Choosing the Right Residential Elevator, Factors to Consider

Residential elevators carry passengers, bulky and heavy materials, and household items to the different floors of a house. There are many models and brands of elevators to choose from for your home, choosing the right residential elevator to buy can be a complex task. Several factors would need to be considered to choose the right accessibility system.

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Residential elevators come with different types of drive systems:

• Roped Hydraulic
• Cable Winding Drum
• Chain Drive Counterweight
• Vacuum Tube
• Gearless Traction Elevators

Each of these has its own benefits and varies in cost. Other aspects you would need to consider when selecting an elevator are:

• Traveling speed: The travel speed of home elevators is generally 30-40 ft per minute.
• Load capacity: If you only need to transport one person at a time, you can choose an elevator with a lower weight capacity. If the elevator has to transport a person in a wheelchair, consider the weight of the passenger as well as the weight of the wheelchair. There must also be adequate space inside the cab to comfortably accommodate a wheelchair.
• Safety features: It should ideally have the safety features such as battery-operated emergency lowering, lighting and fan, manual emergency lowering button, emergency stop and alarm buttons, in-use indicator lights on hall station, telephone, non-skid platform, under-panel sensor to stop the unit if it detects an obstruction, pressure relief valve to prevent platform overload, electro-mechanical door lock and open door sensors, mechanical emergency safety brake system, infrared safety light curtain, handrails inside cab, earthquake brackets and automatic battery recharging system.
• Space: There are certain models which do not require any separate machine room and some can be even installed adjacent to wrap-around stairs through a hole in floor or can be attached to a balcony. The main advantage of these models is that they consume only minimal floor space which helps to save valuable space in your home. You can decide on the elevator model for your home based on the amount of space you have to spare.
• Other considerations when choosing a residential elevator:
  • Should offer a fast, comfortable and quiet ride
  • Should be able to travel to the required distance
  • Should be an energy-efficient, environment-friendly device.
  • Should be user-friendly
  • Should add style and beauty to your home and come with customization options

There are models of elevators which can be easily installed in both new and existing homes. State-of-the-art glass elevators and pneumatic vacuum elevators offer an unobstructed view of the building’s interior.

• Budget: Besides the price of the elevator, installation and maintenance add to the cost. So to save installation cost and time, it is always advisable to purchase a system that does not require a pre-construction shaft, pit or separate machine room for installation. Reliable dealers in NY offer quality home elevators at competitive prices, including special pricing on those bought out of medical necessity.

Locate an Authorized Dealer

A home elevator should be able to make your home more accessible and increase its resale value. If you are planning to install one, then you can approach a licensed accessibility equipment distributor in Long Island.

With a team of experienced and certified factory-trained technicians, Day Elevator & Lift can provide you with the necessary guidance to choosing the right residential elevator from our selection of high-quality residential elevators from reputable brands. We can customize the construction configurations and fixtures according to your requirements and also provide timely professional installation and maintenance services. Contact us at (800) 758-5438 or fill out our online contact form for more information about your home elevator options in the Long Island area. On-call support is available 24 hours a day.

Maintaining your lift cables is vital because they are a major part of the lifting process. They ensure that the vehicle is level during the raising or lowering of your lift. Over time these cables will stretch and need to be checked to ensure that they are being used properly. Your cables will stretch with use and will cause the carriages in each post to lift uneven. An easy way to determine if your cables need to be adjusted is to listen to your locks on each post. If your locks are clicking in to position at different times, then you know it is time to adjust each cable. The cables need to be adjusted so that each carriage travels equally throughout the lifting and lowering process. Below are the process for installing and adjusting the cables on our 2-post and 4 post car lifts.

Installing the Cables – 2-Post Lift

1] Manually raise both carriages to rest on the second set of locks from the floor (Fig. 9).

(Fig. 9)

2] Make sure both carriages are resting on the second set of locks. Carriages must be equal height from floor.

3] Unwrap both cables.  Install 2 nuts on one end of each cable. About an inch (1”) of thread should show through the nuts. Lock these two nuts tightly against each other.  This end will be inside and at the rear of the carriage after routing.

4] With both carriages in place on the second set of locks, route cables as shown (Fig. 10).
 

(Fig. 10)

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5] All adjustments should be made at the exposed cable end pointing upward at the front of each carriage. It may be necessary to secure the cable end with a pair of vice grips inside the carriage.

6] Remove the slack from both cables. Before all slack is removed, begin to alternate from one post to the other. First tighten one cable a few turns, before returning to the other post and tightening the second cable an equal number of turns. If done correctly, both cables will tighten up an equal amount, and neither carriage will lift off the locks as they are tightening against one another.

7] Continue to tighten the cables until there is ½” of deflection in the cable about 3 feet above the carriage at the back of each column (Fig 10).

8] Install a second nut on each of the cable ends and lock them tightly against the first nut.

NOTE: Cable tension is very important to the correct and safe operation of your lift.

See the Maintenance Section of this manual for information on maintaining proper cable tensions.

Cable Installation 4-Post Storage/Service Lift

IMPORTANT: Do not damage the chrome cylinder rod during this process. This can ruin the seals of the cylinder resulting in fluid leakage.

1. Inspect cables to ensure proper lengths. All cables should have ID tags showing proper cable lengths.

2. Make sure the cylinder flange plate is installed with pipe receivers facing TOWARDS the cylinder.

3. In order to install cables it is necessary to first extend the hydraulic cylinder. The easiest way to do this is to lay on a creeper under the track and put your feet on the cable plate and push the cylinder rod out to the desired position.  You may also use a come-a-long to pull the rod out as an alternative method.

4. Rout cables according to illustration. (fig. 7)

5. Install flat-washer and nyloc nut on end of cable at top of post. Tighten until several threads show past the nut.

6. Cables should run around the inside of the small rollers (side of the roller furthest from the posts

Want more information on elevator cable? Feel free to contact us.