'Inlet Outlet' Lets Users Give Power Back To Wall Sockets

Physorg.com ^ | March 2, 2009 | Lisa Zyga

[wastedyears]

Not sure about posting rules, so I'm just putting up the link.

[palmer]

What these solutions typically ignore is that the overwhelming use of energy is for heat. The exercisers should try heating a house with their breath and body heat and see how far they get.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

“What these solutions typically ignore is that the overwhelming use of energy is for heat.”

I’d have to see figures on that, I’m not sure I’d agree offhand, but I don’t know. I DO know that a very serious, very concentrated “package” of power is capable of coming out of those two wires in the wall. Same with a gallon of gasoline. It will be very, very hard to find something “new” with the energy density of gasoline. Over and over, the math on “unconcentrated” sources like solar and wind don’t appear to be adequate to supply a nation dependent upon a sophisticated infrastructure.

[wolf78]

Great idea. So you could use your exercise bike to generate electricity which you feed back into the grid to later power your plug-hybrid to drive to work.

Or you could just ride your bike to work.

[wolf78]

What these solutions typically ignore is that the overwhelming use of energy is for heat. The exercisers should try heating a house with their breath and body heat and see how far they get.

That's all a question of insulation. Passive houses using superinsulation usually don't require more energy than sunlight, body heat and waste heat from electronic appliances. Insulating one's house is one of the smartest "green" solutions: Simple and cost effective.

I’d have to see figures on that, I’m not sure I’d agree offhand, but I don’t know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_Energy_Consumption

I DO know that a very serious, very concentrated “package” of power is capable of coming out of those two wires in the wall. Same with a gallon of gasoline. It will be very, very hard to find something “new” with the energy density of gasoline. Over and over, the math on “unconcentrated” sources like solar and wind don’t appear to be adequate to supply a nation dependent upon a sophisticated infrastructure.

It depends. A large solar thermal power plant in Nevada (say, next to Las Vegas) would be a 24 h (using molten salt) concentrated energy source. But your general assesment is true: Because of the high energy density of gasoline it's easier to double fuel efficiency in the transportation sector by building smarter, better-designed cars with standard engines than by replacing part of the car fleet with battery cars.

[wastedyears]

That looks like a nice bike, but it needs disc brakes.

[palmer]

Home insulation is great but passive solar is a quantum leap. It doesn't work well when it is cloudy without a large heat mass and supplemental heat. Many homes are poorly built and poorly sited and will be hard to fix.

We all agree on concentrated energy sources. I think a solar thermal plant would also need a natural gas option for a couple days of blizzard conditions (when you need the power the most).

[truthfreedom]

I did look up synchronous inverter. It appears that it’s the same as a “grid tie” inverter. Grid tie inverters don’t seem to be that rare or too expensive. Here’s one on ebay for $560 and it comes with a solar panel.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Max-250W-Envirotechs-Grid-Tie-Inverter+-85W-Solar-Panel_W0QQitemZ140262605378QQcmdZViewItem

Now, if you can buy a grid tie inverter to hook up to your exercise bicycle, and the grid tie inverter uses standard electrical outlets (this one does), I’m not sure why you’d need a special outlet.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

The “special outlet” was true dorkyness right from the beginning. You need to tie into the line to get the native phase and deliver the output. And, if you’re going to do this only in rooms where you might conceivably generate electricity, then you only need it in your gym with the treadmill/ex bike. The only reason to have a diferent plug is to avoid having power on the exposed male pins of the plug you nominally plug this rig into the wall with. That’s dangerous, even at much lower than 200 watts of power.

Actually, economic considerations aside, that seems kind of interesting. $660 delivered cost ($99 frt) divided by 6 cents for 2 hrs of workout = 11000 days/365 = only 30 years to pay back. Not bad!

For this to work, it would have to supply a voltage greater than your line voltage. Very doable.

However, I DO wonder what happens should someone elsewhere in the house turn on a heavy (8-15 amp) motor while this rig is outputting. That load would appear, perhaps briefly, perhaps long enough to blow the breaker, across the output of the inverter as long as that load was anywhere on the same side of your breaker box. Presumably, it would also blow the output breaker of the inverter unless some measures were taken. Obviously, I haven’t seen one of these things in action, and I can only assume they’ve somehow taken care of the odd and non-trivial considerations of using it in a real house in the real world.

[truthfreedom]

The market might be those who don’t like hearing conservatives say “Well, if you think it’s such a great idea that Obama is forcing utilities to use solar and wind power instead of much cheaper coal, why don’t you buy a solar panel and a grid tie inverter? Here’s a link. Practice what you preach.”

I don’t think many here are in favor of Obama’s “we’re in a recession, let’s make electricity more expensive” strategy.

However, there are some conservatives who like the idea of creating their own electricity, and the ones with the extra $ might simply think it’s cool to have this grid tie gadget, even if the power they create is more expensive than power from a coal plant.

[truthfreedom]

I should add that the SSI-200W inverter can be bought for $225.

http://buyerisland.net/greenpower.htm

[wolf78]

Home insulation is great but passive solar is a quantum leap.

Of course - but one doesn't exclude / contradict the other. And there have been real quantum leaps with home insulation, too, lately. Using nanotechnology / aerogels you can now have super-high-R-value panels that are thin enough to use in / on practically any building (ok, they are too expensive for shoddily built summer homes).

We all agree on concentrated energy sources. I think a solar thermal plant would also need a natural gas option for a couple days of blizzard conditions (when you need the power the most).

True. And while there is not enough biogas (from sewage, manure) to replace natural gas year-round, there might just be enough for a these few days (storage is not so much a problem, there are already huge natural gas storage caverns).

[SunkenCiv]

Ever wish you could you power your home's electrical appliances with the energy you generate on your exercise bike?

First off, what's an "exercise bike"? ;')