'Cheap' residential elevator install

[electron]

I would love one of these in my house:

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4007/

The manufacture page has some videos as well:

http://www.daytonaelevator.com/Pneumatic%2...m#Demo%20Movies

 

[Squintz]

I just put in for a price quote. Lets see how cheap these really are. Very cool stuff... I may need a bigger house

 

[Squintz]

Hello Dave,

I can give you a ballpark price of the pneumatic vacuum elevator. A basic 2 stop runs between 20-22k, and a basic 3 stop runs between 28-30k. Keep in mind different states have different costs associated with them, and therefore, the price may be higher.

I hope this helps




Dawn O'Connor
Daytona Elevator
www.daytonaelevator.com
[email protected]
386/423-7226

 

[Treetop]

I think I'll just take the stairs

 

[electron]

Wow that is cheap for sure, I will have to keep this in mind for my next house

 

[smee]

They mention wiring for a phone box in the elevator. That should make it easy to mount touchscreens or other display/control equipment. You wouldn't want to be disconnected from your HA/HT during the time you are sealed in your plastic tube travelling from floor to floor.

 

[Squintz]

Just think...

No more taking the laundry upstairs or downstairs for you wife. No more "Honey can you carry the vacume up the stairs for me"... I would love to have one of these if i had the space and the money for one. I wonder how loud the air compressor is though?

 

[smee]

It can be up to 30 feet away (based on the site). If you are not carrying people, all you need is a dumbwaiter. You can build one of those yourself for a whole lot less money. I don't think it really needs to be pneumatic.

 

[WayneW]

I wonder how loud the air compressor is though?

It uses vacuum to lift, not compression to push. the web site says 87 dB.

 

[DavidL]

When I think of how much I paid for my oak stairs, that price isn't bad at all! Too bad you still need the traditional stairs as well.

Looking at the speed, it's quicker to get the excercize. I am suprised that they are only now "looking into" a wheelchair version. I would think that's where a lot of the market is.

Does look cool though. Would work great for my house setup.

 

[smee]

I imagine that the difficulties go up significantly with a larger diameter tube (as would be required for a wheelchair). That's a lot more air to move.

There's some interesting related stuff here:Beach Pneumatic Subway. It just goes sideways instead of up and down.

 

[rocco]

I imagine that the difficulties go up significantly with a larger diameter tube (as would be required for a wheelchair).

It shouldn't be more difficult, just much slower.

If you double the diameter, you might also double the weight. But you quadruple the surface area. You would then only need half the vacuum (negative PSI) to lift it, but would have to move four times the air volume. The same pump might move it at 1/4 speed, but would not have to work as hard.

I suspect the volume of air is why it's not very fast to begin with.

 

[smee]

I was thinking about speed. If it's very slow, that may not be acceptable. So, you need to move more air to bring it back up to speed. That willprobably require a larger and/or noisier pump, etc.

It also increases the length or number of seals you need.

 

[Rupp]

What happens when your on the way up and the power fails?

 

[rocco]

What happens when your on the way up and the power fails?

Keep a flashlight in it, just in case.

Normally, it would just stop, and the vacuum that is holding it up would continue to hold it up. However, safety regulations require a way to free those trapped. The solution here seems to be to bleed air into the chamber to gently lower it to the ground.