Questions You Should Know about Commercial Dumbwaiter Materials: Stainless Steel vs Powder-Coated

Moving items between floors become easier than ever with a dumbwaiter from Waupaca. Whether you’re transporting food from a kitchen to an entertaining space or moving essential equipment between levels of your industrial facility, a sturdy, reliable dumbwaiter simplifies the process. In a large multilevel home or business, these convenient small lifts help keep everything running smoothly. Waupaca dumbwaiters, with multiple weight capacities & design options, it’s simple to find the right model for all of your non-passenger vertical transportation needs.

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1.  Suitable for Residential and Commercial Use

Versatile Waupaca dumbwaiters work in a variety of spaces. These convenient units save you time by reducing the amount of manual carrying you have to complete, and they reduce the risk of spills and drops, especially when you’re transporting heavy, sensitive, or delicate materials. Install your dumbwaiter directly into a wall and install an exterior door to create a seamless appearance in any room. Some popular uses for a dumbwaiter in a residential or commercial setting include:

• Lifting packages between an entry area and mailroom
• Moving groceries to a kitchen on an upper level
• Transporting clean and dirty laundry between a utility area and living spaces
• Moving firewood to hearth-equipped rooms
• Transporting heavy computing equipment to your project area
• Efficiently removing trash and recyclables from living or work areas
• Transporting large cases of wine or beer to an entertainment space
• Bringing full water cooler bottles to a common area or lobby
• Moving a wheeled cart from floor to floor when ramps are inaccessible
• Lifting heavier supplies that household members or employees are unable to efficiently carry up or downstairs
• Move inventory from a basement storage area to upper story retail levels
• Moving items between levels of a nursing home, medical facility, or assisted living home when employees cannot leave patients alone to handle between-floor transport

2.  Versatile Capacity Options

The style of dumbwaiter you require depends on both your available space and the things you plan to transport. Commercial and residential options are available. Choose from capacity ratings that range from 100 to 500 pounds to handle the kinds of loads you typically transport and pick performance specifications suitable for how often you move items between floors.

3.  Quality Designs

Waupaca dumbwaiters are built to last. A hardened steel frame and rail system ensure that the entire apparatus holds up well to frequent use. Make operation simple with both automatic and manual bi-parting and/or swing doors on your landings. The cars are made of sturdy welded steel for longevity, and intuitive controls make operation simple. Waupaca Elevator Company has been making dumbwaiters and other mobility products since , so you get reliable performance and innovative designs from a company that has stood the test of time.

Residential Dumbwaiter Options

Residential dumbwaiters from Waupaca fit into your multilevel home design to let you conveniently move items upstairs or downstairs more quickly than carrying them. These dumbwaiters are ideal for moving items 50 feet or less, and you can include up to six stops. Residential models are made to handle typical household loads, and manual hand cranks allow for convenient emergency lowering. There are two Waupaca dumbwaiter models suitable for residential use:

• The 007 Series Cable Waiter features speeds of up to 30 feet per minute and a capacity of 100 pounds. This model uses a single-speed winding drum and a 3/4 HP motor
• The 011 Series Paca Waiter features speeds of up to 50 feet per minute and a capacity of 200 pounds. This model uses a single-speed winding drum and a 1 HP motor

Both models let you choose between stainless steel or powder-coated steel surfaces, and customers can opt for a classic roll-top cart door or a custom metal bi-part gate. Heavy gauge steel guide rails offer reliable support during use. Removable metal shelves are available inside the dumbwaiter cart, letting you conveniently organize items before sending them up or down to another level. All Waupaca dumbwaiters include a call/send feature that lets you retrieve the car from any level and bring it to where you are.

Commercial Waupaca Dumbwaiters

For commercial settings, including retail shops, restaurants, financial institutions, medical facilities, warehouses, and libraries, Waupaca offers options with higher weight loads, longer track heights, and faster maximum speeds. These units let you easily send items to a different floor without going there yourself, so you can send materials between departments without interrupting your existing workflow or coordinate transport between two areas to be more efficient. Two options for Waupaca commercial dumbwaiters include:

The 311 Series Paca Waiter features speeds of up to 60 feet per minute and a capacity of 300 pounds. This model uses a 2 HP continuous-duty motor with a universal mount for reliable power and performance.

The 511 Series Paca Waiter features speeds of up to 60 feet per minute and a capacity of 500 pounds. This model uses a 3 HP continuous-duty motor with a universal mount.

