10 Types of Lifts and Where Each One Is Used
The 10 main types of lifts explained in plain English: what each one carries, typical capacity, where it is used and how to pick the right one.
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- Lifts are named in two ways: by what they carry (passengers, patients, goods, cars) and by how they are driven (traction, MRL, hydraulic). One lift usually has a name from each group.
- Passenger lift capacity in India is rated at 68 kg per person, so an 8-person lift is a 544 kg lift.
- Hydraulic drives suit low-rise buildings and heavy loads; traction and MRL drives suit taller buildings and frequent use.
- Dumbwaiters and goods-only lifts are never for people. Mixing passengers and goods in the wrong lift is a safety and a wear problem.
- Escalators and moving walks are not lifts, but they are planned and maintained alongside them in malls, stations and large showrooms.
- Start from the load and the traffic, then the building, then the drive. Choosing the drive first is the usual mistake.
There are ten types of lifts that most building owners in India will come across: passenger lifts, home lifts, hospital (bed) lifts, goods and freight lifts, hydraulic lifts, MRL lifts, capsule lifts, dumbwaiters, car lifts, and escalators with moving walks. Some of these names describe what the lift carries. Others describe how it is driven. A single lift often has both kinds of name, such as an "MRL passenger lift" or a "hydraulic goods lift".
This guide gives one short section to each type, with its typical use and capacity range, and a summary table to compare them. The figures are typical ranges, not limits. The right size for your building always comes from a site survey.
Types of lifts at a glance
| No. | Type | Typical use | Typical capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passenger lift | Apartments, offices, hotels, shops | About 4 to 20+ persons (68 kg per person) |
| 2 | Home lift | Private houses, duplexes, villas | About 2 to 5 persons |
| 3 | Hospital (bed) lift | Hospitals, nursing homes | Sized for a bed and attendants; around 1,275 kg is common |
| 4 | Goods and freight lift | Shops, godowns, factories | About 500 kg to 5 tonnes |
| 5 | Hydraulic lift | Low-rise homes and goods lifts | From small home cars to several tonnes |
| 6 | MRL lift | Low and mid-rise passenger buildings | Most common passenger sizes |
| 7 | Capsule lift | Hotels, malls, showrooms | Passenger sizes; an 8-person car is 544 kg |
| 8 | Dumbwaiter | Kitchens, restaurants, hospitals | About 50 to 250 kg, goods only |
| 9 | Car lift | Basement and rooftop parking, showrooms | Around 3,000 kg; more for large SUVs |
| 10 | Escalator and moving walk | Malls, stations, large stores | Continuous flow; step widths of 600, 800 or 1000 mm |
Lifts named by what they carry
These four types are defined by their load. The load decides the car size, the doors and the safety features.
1. Passenger lift
The passenger lift is the standard lift in apartments, offices, hotels, schools and shops. In India its capacity is given in persons and in kilograms, with each person counted as 68 kg. So a 6-person lift is rated at 408 kg and an 8-person lift at 544 kg. Small residential buildings usually start at around four to six persons. Busy commercial buildings go up to 13, 15 or 20 persons.
Where it is used: any shared building where people are the main load. Automatic sliding doors, a smooth V3F drive, an ARD for power cuts and a door light curtain are the features to expect. See our passenger elevator range, or read how to choose a passenger lift for capacity and speed in detail.
2. Home lift
A home lift is a small passenger lift designed for one family. It typically carries about two to five persons, travels two to four floors and is built to fit into tight spaces: a shallow pit, low headroom, a shaft in the stairwell or a steel structure outside the house. Speed is modest because the travel is short.
Where it is used: G+1 to G+3 houses, duplex flats and villas, often for elderly parents or a family member who uses a wheelchair. If that is the reason, choose the car size and door width around the wheelchair first. Our home lift buying guide covers the planning steps.
3. Hospital (bed) lift
A hospital lift is built around a patient bed or stretcher, not around a head count. The car is deep and the door is wide, so a bed, an attendant and equipment can enter without turning. A commonly used bed lift car is about 1200 mm wide and 2300 mm deep, with a rated load of around 1,275 kg. Larger hospitals use bigger cars.
Where it is used: hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic centres and medical colleges. Accurate floor levelling matters more here than anywhere else, because a small step at the door jolts a patient on a trolley. Reliable rescue operation and hygienic, easy-to-clean finishes are also expected. The details are in our post on hospital lift requirements.
4. Goods and freight lift
A goods lift carries materials: cartons, sacks, trolleys, pallets, machinery. Most shops, godowns and factories choose something between 500 kg and 5 tonnes. The car is plain and strong, with chequered-plate flooring, heavy-duty doors (collapsible, swing or vertical bi-parting) and a robust sill that can take trolley wheels. "Freight elevator" is the same idea at the heavier, more industrial end.
