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Vacuum-Controlled Elevator Developed
Aenox writes "Vacuum Elevators of Florida have released a one-man elevator system that easily slots into buildings. It has gone on sale in the U.S. for around $20,000 and uses only electricity to power vaccum-inducing suction turbines that can lift 204Kg several floors up. They claim it provides a smooth ride but from the video it looks like it could use some oil."
No. They are the same type purely mechanical types used in your standard elevator. If the cable breaks on a normal elevator, they also need to have some means of preventing you from plummeting to your death. The same systems are in use. Engineers thought long long ago about power failures during emergencies. You aren't the first to think about it.
Laziness and status aside;
The real answer is for the Elderly and the disabled. IF you check out That Home Site you'll find a lot of interest in residential elevators. If it isn't feasible to buy a single level house, an elevator allows you full access to your entire abode.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Elisha Otis, at the 1853-54 World's Fair. Interesting history of the safety elevator here.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
No he didn't. He died of diptheria during an epidemic in 1861.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
Simple physics. Your water pressure it between 20 and 60psi. (Anything higher will break hoses) City water is generally on the high end because cities have to reach the upper floors of houses on top of hills, and regulators are a lot each to install and maintain than pumps. Well water is often on the low end because you set it for what you need.
20 psi means that if you have a tube with a piston with one square inch of surface area, the piston will hold up 20lbs. A little math and you can find how big a piston you need to lift the weight (Not mass, we care about fighting gravity) you are concerned about. Now just place the piston in a tube long enough, and apply water. It will lift your elevator.
The hard part is making this without digging a hold DOWN 2 stories to place your tube in. There are many solutions to this, they are left as an exercise for the reader.