Like residential dumbwaiters, commercial Waupaca dumbwaiter cars come in stainless steel or powder-coated steel options. These models use commercial hoistway doors to meet safety regulations and ensure code compliance. A 3/16″ steel cable provides support and stability when you’re lifting heavy loads between levels of your business. Both models let you install between two and five stops at various floors and have a maximum track length of 50 feet. A winding drum drive system delivers efficiency and reliability. Add an optional shelf to keep items separate during transport and to maximize the carrying capacity when you’re sending multiple small items at once.

Safety Features on Waupaca Dumbwaiters

Both residential and commercial dumbwaiters include safety features to protect users in your home or workplace. These features help ensure safe, consistent operation in the face of frequent use:

• Slack Cable Monitoring Devices recognize a change in cable tension to prevent sudden drops that could be caused by a loose cable.
• UL Certified Controllers ensure that each unit has been tested for safety and complies with local code requirements.
• Sturdy Car Gates keep items in the car secure during transport while allowing easy access at the end of the journey.
• Top Final Limit Switches ensure a complete stop that is level with the landing sill to prevent unwanted gaps.

Optional Features on Waupaca Dumbwaiters

Whether you’re installing a residential dumbwaiter in your home or choosing a commercial dumbwaiter for business use, Waupaca dumbwaiters offer optional features to improve the usefulness of your unit. Some common features customers might choose include:

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Commercial Dumbwaiter Materials: Stainless Steel vs Powder-Coated.

• A “Car Here” indicator light on the exterior of the dumbwaiter to let you know when your items have arrived at your floor
• Interior car lights for extra illumination inside the dumbwaiter car that enhances visibility during loading and unloading
• An “In Use” indicator to let you know when the unit is currently in operation so you can see if the items you’re waiting for have begun their ascent or descent
• An open-door buzzer that alerts users when the door is open, so you get an audible alert when you are outside the visible range

Ordering a Waupaca Dumbwaiter

The word dumbwaiter is a funny name but dates back to the very beginning of the inception of the helpful device. Derived from the elevator world dumbwaiters in the beginning were all manually powered with a rope and pulley system. Today the manual dumbwaiter system is still available and being produced. However most dumbwaiter lifts are powered by a electric motor and they have a number of different systems that make the lifting take place.

The term dumbwaiter was first used to describe a small freight elevator or lift whose purpose was to carry objects between floors. It was called that because it carried food and other objects between floors of large houses with many staff members trying to run a smooth household. The “dumbwaiter” was not seen nor heard, and thus the term was born.

The cost on dumbwaiters can vary greatly. Depending on the use being for residential or a commercial application. Also the lifting weight category will be a significant factor in the cost of the system. The number of floors served and amount of openings at each floor also contributes to the complexity of the dumbwaiter system cost. Most residential dumbwaiters today moving between two floors will cost between $3,600 – $6,500 for the equipment only. Other costs associated with the installation of a dumbwaiter system are the construction of the dumbwaiter hoist-way and the installation cost. The installation cost of a residential system can also vary greatly depending on your geographical location. Some states require the systems to be installed by a C-11 licensed elevator contractor. When this is the case the cost will soar to 2-3 times the cost of the dumbwaiter equipment, and will require a state inspection from the elevator division to pass the unit into service. The $3,600 versions are the low end / lower quality systems with limited customization and single phase electric motors with a chain, belt or rack and pinion track drive system. They also have a very industrial look and feel to the dumbwaiter car. The higher end units have many more options available and are fully customizable. Cars available in every wood species as well as mild steel with a durable powder coat finish and solid stainless steel. The stainless steel option is great for coastal communities where the salt air takes it’s toll on everything made from mild steel. Eventually the mild steel will begin to show signs of rust over time. The stainless steel and custom colored powder coated mild steel cabs suit the needs of higher end multi floor homes as well. The high quality dumbwaiter systems will run three phase electric gear motors and variable frequency drives (VFD) for complete motor control and protection. The three phase motor is best suited for the forward and reversing action required in a dumbwaiter lift system. With this type of motor and VFD drive system the system can have a soft start and soft stop. The VFD allows the ramp up and ramp down control of the motor that is not only much more forgiving on the motor system but is a very smooth take off and landing for the dumbwaiter car. This can be especially important for the restaurant industry when moving things such as a bowl of soup to mixed drinks. But it also works in favor of every system by being very easy going on the motor drive system.

