Mention a dumbwaiter and people think of grocery bags. That is the most popular use, but owners soon find others. Here are eight, several of them particularly at home in Pennsylvania.
1. Firewood and pellets
Wood stoves and pellet stoves are common here, and fuel is heavy. A dumbwaiter from the basement or garage delivers it beside the hearth without a trail of bark and dust through the house.
2. Canning and cold storage
Plenty of households still put up tomatoes, peaches and pickles and keep them on basement shelves. Moving cases of jars by dumbwaiter is safer than carrying glass on the stairs.
3. Laundry
Baskets travel between upstairs bedrooms and a basement laundry at the touch of a button.
4. Groceries
The classic. From garage level straight to the kitchen.
5. Holiday decorations
Boxes come down from the attic and go back up again without anyone balancing on a pull-down ladder, where the dumbwaiter serves that level.
6. Entertaining
Food and drinks go from the kitchen to a finished basement bar or an upper deck, and the dishes come back the same way.
7. A home business
Stock, parcels and supplies move between a basement workshop and a ground-floor office.
8. Caring for someone upstairs
Meals, linens and medical supplies reach a bedroom without repeated trips on the stairs, a real help to a tired caregiver.
What makes these possible
A residential dumbwaiter has a car large enough for a laundry basket or several grocery bags, and a capacity suited to household loads. Doors lock for safety, and the controls are simple enough for anyone.
Where it goes
The shaft needs about the space of a small closet and a straight vertical run. Older homes often have a disused chimney chase, a laundry chute or stacked closets that can be put to use.
Find a route in your house
See the Jeeves range on our dumbwaiters page. Call Nationwide Lifts of Pennsylvania on 570-217-8426 or request a site visit.