Pneumatic Vacuum Elevators is a US manufacturer of pneumatic vacuum lifts based in Miami. The car moves inside a transparent tube driven by air pressure: no ropes, no machine room and no pit. Portal Lift Company is its representative in Ukraine.
A pneumatic lift runs on air, not ropes. The car sits in a sealed transparent tube; turbines at the top draw out the air above it, and the pressure difference lifts the car. It descends when air is let back in in a controlled way. There are almost no moving parts in the shaft - no ropes, no counterweight, no gearbox.
Hence the main advantage for a private house: no pit, no machine room and no masonry shaft are needed. The tube stands on the floor, and an opening matching its diameter is made in the floor slabs. The manufacturer quotes installation in two to three days - in practice, it is the openings in the floor slabs and the finishing around them that take more time.
The range has four models. PVE30 - for one passenger, outside diameter 762 mm, rated load about 160 kg. PVE37 - for two, diameter 940 mm, about 205 kg. PVE52 - for three, diameter 1321 mm, about 240 kg, and takes a wheelchair. There is also the square Cube model measuring 915 × 915 mm. Travel is up to 15 metres, with up to five stops.
Now for the limits, because you should know them before choosing. This is equipment for a private house, not for an apartment building or a hospital: the rated load is small, the number of stops is limited, and such a lift cannot cope with heavy traffic. The tube is transparent all round - which looks great, but there is no privacy in the car. And the turbines can be heard during travel: it will not be quieter than a conventional lift.
For residential buildings, offices, hotels and public buildings.
For warehouses, factories, shopping centres and kitchens.
For hospitals and medical centres: sized for stretchers and intensive care beds.
A glass car as an architectural feature of the building.
No, it is not. The car never goes below the level of the lowest stop, so no recess is made in the floor. That is the main reason pneumatic lifts are chosen for existing houses: cutting a pit into an existing foundation is expensive and often impossible.
Depending on the model, one to three. The largest, the PVE52, has an outside diameter of 1321 mm and is rated for about 240 kg; a wheelchair fits inside. If you need to carry more people or use it more often, that calls for a conventional lift or platform lift rather than a pneumatic one.
A fair question, and the answer should come from the technical passport of the specific model, not from general statements. We show the client the manufacturer's documentation for the configuration they are buying and look together at how descent and door opening without power are provided for. We will not promise anything in advance without seeing the passport.
You can hear it. The lift is driven by turbines, and they run while it moves - a pneumatic lift is never quieter than a roped one. In a house this is usually not a problem, since each ride lasts a few seconds and the lift does not run all day, but do not expect complete silence.
Yes, Portal is the manufacturer's representative. Choosing a model starts with two things: the travel and the diameter that can fit through the floor slab. Then come the openings, power supply and finishes around the tube. Configuration and delivery time are confirmed by the manufacturer for each specific order.
A chair stair lift, a home lift with no pit, a PVE pneumatic lift, a Cibes screw-driven platform lift or a hydraulic lift: which of them will actually fit in your house.
9 min readWhat determines the choice of lift: building type, number of floors, rated load, drive type and whether there is a machine room. Practical guidelines and common mistakes.
7 min readChoose what you need: an engineer will contact you within one working day, select a model and calculate the cost.
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