Dumbwaiters are designed for commercial and residential uses, and the standard Jeeves dumbwaiter is designed for the latter. Dumbwaiters are ideal for moving items between floors – although not people – and Jeeves dumbwaiters come in three sizes to meet your needs. All Jeeves dumbwaiters come in three different sizes: 75 pounds, 125 pounds, and 250 pounds, with customized sizes available in this range. Other features for this dumbwaiter are:

• A motorized operation, with minimal installation and maintenance needed.
• An LCD display that shows the current operation and allows for troubleshooting.
• A pre-wired design to make installation quicker and easier.
• UL certification. Jeeves dumbwaiters are the only models in the United States that have this certification.
• A finished birch cab with dovetail joints and steel call buttons.
• A commercial-grade rail system to move between floors.
• Ability to move at 30 feet per minute, with 35 feet and four stops being the maximum distance the dumbwaiter can travel.
• 115 volt operation.
• Multiple safety devices, such as a slack cable, final limit, trolley brake, and interlock door.
• A roll-up door on the cab.

Adding an electric dumbwaiter to your home increases its value, if you plan on selling your current home one day. Common uses for the dumbwaiters includes moving foor, drinks, laundry, groceries, firewood, books, and more.

One unique aspect of contemporary elevators is the installation process. Because no hoistway needs to be installed, adding a home elevator, such as the Vision 830, is more affordable. Additionally, the acrylic hoistway that comes with the Vision 830 can be placed anywhere around your home. Some of the features of this particular elevator include:

• An integrated, clear acrylic hoistway and self-contained design. This allows the elevator to be placed almost anywhere in your home and reduces the installation costs of creating a hoistway.
• No shaft, pit, or machine room is needed. With a self-contained design, the elevator can be installed into your home on a flat surface.
• Use of a winding drum system. Two air craft cables are used to move the car.
• The ability to hold up to 830 pounds.
• Moving up to 30 feet per minute.
• Making two to five stops along the hoistway. The maximum distance between stops is 40 feet.
• A 14 square foot cab area, with a 52 inch diameter and height of 84 inches. This can be modified with a balcony and flush floor ring.
• Ability to accommodate wheelchairs.
• A panoramic view of the home as you ascend or descent.
• Recessed ceiling light to illuminate the cab.
• An automatic emergency lighting system.
• 230 volt operation.
• A three-inch ramp.
• No pit requirements.

With a contemporary design, the Vision 830 elevator is the pinnacle of practicality. Installation costs and time are significantly less than those for other home elevators. Additionally, your home doesn’t need significant modifications to accommodate this elevator. As panoramic styles become a popular choice for many home and commercial elevators, the Vision 830 gives you this design and the ability to have it installed affordably.

Commercial buildings should have an elevator not only for convenience but also for accessibility. One option to give your building both of these qualities is the Freedom Commercial, an elevator that meets Limited Use Limited Application (LULA) requirements in the United States and Canada, is ADA compliant, and is ideal for a two or three-story building. Some features for this commercial elevator include:

• A hydraulic system. This is the most secure design in the event of a natural disaster.
• Ability to hold up to 1400 pounds. This gives your Freedom Commercial elevator several possibilities for your building. One can be used to move people between floors or even other objects, such as furniture, as long as it fits. However, this elevator does not meet size requirements for gurney access.
• Moving up to 30 feet per minute.
• Traveling up to 25 feet at one time.
• A 48 inch by 54 inch cab, with a height of 84 inches. This type of elevator also needs a 14 inch pit.
• Side-slide doors.
• A stainless steel and wood panel interior that can be customized with several woods and finishes. If you’re concerned about matching the elevator with the rest of the building, the interior has several possibilities for as close of a match as possible.
• Installation in 10 to 15 days.
• Emergency, battery-powered lowering, which is ideal in emergencies.
• A machine room.

For the latter, a machine room is a required fixture for a hydraulic elevator. A machine room needs to be added to your building when the Freedom Commercial elevator is being installed. In preparation, you should not only make sure you have adequate space but also power to the room and a functional telephone jack. Other recommendations for a machine room include extending fire and alarm signals to the space.

What are some of the options for making your home more accessible and environmentally-friendly at the same time? If you’re considering adding a home elevator to your space, the Freedom Green fits both of these requirements. This elevator uses a traction drive system to move, and here are some other features and benefits from using the Freedom Green:

• Energy savings of fifty percent. The traction drive system used for every Freedom Green incorporates a counterbalance system. As a result, the system’s motor requires only minimal power to operate and move the cab up and down floors.
• No machine room is needed. One benefit of adding the Freedom Green to your home is the lack of a machine room. Fewer materials are used in the construction and installation of the elevator system into your home, and the system ends up being more efficient to your space.
• No hydraulic oil is needed. One drawback of hydraulic elevators is the lubricant used to get the system to move. A typical home elevator using a hydraulic system needs 20 to 25 gallons of hydraulic oil to move the lifting cylinder. Unfortunately, if this fluid leaks into a water source, it can be an environmental hazard. This substance is eliminated from your home through the traction drive system the Freedom Green uses.
• Use of environmentally-friendly materials. All Freedom Green cabs contain 100-percent recycled or recovered wood content to give you an elevator that incorporates reused materials.

Aside from these benefits, the Freedom Green has another feature: customization. All Freedom Green cabs can be designed to your taste, with several colors of recycled or recovered wood and finishes for you to choose from. In addition to being beneficial to the environment, the elevator can have a custom design to match the interior of your home as closely as possible.

One trend in homeownership seen over the past few years has been modifying an existing home to meet an elderly or disabled person’s physical needs. Common improvements have included adding an elevator to go between floors, installing a stair lift, and adding a wheelchair lift or ramp, in some cases. Modifying a home isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, however, and a person’s physical needs are the most important factor. According to a recent article, modifying a home in most cases involves planning for living on a single floor. But, some other factors to consider in creating an accessible space include:

• Do certain rooms, such as the bathroom or the kitchen, need grab rails?
• Do some spaces need to be lit better through specific types of lighting and accessible switches?
• Making sure the hallway is at least three feet wide and brightly lit.
• All rooms on a floor should have a five by five area of open space to accommodate a wheelchair.
• Having a no-step entry, such as one with a wheelchair ramp or lift that goes directly to a door.
• Making sure that interior doors are at least three feet wide.
• Adding a device, such as an elevator or stair lift, to go between floors.

Home elevators, for this last point, are a common method for going between floors in a modified house. These can be installed through a closet space, depending upon the model best suited for your home, or through two or three floors. A stair lift is another option to make a home more accessible, and straight and curved designs are available.

In terms of accessibility from the outside, outdoor stair lifts are one possibility, particularly as these operate by 12-volt batteries. Wheelchair lifts can make your home more accessible by bringing your wheelchair directly to the front door through a ramp and a small lift.