The Original Power Box pedal generator can support up to 20 watts. This means you can use a simple extension cord and charge multiple devices at once. Cell phones are typically 5 watts so you could charge three cell phones at once. A tablet is typically 10-12 watts so you could charge a tablet and a cell phone at the same time, etc.
To charge devices more powerful than the Original Power Box can charge directly, you will need to charge an intermediate battery first — either an external battery or 12-volt battery.
To charge a laptop, for example, you will need to acquire an external battery capable of working with your laptop. There are a wide range of these on the market.
You will use the Original Power Box to charge the external battery and then plug the external battery into your laptop. Pick an external battery that can be charged via a switching charger. Many are charged via a USB cord and can be charged by a USB wall charger like those provided with cell phones.
You can also use your Original Power Box to charge a 12-volt battery. These come in a wide range of sizes. You charge your 12 volt battery and then you can run a wide range of devices off of the 12-volt battery.
Here are links to a battery supplier and our 12-Volt Charger Maintainer.
Many devices can run directly from 12 volt. If the appliance you are trying to run requires high power AC you can run an inverter off of the 12-volt battery. Inverters come in many sizes.
You could also use multiple power boxes at the same time in parallel to charge a battery faster.
There is theoretically no appliance that cannot be run off of the Original Power Box, but you must select the correct battery and inverter. You also need to consider the practicality of how much pedaling you are willing to do for how much appliance usage. To determine what inverter and battery to use, you first need to determine the starting power and sustained power required by your appliance. The inverter must have the instantaneous power and continuous power capability to run the inverter. As an example the inverter shown above is a fairly large one and has the ability to run 1500 watts continuous and double that instantaneous.
The 12-volt battery must also have the capability to support the instantaneous and continuous power requirements of the inverter. The 12-volt charger to charge the battery need only meet the Original Power Box needs, which is a switching charger less than 20 watts like the example given.
As an example, if you wish to run an appliance you first need the power requirements.
You should keep your battery charged from a wall outlet. In the case of a long power outage, when running from the battery, you can provide extra power by pedaling to keep you going a little longer. The Original Power Box will provide a maximum of 20 watt hour for each hour of pedaling.
You can see from the chart what appliance is practical to keep running.