# Lift types and drive types

Lesson 1 of [Home elevator basics for buyers](https://privateelevators.fyi/academy/home-elevator-basics-for-buyers.md), 12 minutes.

A home lift is a machine that moves people between floors. This site's guides sort home lifts into five types. The type you pick sets the space, the building work and the price. Pick the type before you pick a brand.

## The five types

- **Shafted elevator**: a cab in a built hoistway, with a pit below it. It can serve many floors.
- **Through-floor lift**: a small cab on rails that passes through a hole in one ceiling. It serves two floors.
- **Pneumatic (vacuum) elevator**: a clear tube that moves the cab with air pressure. It needs no pit or shaft.
- **Platform lift**: an open or enclosed platform, often for a wheelchair, driven by a screw or a hydraulic ram.
- **Stairlift**: a seat on a rail fixed to the stairs.

## Drive types

The drive is the machine that moves the cab. This directory lists these drive types: hydraulic, traction or machine-room-less, winding drum, chain, screw, pneumatic vacuum, and rack and pinion. Makers use different drives in different models.

- Savaria says its Eclipse uses a geared chain drive and needs no machine room.
- Savaria says its Infinity is hydraulic and needs a 4 ft by 5 ft room for the tank and controller.
- Savaria says its Vuelift uses a winding drum drive.
- Inclinator offers cable drum, hydraulic and machine-room-less overhead cable drum drives.
- Cibes says its lifts use a screw and nut drive.
- PVE moves its cab with air.

## How many floors

A shafted elevator can serve more than two floors. Inclinator says its cable drum and hydraulic drives reach up to six landings. PVE says its vacuum lifts serve up to five stops. A through-floor lift serves two floors. UK Homelifts says no through-floor lift sold in the UK serves three storeys.

## Indoors or outdoors

Savaria says a home elevator must run in a fully enclosed hoistway. It cannot stand outdoors. Some platform lifts and stairlifts are sold for outdoor use. Ask the maker.

## Sources

- Home Elevator Brands Compared: Makers, Models and Drive Types, privateelevators.fyi guide, with the maker pages it cites (Savaria, Inclinator, PVE, Cibes), accessed 2026-10-29
- Home Elevator Cost Guide, privateelevators.fyi guide, for the lift types and the UK Homelifts statement on three storeys, accessed 2026-10-29
- Home Elevator Design Ideas, privateelevators.fyi guide, for outdoor use, accessed 2026-10-29
- UK Homelifts, Home Lift Prices: 2026 UK Cost Guide, ukhomelifts.co.uk/prices, prices checked 2026-10-12
- Savaria, Ultimate Guide to Home Elevators, savaria.com/home-elevators, updated 2026-10-20
- Inclinator, Home Elevators and Residential Elevators, inclinator.com/home-elevators, accessed 2026-10-29
- PVE, Pneumatic Vacuum Elevators, vacuumelevators.com, accessed 2026-10-29
- Cibes Lift, cibeslift.com, accessed 2026-10-29

Also on the [web page](https://privateelevators.fyi/academy/home-elevator-basics-for-buyers/lift-types-and-drive-types).