have been made to fit electric generators to exercise   
   equipment, the energy collected is of low value compared to the cost of the   
   conversion equipment."   
      
   A solar electric system already has most of the conversion equipment, MPPT   
   controller, batteries and inverter. I think the bicycle and alternator would   
   be the only added cost. If I find a cheap enough used exercise bike I might   
   try to fit a PM motor I already have as the alternator. I'm not going to   
   spend much on it, as competing solar panels are now under $1 per Watt.   
      
   75 Watts won't do much. It's more than a laptop consumes but less that that   
   laptop showing TV or movies on a larger monitor. It would keep up with a   
   small refrigerator but I'm not going to sit pedaling and watching it stay   
   cold. Unless I'm completely iced in I can have a generator supplying power   
   in 10 minutes.   
      
   Everything reduces to the fixed and operating cost of energy, dollars per   
   watt. Firewood is only economical if you collect it yourself. I was lucky to   
   have a nearby wood lot where I could cut any dead trees. The capital   
   investment was a $300 chainsaw, 'garden' tractor and log splitter. I   
   acquired the last two free/cheap and rebuilt them, they would have cost   
   $2000~$3000 new. My truck was useful at first but it couldn't leave the few   
   narrow trails, and winching logs to it filled their bark with sand that   
   rapidly dulled the saw. I considered time in the woods equal to time in the   
   gym, without the dues, so that part was a gain. At current prices heating a   
   NH house like mine with the average amount of purchased wood costs around   
   $1300-$1500 per winter.   
      
   The wattmeter estimate of the T60 DC-powered refrigerator's operating cost   
   has settled at $2.42 a month, at our electric rate of $0.187/KWH, no cheap   
   TVA or Tallulah hydro power here. For grid power only, a compact fridge with   
   more internal volume at half the price and similar electricity consumption   
   would be a better choice. I'm looking for ways to avoid running the inverter   
   constantly.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)