Residential elevators can be beneficial to homeowners in that they can increase the value of your home by as much as 10%.
If you thought you could only enjoy elevator music in an office building or hotel, think again! The latest trend for homeowners is to deck out their pad with a residential elevator. This will surely revolutionize the lives of lazy people everywhere, as it cuts back on that tedious task of walking up a flight of stairs. I mean, if I’m walking up the stairs, it’s probably because I have something really important to do up there. I don’t need unwanted exercise fogging up my brain.
What is it?
A residential elevator is basically an elevator that you get installed into your home. More and more families are choosing to get their homes built with a residential elevator, as they are getting cheaper in cost. That’s right, you don’t have to have money like Donald Trump to enjoy your own elevator. However, if your home was not originally built with an elevator, you will obviously need to make adjustments. This may require the assistance of an architect to help you properly map out the schematics of the area you’d like your elevator to be installed.
Luckily, residential elevators come in all shapes and sizes. For instance, if you’re living in tight quarters but still feel the need to install an elevator, order the Minivator, which is a fully operational elevator but made smaller for those tight fits. Furthermore, there are two main types of residential elevators: traction type and roped hydraulic type. The traction type uses counterweight rails and hoist cables to move up and down, whereas the roped hydraulic type uses a hydraulic cylinder and piston to move from floor to floor. The roped hydraulic elevators will also come equipped with a hydraulic power unit, which is relatively large and will most likely need to be placed in an adjacent room.
Of course, what fun would a residential elevator be if you couldn’t customize it yourself. Remind yourself of how original and unique your tastes are as you ride your elevator to the second floor bathroom to clip your toenails! Most residential elevator companies allow you to customize your cab, permitting you to choose textures ranging from glass to stone or wood and metal finishing. Other customized features could include handrails, infrared protection, automatic lighting, scissor gates, accordion gates, glass observation panel (popular in malls), and many more. At the very least, a good residential elevator should come equipped with interlocking doors, cable safety devices, variable speed drive component, emergency light, alarm, and a phone.
Who needs it?
Residential elevators are ideal for the elderly and the disabled, as they can easily wipe out the arduous task of climbing stairs. Other possible reasons for installing an elevator in your home could be if you’re constantly moving large or heavy equipment from floor to floor, if you live in a six-story house, if you can’t afford a residential escalator, or if your stairs are made of fire.
Benefits
Residential elevators can be beneficial to homeowners in that they can increase the value of your home by as much as 10%. Furthermore, residential elevators are known to be low maintenance, and are likened to household appliances such as furnaces and air conditioners. Plus, some of them can take up as little as 24 square feet. Also, let’s face it, it can be extremely easy to fall down the stairs and injure oneself. On the other hand, it’s a lot harder to fall down an elevator shaft. And even if you did fall down a residential elevator shaft, it would probably only be a one story fall. That’s not too shabby.
