Elevators for use in residential buildings and small commercial spaces come in four principal types — hydraulic, winding drum, counterweight and pneumatic lift. All of them have several pros and cons but the last one is undoubtedly the most interesting of the group. Known for their bullet-like shape and unique glass exteriors, pneumatic lifts provide an excellent bird’s eye view of the exterior while traveling.
If somebody is considering adding a residential elevator to their home, the pneumatic elevators are the best option for they do require any gigantic space. Since they work on the basis of a suction channel, they do not require any machine room; neither has any pulley hoist system got to be installed. The fact that machine rooms and hoist systems are unnecessary for pneumatic elevators makes them much cheaper to install, compared to any other variety of elevators. Using a clear tube with a car inside it, pneumatic elevators can be placed anywhere within a very short time, as long as the ground is level.
The pneumatic elevator is an extremely convenient option for anyone who is looking for a convenient way to travel from floor to floor within their small residential or office building. The cabin of such a lift can move at speeds of up to 30 feet in a minute and can travel heights of 35 feet at a time. Additionally, the lift does not use oil to function and this makes it environment friendly. Instead air pressure regulated by a valve creates suction in the channel and that suction is what causes the elevator to go up and down. It is one of the most effective and sensible ways to reduce pollution in modern times and ensures that men leave behind as less carbon footprints as possible. These elevators involve bare minimum energy consumption with a tiny bit needed to move the cab up via turbines.
The work principle of these elevators is also reasonably simple. The cab is made to go p and down by creating differences between the atmospheric pressure outside the tube and the air pressure inside it. While going up, a piston depressurizes the area inside the tube and the cab goes up due to the pressure inside the tube being lower than the atmospheric pressure outside it. While coming down, the valve at the upper end of the glass tube increases the pressure inside so that it is greater than the atmospheric pressure outside the tube, thereby causing the cab to descend. As far as stopping at floor levels is concerned, the tube has locking devices to halt the car at floor. Additionally pneumatic lifts come equipped with all security features in case there is an emergency and the pressure inside the tube returns to normal.
The pneumatic design is suitable for residential purposes because they can lift weights up to 450 pounds which is equivalent to 2 people at a time. That is sufficient enough to move people between floors of a home or small commercial building more than 3 story tall.