Info on Treadmill Power Ratings
One of the things that you will see when you are
looking to purchase a treadmill is something called “Power Ratings.” Power
ratings usually refer to the amount of horsepower that is used to power the
treadmill, which helps it move more fluidly and, in some cases, with a
greater speed. Power ratings are designed to tell you how powerful the
treadmill will be so that you can tell whether or not it will meet your
needs.
Word of Warning About Power Ratings
Power ratings can be misleading. When a company
tells you its power rating – or when a reviewer discusses how powerful one
of these models is, they may be referring to one of two different rating
systems:
·
Continuous Power – Continuous power is
the number you are very likely the most interested in. It tells you at what
horsepower level your treadmill will be able to continue over a long period
of time, which lets you know how much energy it uses and what you can expect
from its performance.
·
Peak Power – This is the number that a
lot of manufacturers and reviewers use, but if you think about it, peak
power is generally useless. Imagine if you bought a car, and it used gas at
a “Peak MPG” of 65 miles per gallon, but a “Continuous MPG” of just 10. You
would be using gas like a hummer, even though it had a peak MPG rating of a
hybrid. The peak is nice to know, but it doesn’t imply how long you the
motor can handle that speed/energy.
That is not to say that peak power isn’t useful.
Not at all. In fact, it is quite useful in addition to knowing the
continuous power. For example, if you are estimating the lifespan of the
motor, and you find out that the motor has a peak horsepower of 3.5, and a
continuous horsepower of 2, then you know that you are not using much of the
motor during its continuous horsepower. But if you find out that the peak is
2.5 and the continuous is 2.0, then you can assume that you are putting a
great deal of strain on the motor, which will reduce its lifespan. Peak
alone tells you very little, but peak when you also know continuous can be
very informative.
What to Look For
What you need out of your treadmill depends on what
you are trying to get out of it. If you are mostly going to be walking on
the machine, then a good horsepower rating is about 1 to 1.5 horsepower
continuous. However, if you are going to be running on the machine
regularly, you are going to want something larger, such as 2.0 horsepower
(though 1.5 is acceptable for most users). Horsepower affects both the
lifespan of the machine and how well you are going to be able to use it, so
be sure and check out the horsepower ratings before you decide which one you
are going to purchase.
Return to Treadmills Guide Home
