Residential Dumbwaiters

A residential dumbwaiter can be a great addition to a home and provide a means of easily transporting items between floors. There are several different types of dumbwaiters available and many different manufacturers, but the electric dumbwaiter is currently the most popular type of dumbwaiter.

Electric dumbwaiters can generally be classified as either Dumbwaiter Kits or Custom Built. Both of which have their advantages and disadvantages.

Dumbwaiter Kits

Dumbwaiter Kits are preassembled dumbwaiters that are built to a specific size and dimension. As a result, they are often less expensive than custom built dumbwaiters, but they offer lifts with set sizes and lifting distances.

The installation of a dumbwaiter kit is often very straightforward, with many of the steps being preformed at the manufacturing plant. However, the installation will still require a good deal of advanced building knowledge and abilities.

In some instances a dumbwaiter kit will be also easier to install into an existing structure. This is in part due to their size, but the way dumbwaiter kits are installed also plays a role.

The installation is usually divided into several parts, including the installation of the track, the installation of the dumbwaiter car, and the wiring and framing of the dumbwaiter stops.

While dumbwaiter kits can sometimes offer an easier installation and lower cost, they often do not have as many features and they only come in certain sizes.

Custom Built Dumbwaiters

A Custom Built Dumbwaiter is one that is built specifically for your home. This allows you to make the most of your space, because the car and track is made to the fit the exact specifications of your dumwaiter shaft and fulfill your required lifting capacity.

Custom built dumbwaiters also offers a good deal of customization. A wooden car is typically offered standard, sometimes with several different wood and Formica choices. Steel and Aluminum cars are also available.

In some cases, the lifting system of a custom built can be more complex than that of a dumbwaiter kit. With multiple cable backups and even hydraulic lifts found in some custom built residential dumbwaiters.

While much more customizable and in some cases of better quality, custom built dumbwaiters typically cost more than dumbwaiter kits. They also take longer to build and are usually easiest to install into new homes as they are being constructed.