FAQs – Dumbwaiter Lift Installation

10 Questions We Often Get Asked About Dumbwaiters

Dumbwaiter lift installation is one of the services we provide most regularly at Tower Lifts. Our engineers have answered many, many questions about it over the years; for this article, we’ve collected the 10 we get asked most often.

FAQs – Dumbwaiter Lift Installation

1. What is a Dumbwaiter Lift?

It’s an odd name, and one of many that gets applied to this lift. Dumbwaiters are also called service lifts, small goods lifts, restaurant lifts, food lifts or kitchen lifts.

Whatever name you give it, a dumbwaiter lift is for carrying goods rather than people. It tends to be cabinet size, and is designed to move food, laundry, shopping, or goods between floors. A restaurant lift, for example, will carry food orders from a kitchen to the dining room to save waiting staff climbing up and down busy stairsways with loaded plates

2. Do I Need to Install a Dumbwaiter?

There are two main reasons for dumbwaiter lift installation. First, it keeps customer-facing staff on the floor, rather than having them running to and for orders. Second, it relieves staff of repeated manual handling operations which could – and often does – result in sprains or back injuries.

Business owners are legally responsible for the health and safety of staff whilst they’re at work. Manual handling, or carrying goods up and down staircases are considered risks to welfare which could be minimised by the installation of a service lift.

3. How Are Goods Loaded And Unloaded?

A dumbwaiter lift will normally be carrying food or crockery. For practical reasons installation will be a waist level to allow for ease of access. If you need to load pallets onto your goods lift, it can be customised to facilitate the use of a forklift truck. Tower Lifts can customise the size and positioning of your service lift according to your requirements.

4. Where Can Dumbwaiters be Installed?

Tower Lifts engineers carry out dumbwaiter lift installation in hotels, kitchens, restaurants, care homes, private homes, and retail venues. Wherever there is a need to transport goods between multiple floors, we can install a lift customised to carry out the task. In the home environment, dumbwaiters are particularly helpful for people who have impaired mobility, or don’t want to risk carrying goods up and down stairs.

5. How Many Floors Can a Dumbwaiter Serve?

Our dumbwaiters can move between 4 floors, carrying 50-100kg. They travel at a maximum speed of 0.45MPS. If you require a bespoke dumbwaiter, our designers will be able to create a tailored solution for your business.

6. Do I Have Room to Install One?

A dumbwaiter lift installation requires surprisingly little space. Our engineers will be happy to take a look at your location and advise on whether or not we can install. In our experience, there is usually a solution to be found.

7. How Durable is a Dumbwaiter Lift?

Dumbwaiters are workhorses. They are built for continual use in punishing environments, and they just keep delivering. We have installed numerous dumbwaiters in the past two decades and, as far as we know, they’re still in service. We have encountered goods lifts that have been working reliably for 30 years or more.

8. How do You Clean a Dumbwaiter?

Most dumbwaiters are made of stainless steel, especially if they are transporting food. This ensures that they are easy to clean, and hygienic. It is inevitable that spills and food crumbs will accumulate in the corners of your dumbwaiter, so regular cleaning is important. We recommend regular steam cleaning.

9. How Long Does it Take to Install a Dumbwaiter?

The majority of our dumbwaiter installations take just a few days. If we’re installing in a busy retail or hospitality environment, we will schedule flexibly in order to minimise disruption to your business.

10. How Much Does a Dumbwaiter Cost?

The price of a dumbwaiter varies according to its size, configuration, customisation, and the number of floors. As soon as we have made a site inspection, we will provide a detailed quote.

Why Work With Tower Lifts?

Tower Lifts was established in 2006, so we have nearly two decades of experience installing dumbwaiter lifts throughout the UK. Our installation engineers guarantee technical excellence, compliance with safety requirements, and with LOLER regulations. Tower Lifts is an ISO9001:2015 Lift Cert and UKAS approved company adhering to all current Lift Regulations.

Would you like to talk to a member of the Tower Lifts team about installing a dumbwaiter lift installation? Call us today on 01525 601099

Tower Lifts carry out design and installation on a varied range of lifts throughout the UK including:

Domestic Lifts • Food Lifts • Bespoke Platform Lifts • Service Lifts • Platform Lifts • Goods Lifts • Scenic Lifts • Heavy Duty / Car Lifts • Passenger Lifts • Dumbwaiter Lifts • MRL Lifts • Fire lifts • Residential Lifts • low-Headroom Lift