Hydraulic vs Traction Elevator

With a hydraulic elevator, a pump pushes fluid to raise the cab. A traction elevator works differently: belts or steel ropes pass over a pulley and lift the cab, while a counterweight sits on the opposite end, according to TK Elevator. That counterweight is just a heavy block matched to the cab, and it spares the motor a lot of effort.

A machine room is its own small space that holds the motor or pump. Residential Elevators says you need one with hydraulic but not with traction. A pit is a shallow opening beneath the bottom level of the house, and both drives need one. A traction lift needs at least 8 inches of depth there, per Home Elevator of Houston, and hydraulic home models ask for 6 to 12 inches. Both ride at 32 to 40 feet a minute, travel up to 50 feet and carry 750 to 1,000 lb, per RetirementLiving.

Hydraulic has genuine advantages. There are fewer parts in motion, the install tends to run cheaper, and it uses less power while waiting and nearly zero on the way down, TK Elevator explains.

There are downsides too. The fluid is typically oil-based, which makes a leak an environmental hazard. You also have to test and treat the fluid on a schedule, or you risk travel failures and noise from the pump.

A cable driven home elevator is often sold beside traction lifts, but it works another way. In the winding drum design, the motor turns a drum that the cable coils around, and that winding motion hauls the cab upward, with no counterweight. Installed, this version runs $28,000 to $50,000, HomeGuide says.

Cables do not last forever. Angi puts the replacement bill at $2,000 to $3,000, needed every three to five years. A winding drum lift takes about $300 to $600 a year in upkeep.

A pneumatic elevator, sometimes called a vacuum elevator, rides on air pressure inside a transparent tube. There is no pit, no shaft, no machine room, and installation wraps up in two to three days, Southeast Elevator reports. It is somewhat slower, moving 30 to 35 feet a minute compared with 40 for hydraulic.

The prices above come from the site's typical ranges. For the pneumatic care numbers, we blend Angi with HomeGuide.

Design drives what a traction elevator costs. These installed prices come from HomeGuide.

HomeGuide prices each design on its own, while the $27,000 to $50,000 at the top of this page is the middle of every published range for traction and cable lifts. Other estimates, for reference only: Angi and Fixr both land between $15,000 and $35,000, RetirementLiving gives $40,000 to $120,000 for a two stop traction lift, a vacuum elevator manufacturer quotes $50,000 to $120,000, and Willow puts it at $45,000 to $90,000 around Boulder and Denver.

Those prices assume a two floor home. HomeGuide says every floor past two adds $9,000 to $15,000. Putting any shaft type of lift into a house that is already built adds $8,550 to $35,900. That money covers the shaft construction, design and engineering work, a dedicated circuit for power, and the permit fee.

For two floors they cost about the same: hydraulic usually runs $25,000 to $56,500 installed and traction or cable $27,000 to $50,000. Hydraulic often starts lower, while traction costs a little less to service each year, $300 to $900 against $400 to $1,000, per Angi. The surest comparison for your own house is to get quotes on both.

A separate machine room with a pump inside points to hydraulic. Ropes or belts holding the cab, with a counterweight in the shaft, mean traction.

Yes, though it will cost you. Fixr puts the bill for converting the drive from cable to hydraulic at $5,000 to $10,000.