Pedal-powered home on BBC show tonight

Eighty cyclists attempted to power a family home during a TV experiment to show how much energy is consumed by the average house in the UK.

Bang Goes the Theory: The Human Power Station employed 80 cyclists to try and keep up with the demands of the Collins household as they went about a normal Sunday boiling kettles, vacuuming, cooking, washing clothes and watching TV.

The occupants of the house were completely unaware that their energy was being provided by pedal power, and at one point the cyclists could not keep up with demand.

Normal cycles were used, hooked up to modified turbo trainers equipped with dynamos set up by specialist Electric Pedals.

At the end of the 12-hour day, the horrified Collins family were shown the source of the day's power and the exertion required to power their needs by the team of cyclists.

The programme is being shown on BBC One at 8pm tonight (Thursday, December 3).

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