Would You Install a Home Elevator?
Every year, a surprising 15,000-20,000 home elevators are installed across North America for a variety of reasons ranging from mobility concerns to the pure luxury of having one in your home. Have you ever thought of installing one in YOUR home? On our podcast, All Things Renovation, we interviewed Graham Kawulka and Calvin Austrom from Good Gate, a company based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that manufactures residential elevator carriage gates. Here’s a summary of what we learned about them.
Home elevators are becoming increasingly common – why?
New homes are being built with accessibility in mind from the beginning.
More and more people want to age in place. As people are retiring, they are reluctant to leave their homes but they recognize that accessibility will become an issue at some point. COVID will potentially accelerate this, as it has shown that being in a crowded place can be dangerous in certain conditions.
There is a luxury market – some people just want to have one because they can.
What are the different types of home elevators?
There are lots of options available the cosmetic part of the elevator (paneling and flooring). The sky is the limit really, and will depend on whether the elevator is being used as a functional tool for ageing in place, or as a luxurious add-on for the home. There is no real middle ground.
From a mechanical standpoint there are a few different options:
Box-shaped elevators
Winding Drum – cable wraps around a drum and winds/unwinds to lift/lower the elevator.
Hydraulic – fluid is pumped in a piston/cylinder to lift/lower the elevator (has limits for the number of floors that this style can service).
Traction Shiv – seen in big office towers, has a motor and gear box on top, and a cable with weights on one side and the elevator car on the other side.
Vacuum Tube elevators
Platform that travels up and down a tube based on air pressure from a compressor
Elevate the Art of Living
Is a home elevator actually safe?
Yes, when installed correctly and in accordance with the safety codes, they are extremely safe. When you think about it really, people ride in elevators all the time and how many accidents do you hear about? Almost none. The majority of elevator accidents actually occur when a technician is doing service or maintenance.
Every residential elevator is required by code to have a manual override device. However, these require someone to be outside the elevator, manually moving it to another landing. However, if you live alone, you can add options such as a safety panel inside the elevator that will dial out for help at the press of a button. If you still have a land line, you can also install a phone on the wall inside the elevator.
Carriage gates are a great safety feature to have installed. If it’s not closed properly, the elevator won’t move. Visit Good Gate for more information.
What are some of the biggest things to consider when installing a home elevator?
Where are you going to actually put the elevator?
A corner of several stacked rooms
A shaft on the exterior of the house
You cannot just remove your stairs and put it there, because from a safety standpoint, you need to be able to escape if there’s a fire. However, if you have a curved staircase, sometimes the space inside the stairs works, and you can make it into a feature of the staircase.
Noise considerations
There is some mechanical noise which will depend on whether (or how well) you insulated the shaft
Some manufacturers are better than others – go and see an installation to listen for yourself
Hydraulics tend to be the quietest, but that will also depend on where you put the hydraulic power unit.
Anything with ropes or chains will tend to be noisier.
Cost
Can range from as low as $15,000 to $250,000
How many landings do you want to service?
What kinds of finishes do you want?
Is the shaft already there? If you are renovating and installing a whole new shaft, it’s going to cost more than if the shaft is already in place.
Average is $20,000-$25,000 for the actual elevator and electrical work. Shaft construction is on top of that.
In-home elevator
What if I don’t want an elevator yet but I may want one in the future?
If you’re renovating your house or building a new one there is an opportunity to plan ahead for a home elevator that you don’t need now but may want in the future. Stacked closets are the most common option as they can be converted to a shaft at a later date but are storage in the meantime. If you build in a 4′ by 4′ stacked closet set in the interior of your home, that’s a very sizeable shaft that almost every manufacturer can accommodate. That’s the ideal size so that the cab doesn’t feel cramped.
If you choose to do this, decide which wall is going to have the mechanical components. Contact the manufacturer and put the framework into the wall ahead of time so that it can bear the weight of the rails. No additional concrete reinforcement is necessary.