Handpowered lifts in the home, what are your options?

We are so proud of our heritage as the UK’s oldest service lift manufacturer, in fact our residential hand lifts have been manufactured in London since the 1800’s! Click here to read more about the history of George Johnson Lifts.

Sometimes called pulley hoists, hand lifts or rope lifts, these reliable and economical dumbwaiters are gaining popularity again in private homes due to the resurgence of new townhouses set over several floors and the development of homes with kitchens and dining areas on different levels.

Although don’t be fooled into thinking they are only for transporting food. Our customers use these hard-working little lifts for luggage, laundry, shopping and any number of things, making them a wonderful addition to any home – you’ll soon wonder how you ever lived without your service lift!

The reliability, smaller size, economical price and ease of fitting (even in listed buildings) of a hand powered lift, means that they are a fantastic way to provide that vital link between the floors of your home. For more information, and a selection of photographs, click here to find out more about our residential hand lifts.

We offer two types of residential hand lift, a Battersea H3 & Battersea H4 and these hand powered lifts, although very similar - have some key differences. We’ve listed below the main specifications so that you can start to get an idea of which one might be right for your home – remember you can also fully integrate them into your home so that they are hidden away or make them a feature of your interior design:

Battersea H3 / H4 hand lifts

H3 – Rope operated

• Can be operated from both levels

• The operating rope is fitted within lift shaft depth meaning no external parts are showing

• Enclosure height minimum of 2550 mm at upper level with 850 mm serving height

• Best suited for waist level height serving, making it ideal to emerge into a kitchen cupboard

• Sizing parameters are slightly more flexible than H4 (as detailed above)

• Most economical of the two lifts

• 4/5-week manufacture time

H4 – Winding handle

• Operated from lower level only

• Operating handle is external to the lift shaft, fitted to left or right of the entrance at the lower level. A treadle brake is also external to the enclosure at the lower level . • Enclosure height minimum of 1650 mm at upper level with 850 mm serving height

• Suited to low level serving at upper level often emerging into a base unit cupboard

• Shaft depth fixed at 600 mm

If you have any questions at all please give us a call on 0207 732 4444 or fill out our contact form and one of our team of lift experts will get in touch to talk you through the process, arrange for technical information to be sent to your builder or architect or put together a quotation.