Eco-minded hotel installs bicycle-powered television
An eco-minded hotel in the UK has installed a bicycle-powered television in one of its rooms
If you're on a cycling holiday where you spend all day in the saddle,
there's nothing like getting back to your accommodation and flopping
down in front of the TV for a well deserved rest. But for guests at one
UK bed and breakfast, it really is nothing like that ... because Cottage
Lodge in Brockenhurst has installed a bicycle-powered television in one
of its rooms.
Guests at the retreat in the New Forest National Park have the option
of pedaling away to generate the electricity needed to power the LCD TV
on their wall - which might make them reconsider what they're watching.
"It isn’t a gentle speed - but equally it is not going to kill you,"
B&B owner, Christina Simons, warned Gizmag when asked just how much
pedaling it takes to get the TV running.
The setup is fairly simple and consists of a bike in a training stand
which, when pedaled, spins a generator to create electricity that is
stored in a battery wired to the TV. Christina says this isn't an
off-the-shelf solution like the Pedal-A-Watt,
but the result of hard work which has seen her get through three
prototypes each made from recycled second-hand parts. The breakthrough,
she says, was moving from a bike with 20-inch wheels to one with 26-inch
wheels, capable of spinning the generator faster.
"In order to power the TV you need to do a little bit of cycling to
get some power in the battery and then it will work whilst you pedal at a
reasonable speed," said Christina. "The electricity is stored in a
battery and then used to power the TV. This overcomes spikes of power as
you speed up or slow down."
She said that response to the bike has been very positive adding that
many hardened cycling enthusiasts stay at Cottage Lodge to make use of
the New Forest National Park which has 192 km of off-road cycling. Less
exercise-inclined visitors to the £129 (US$207) per night room have the
option of using an electricity supply generated by photovoltaic cells on
the roof.
Other eco-friendly tech at the B&B include a wood burning stove
that heats the hot water during winter and solar panels on the roof to
heat the hot water in the summer. Furniture has a low carbon footprint
and is made from local trees. However, as this isn't the first time
we've seen bikes used to generate electricity in the tourist industry we'd like to see them go the whole hog by doing the laundry with a human-powered washing machine and having a WeBike in the lobby.
Source: Cottage Lodge via The Telegraph
