Home Elevators: Up, up and Away

Reviewed by:
Rosemary Thornton

Made with lightweight aluminium and polycarbonate, this residential elevator is designed to be installed as a retrofit and requires a minimal amount of construction, in part because its weight rests on the floor.

The passenger chamber is moved by turbines and air pressure. (Not unlike those little tubes at your bank's drive-in window, which whisk your paycheck away.) With this simple design, there are no cables and gears and hoists and pits.

Lift capacity is 450 pounds and it moves at 30 feet per second. Built-in safety features prevent free-falling.

Price (depending on size) is about $20,000.