Fascinating. According to this BBC video, it takes 80 cyclists, biking flat out on stationary bikes hooked to generators, to produce enough power to heat up the water for a single shower. Behold:
This reminds me of the Portland gym that feeds muscle power back into the electricity grid—a nifty idea, but unfortunately not one that’ll generate a lot of juice. Based on the above video, it’d take 6 hours and 40 minutes of vigorous cycling to heat the water for a 5-minute after-workout shower.
The biggest lesson here: WE HAVE NO INTUITIVE SENSE OF HOW MUCH ENERGY WE CONSUME IN OUR DAILY LIVES. Until you see it demonstrated this way, a quick shower doesn’t seem like an energy hog. But it is. By the same token, some things that we assume would take huge amounts of energy actually have modest impacts. Case in point: the embodied energy in a devastating car crash is actually about what you’ll find in a Snickers bar. (A handy rule: light and motion don’t use much energy; but heat does.)
There’s a policy angle to all this as well. Since human beings do such a terrible job of gauging energy consumption on their own, the first step in any energy conservation policy is to give people meaningful feedback about their energy consumption. 
Right now, that feedback is scarce; most people have no sense whatsoever of how much energy their appliances use, and how that compares with the gas they put in their car or the energy they use to heat their home.
And that’s the real beauty of putting a price on carbon: it turns the price tag into a reliable source of information about how much fossil energy it takes to live our lives, as well as a clear incentive to cut back on energy waste.
Sure, a price tag doesn’t make for good television. But on the upside, it’s far more likely than a clever video to motivate us to shift gears to healthier, more economical, and less polluting energy habits—and a heck of a lot more convenient than trying to power your home with your bike.
H/T to Jeff Mapes
Mike Lindblom
Good article, maybe not as dire as it sounds. If you shower in 1 minute, which is certainly possible, that’s equivalent to only 80 minutes of cycling—one good workout or a round-trip commute. Or take a colder shower. Rising costs of utility bills in King County are a reason to consider either option….
morgan
The title suggests that energy saved by biking home by 80 cyclists will barely heat water for a shower. Similarly, the Snickers Bar line also seems a bit misleading, in that what really matters in the accident is the energy and materials required to reverse the impact impact. I agree that we are very poor at estimating anything but things we have direct experience with. Hence winning arguments based on direct info, like meters on the kitchen and bathroom walls, and/or based on ethics/values.
Paul Andrews
I’d echo Mike, when we go camping and have to pay for a shower, it’s amazing how wet you can get under a minute. Also our van has a little hose and I can do a pretty good “dry shower” with just a gallon or so of water. In the summer you don’t need heat, most of the time you’re happy to get the cooldown. Still, it’s a great video and point well taken.
joshuadf
There’s also some technological explanation. We could probably save a lot of hot water with sprayers that you have to hold a button to turn on. In Japan, it’s traditional to wash yourself quickly and then soak in a hot bath, which I found just as pleasant as a long hot shower.Speaking of hot water in the summer, I’m sure we’ve all noticed initial scalding tap water on a hot sunny day. There must be some engineering that could harness solar energy in other seasons as well—pipes in greenhouse glass on the roof perhaps? It wouldn’t be hot but a higher ambient temperature would help, not to mention a lot of times I just want warm water. Maybe not a big win in the Pacific Northwest but could be useful in other parts of the world.
Chris
Our way of cooking is terribly inefficient as well. Put your hands near the bottom of the pan you are heating next time you are cooking and you will quickly realize how much energy is being wasted. If stoves and pans were designed more like the Jetboil cooking system (backpacking stove for those not familiar) we would likley use 50% less gas/electricity. It is truly amazing how little heat escapes with their technology.
Matt the Engineer
[Paul] I’d love to see someone design a device like this that tells you exactly how much your shower is costing you.[Josh] In China, even in very similar climates to ours, solar water heaters are very very common. They’re cheap and easily attached to a roof (though piping up to the roof may be difficult).
tic tac
Fun video. It seems intuitively correct. In my home, water is heated by gas and is used only for sink and shower (not laundry). When I built a javascript calculator to break down energy usage (electric, gas, and gasoline), I found that my water energy usage was as great as my automobile energy usage. Clark, I’d be happy to send you this calculator if you’d like.
Clark Williams-Derry
Tic Tac -I’d love to see it! Feel free to email me at clark (at) sightline.orgCheers!