Prior to building it, I rode a bicycle for a living (https://www.pedalpc.com/about/), so I was in pretty good cardiovascular health to start with. FWIW, my resting heart rate is in the lower 40's. My heart rate is about 70 bpm when I'm generating 60 W of electricity.
Keep in mind 60 W of electrical output is ~100 W of human power output, due to generator and rectifier efficiencies. I would call it a moderate workout. I can engage in a normal conversation or video conference call without a problem, but would find it a bit difficult to sing.
Frankly, I've grown to miss it too--especially when I'm doing breadboard development and need more space. I'm currently building one to be used with a standing desk (a regular desk is too low--your knees will hit the underside).
The simplest solution would be to plug your equipment into USB and AC power strips, then switch the power strip cords whenever you want to change setups.
The problem with doing this is:
1) You lose the ability to individually monitor the power consumption of each device, and
2) You'd have to use an AC inverter to power your non-USB-powered (e.g. your laptop or monitor). Using an inverter wastes a lot of energy, because you're converting from DC to AC back to DC. The more energy you waste, the less you have available to power your equipment.
The PedalPC is a computer desk with a built-in, pedal-powered generator. It helps keep you fit by making useful, moderate physical activity an integral part of your workday. It also provides you with a clean, reliable, and dependable off-grid source of electricity that you can set up anywhere.
I built it because I wanted some way to get exercise while I worked, but didn't want the energy I expended go to waste. I didn't see anything on the market, so I built my own. I've redesigned and rebuilt it several times over the years to arrive at what's shown here.
I've been working on this as a side project since 2010. I'd appreciate some feedback on it before developing it further.
The amount of electricity you can generate depends on your age, physical health, and how much you pedal each day. I'm 58 and produce around 220-240 Whr a day pedaling 3-4 hours per day. The PedalPC's maximum designed power output is 100 W. I typically generate about 60 W.
That may not sound like much, but it's enough to power my computer, monitor, printer, desk lamp, and a cooling fan. It also recharges our phones and battery-powered LED lights we use around our home for nighttime illumination. It also powers our router and fiber network terminator to give us 24/7 broadband internet and wifi.
The desk uses an e-bike direct-drive mini hub motor as the generator. It's driven by a toothed belt to minimize noise. The generator charges a 12 V LiFePO4 battery to smooth out the generator's variable output and store any excess energy generated for use when you're not pedaling.
The desk has four 12 V DC power sockets and four pairs of USB power sockets. You can view the power consumption of each power socket and turn each one on or off from a dashboard in your web browser. Each 12 V socket also has PWM control, for varying things like cooling fan speed or beverage cup heater wattage.
The dashboard is served from a small web server built into the desk. You can use it to host any other content you want, like a blog, wiki, small Fediverse instance, etc. (I use mine to host this project's web site.) You can also use it for a DNS server (e.g. pihole instance), file backup server, etc. Of course, you'll need to pedal enough each day to keep the server running! My dream would be to develop a network of desks like this, with each user hosting and powering their own content.
I have built similar machines for two software developers in our town. One was mostly identical to the one shown here, with a built-in desktop. He uses it with his laptop. The other was built without a desktop, so he could use it with his existing standing desk. He uses his to charge batteries, power banks, and phones while he works. Both seem quite happy with them.
Future plans are for a version made specifically for standing desks, better documentation, and an API to make it easier to integrate with things like Home Assistant, NextCloud, fitness loggers, or your own personal dashboard.
Would you like a desk like this? (If so, please sign up for the newsletter in the footer on my site :) ). If not, what would you like to see instead? Any advice you may have is welcome. Thanks.
I'm a 58 year old male, and have consumed a vegan diet for almost 40 years now. I take a women's daily multivitamin, primarily for the iron. I also take a calcium-magnesium-zinc tablet, as the multivitamin is relatively low in calcium.
This article--and several of the comments--does not distinguish between "manufactured" and "modular" housing.
Both are built off-site in factories, but manufactured houses--homes built on wheeled frames and set up on piers--are built to lower standards than modular homes, which are trucked in one or more sections on flatbed trailers and installed over a basement or crawlspace.
The problem I have with laser printers is they draw a lot more power than an inkjet. I can run an inkjet printer off my pedal-powered generator. I can't do that with a laser printer.
Kris described hachyderm's infrastructure operating in her basement on the Oxide and Friends podcast in mid-November. Kudos to her for being able to keep it going there so long!
Before you go to the trouble of writing your own software, consider using one that's already been written. There are many[0] out there already besides Mastodon.
I used to use Cloudflare's API to do this, but then we changed ISPs and now are behind CGNAT, so we don't even have a public IP. To publicly expose my web server, I created a Cloudflared tunnel, and have our DNS (which is also hosted at Cloudfare) point to the tunnel. It works quite well, and adds some security because we're no longer visible to attackers using IP address scans.
Did you try forcing yourself to sleep on your side? I found if I roll onto my back while I sleep I frequently would either snore or stop breathing to the point where it would cause me to wake up.
To keep from sleeping on my back, I now put a foam roller under the back of my shirt before I go to bed. It's eliminated my snoring and help me sleep much better. Other people pin a tennis ball to the back of their shirt for the same reason.
I bring this up because I think many people are prescribed a CPAP machine to solve their sleep problems when positional therapy would be a more effective, less expensive solution.[1]