Essex on Lake Champlain

Essex, New York Community Blog Since 2011

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Pedal Power

With an efficiency of 97%, bicycle technology is nearly perfect. So why do we use it only for transportation?

Bicycle technology can and should be used for many everyday tasks. Using your own power rather than plugging into the grid is not only fun, but also helps you understand your energy use and reduce your ecological footprint.

There are a billion bicycles in the world today — nearly one in every home. One day, we hope to see every household charging phones, processing food, and pumping water with pedal power. (Pedal Power)

Pedal Power was co-founded by Steve Blood and Andy Wekin and is based in Essex, NY. For the past five years, they have designed and built stationary pedal-powered machines (dubbed “dynapods” by Alex Weir). In addition to several custom dynapods, they have developed two core products: the Big Rig, a multifunction machine with a built-in seat and work surface, and the Pedal Genny, a more portable, single function machine.

Explore in detail the products offered by Pedal Power, and you can also contact them to design and build a machine specified to your needs.

Take a look at the video above to see some of the applications of pedal powered machines.

About Human-Powered Energy

Although we consume a ton of it, we can’t generate very much energy ourselves. On average, an adult can generate about 75 watts for 2 hours. That equals 150 Watt-hours which is enough to power a laptop for 3-6 hours or a phone for 30-40 hours. That electricity can be incredibly valuable in places (off the grid) or situations (blackouts or emergencies) when you would otherwise have none.

However, compared to electricity on the grid, human generated electricity is very expensive:150 Watt-hours from your local power company would cost about 1.8 cents (based on a the national average of $0.12/KWh).

Of course, human power goes beyond electricity and the primary reason why pedal power is so useful is because 2 legs can generate 8 times more power than 1 arm with considerably more endurance. For routine tasks that otherwise would require a lot of effort by hand, using pedal power can be a tremendous boost in efficiency. (Andy Wekin via Kickstarter)

Contact Pedal Power

To learn more visit their website www.pedal-power.com. You can also visit Pedal Power on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact the company at info@pedal-power.com or call 518-768-7033.

The Pedal Power mailing address is:

Pedal Power Design + Build
61 Blockhouse Rd
Willsboro, NY  12996

Pedal Power Archive

If you’re curious, the following posts featured or mentioned the Pedal Power since June 2011.