Commercial dumbwaiter systems installed with equipment, installation, permitting and inspection also can vary greatly in price. Depending on the use and requirements of the installation as well as the number of floors served and load capacity. These commercial dumbwaiters can range in price from $20,000 to over $100,000. This will include all of the fire rated door systems required by code for these types of machines. Once again the above costs on the commercial rated dumbwaiter systems do not include the cost of building the hoist-way. A dumbwaiter in a commercial setting can greatly reduce the chance of an injury to an employee traveling stairs like in a restaurant for instance. Less injuries = less claims filed = less risk to the owners of said business. So in the long run it is a wise business decision to install a quality dumbwaiter system.

Dumbwaiters of the past were all manually operated with ropes and pulley systems. These types of systems are still available today although not nearly used as much as fully automatic electric motor dumbwaiters. A dumbwaiter system basically operates very similar to an elevator. But instead of getting in the cab and selecting a floor to travel to you call or send the system via the call / send station at each floor outside of each entrance. The motion control of these different type of systems also varies in design. Some units use a winding drum and cable system on higher end systems with guide rails and pulley systems. For high speed and a high number of floors served the drive system will be very similar to a high rise elevator system know as a traction system. This system incorporates the use of several lifting cables attached to the dumbwaiter car on one side, cables go up to the top of the hoist-way and wrap around the traction drum machine and back down the opposite side of the hoist-way to a set of counter weights that also ride on a track system. This is a very efficient multi floor (usually over six floors) system derived from the elevator world.

Lower end basic dumbwaiters use several different modes of operation. Some run on rack and pinion gear and track system. These are slow and transfer more noise into the structure due to the drive system. Some run on chain and sprocket systems also creating a bit more noise due to the drive chain and sprockets. Some run on a gear and rubber belt system keeping the noise down but eventually wearing out the belt. The belts are also susceptible to skipping gear teeth if not properly tensioned or due to stretching. The electronics also vary from simple old school relay logic controller systems to very complex micro controller digitally controlled devices.

When did they become illegal? There are some illegal dumbwaiters in use today. People have converted machines such as a garage door openers into a vertical shaft transportation system like a dumbwaiter. However these types of home made systems will not pass any codes and are very dangerous. They do not posses the safeties of modern day dumbwaiter systems. This leaves the door open for the possibility of injury or death. They do not have emergency safety switches or more importantly door locking devices tied into the dumbwaiter controller. This allows the make shift systems to run with the hoist-way doors open creating a great safety hazard especially for children. While many dumbwaiters have either been walled up or converted into pantry nooks or decorative spaces, they are still legal, according to Buildings Departments, provided they have kept up-to-date with building codes, which specify fire resistance and proper venting of the shafts and the use of an approved safe dumbwaiter system. It is best to choose a dumbwaiter system that has a third party recognized certification based on current elevator codes for your jurisdiction.

When it comes to the elevator industry it is important to remember that it spans far and wide which means that each type of elevator will have its own different origin story. For example, Elisha Graves Otis may be credited with inventing the emergency break for residential and commercial elevators however the dumbwaiter is an entirely different contraption although todays systems are required to have a very similar emergency braking system. Here is everything you need to know about the origins of the dumbwaiter…

Many people are unaware that the dumbwaiter has actually been around since the age of the Romans! After all, they may have lived during 200BC but they still had to move things between different floors. The term ‘dumbwaiter’ itself was coined because the lifts were first used in large rich houses where the kitchen was found in the basement or servants quarters so the waiters were silent and never seen. Plus, since dishes and food had to be transported between the different floors, it was more practical to use a dumbwaiter.

Of course, the dumbwaiters that were used hundreds of years ago were more practically designed than aesthetic as they were often operated by a rope and pulley in order to lift the dumbwaiter to the required floor and lower it back down again. Of course, the introduction of an electric motor in the ’s and other modern 21st century adaptions now means that a simple press of a button can do all the work for us.

Interestingly the dumbwaiter has also creeped out of the kitchen during its lifetime and in , a play write called Harold Pinter wrote a play that was called ‘The Dumb Waiter’ which takes place in a basement kitchen and focuses on a dumbwaiter which delivers mysterious food orders.

Although the dumbwaiter may seem like an old fashion addition you may only find in Buckingham Palace, it is actually an integral part of the service industry. In fact, whilst the days of rope hauling may be behind us, modern adaptions mean that heated cabins, safety locks and contamination prevention is something that dumbwaiters can provide.

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