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Using a Dumbwaiter in the Home

By: James Jalonta


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It can often be very hard to carry items up the stairs, especially for those with limited mobility. It is no wonder that so many serious accidents occur on the stairs, with many of them caused as people carry something, such as the groceries, up the stairs. To help solve this problem and make it easier to move items between floors, many people use dumbwaiters in their home.
Dumbwaiters are similar to an elevator, except in most cases a dumbwaiter is much smaller than a dumbwaiter is. Dumbwaiters are also not intended to be used with people, instead only being used to transport non-living goods, although often commercial dumbwaiters are capable of lifting several thousand pounds.
The dumbwaiter itself is actually a very old device and its use can be traced back many thousands of years. Manual dumbwaiters were very popular and are the oldest type of dumbwaiter. Animal and water power was also used to provide a safe lifting situation, but beginning in the end of the nineteen-eighties, electric dumbwaiters were developed.
Today, most homes use electric dumbwaiters because they are less expensive and easier to install. Hydraulic dumbwaiters, which are very powerful, take a great deal of space, often requiring a special room just to house the hydraulics, and can be very expensive. An electric dumbwaiter, on the other hand, basically only requires a straight vertical shaft between floors.
There are several types of residential dumbwaiters available, but they basically fall into the category of either a dumbwaiter kit or a custom built dumbwaiter. Dumbwaiter kits are usually the least expensive type of dumbwaiter, but does not present the purchaser with as much flexibility. This is because the dumbwaiter kit is designed to be a specific size and for specific heights. They do usually come in several sizes though. In addition to costing less, dumbwaiter kits are also sometimes easier to install, especially into existing homes.
While dumbwaiter kits can be a great choice for retrofitting a home with a dumbwaiter, they do not offer much flexibility in regards to size. This can be an issue if you have an abnormally sized shaft or want to be able to make the best use of your space. Instead, a custom built dumbwaiter might be a better choice in these types of situations.
Custom built dumbwaiters are built off of the measurements of the home or building plans. This can make these devices a great choice for new home construction. They do however, typically cost more than a dumbwaiter kit would. A custom built dumbwaiter is sometimes even easier to install than a dumbwaiter kit, but this is not always the case, especially if you want to do a retrofitting.
Dumbwaiters have been used by centuries to allow goods to be safely moved between floors. They are very popular both commercially and residentially, but for homes, the dumbwaiter is typically smaller than commercial models.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Dumbwaiters are very popular and cost effective alternatives to elevators.

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