Where it is used: multi-storey shops, wholesale markets, warehouses, cold stores, workshops and factories. Decide the capacity from the heaviest single load plus the trolley or pallet truck, and decide the car size from the largest item. People may ride only if the lift is rated as goods-cum-passenger. Our goods lift buying guide explains loading classes and door choices.
Lifts named by how they are driven
The next two types describe the machinery. A passenger lift, a home lift or a goods lift can each be built with either drive.
5. Hydraulic lift
A hydraulic lift is pushed up by a piston. An electric pump forces oil into a cylinder to raise the car, and a valve releases the oil to lower it. There is no counterweight in the usual design, and the power unit can sit in a small room beside the shaft at a lower floor.
Where it is used: low-rise buildings, usually up to about five or six floors, and jobs where the load is heavy and speed is not important. That makes hydraulic a common choice for home lifts and for goods lifts serving two to four floors. Capacity ranges from a small home car to several tonnes. Because the car descends by releasing oil, it can be lowered to a floor in a power cut. The trade-offs are slower speed and oil that needs to be kept clean and leak-free.
6. MRL (machine-room-less) lift
An MRL lift is a traction lift, which means the car hangs on ropes or belts over a motor-driven sheave and is balanced by a counterweight. What makes it MRL is that the compact, usually gearless, machine sits inside the shaft itself, and the controller goes into a cabinet near the top landing. No separate machine room is built on the terrace.
Where it is used: most new low and mid-rise apartments, offices, hotels and hospitals, in the common passenger capacities. It saves terrace space and construction cost and is energy-efficient with a V3F drive. A traditional machine-room traction lift is still preferred for very tall buildings, very heavy duty or where easy access to the machine is a priority. Compare the two in MRL vs machine-room elevators.
Special-purpose lifts
7. Capsule (glass) lift
A capsule lift is a passenger lift with glass walls, often with a rounded or angled front, placed where it can be seen: in an atrium, on a facade or beside a showroom staircase. Capacity is rated the same way as any passenger lift, so an 8-person capsule is a 544 kg lift, but a round car has less usable floor area than a rectangular one in the same shaft space.
Where it is used: hotels, malls, showrooms, banquet halls and premium offices, where the lift is part of the architecture. Plan for laminated safety glass, a neat, finished shaft (because everything is visible) and, on outdoor faces in our region, sun and heat.
8. Dumbwaiter
A dumbwaiter is a small goods-only lift, typically carrying about 50 to 250 kg. The car is the size of a cupboard or a small trolley bay, it opens at counter height or floor level, and it is called and sent from outside. Nobody rides in it.
Where it is used: restaurant and hotel kitchens moving food between floors, hospitals moving linen, files or samples, shops moving stock, and homes with a kitchen on one floor and dining on another. If the load is heavier than about 250 kg, or a person must travel with it, you need a goods lift instead.
9. Car lift
A car lift moves a vehicle between floors where a ramp will not fit. It is a large, heavy-duty platform or car, usually hydraulic or heavy traction, with wide doors on one or both ends for drive-through use. Around 3,000 kg is common for cars and SUVs. Showrooms and service centres that handle large SUVs or light vans may need 4,000 kg or more.
Where it is used: basement or rooftop parking on narrow plots, car showrooms with upper-floor displays, service workshops and apartment buildings in crowded city centres. Platform length, door width and the turning space outside the lift matter as much as the capacity.
10. Escalator and moving walk
Strictly, these are not lifts. An escalator is a moving staircase and a moving walk (travelator) is a moving flat or gently sloped belt. They belong on this list because they are planned, registered and maintained with lifts, and buyers often ask which one they need. They carry a continuous stream of people rather than a batch, so capacity is described by step width and speed, not kilograms. Common step widths are 600 mm, 800 mm and 1000 mm.
Where it is used: malls, large showrooms, stations and airports, where many people move one or two floors at a time. A moving walk is used where trolleys must travel, as in a hypermarket. An escalator never replaces a lift completely, because wheelchair users, prams and goods still need one.
How to choose between the types of lifts
- Start with the load. People, patients on beds, goods, food trays or cars? This fixes the family of lift.
- Estimate the traffic. A family of five, forty flats or a busy outpatient department need very different capacities and speeds.
- Measure the building. Shaft size, pit depth, headroom and whether a machine room is possible will narrow the options.
- Then pick the drive. Low rise and heavy loads point to hydraulic. More floors and frequent use point to traction, usually MRL.
- Check power and backup. Three-phase supply, voltage stability and how the lift behaves in a power cut.
- Think about service. Every type needs regular maintenance, so ask who will look after it and from where.
Whatever the type, a new lift should be supplied to the current safety standard. According to BIS, IS 17900 became mandatory for new installations from 22 December 2025. Ask for this in writing and confirm current notifications for your lift type.
Not sure which of these types of lifts fits your building? Eldeal Engineers supplies, installs and maintains all of them from our offices in Sasaram, Patna, Varanasi and Bhagalpur. Book a free site survey and we will measure your site and recommend the right type and size. Call or WhatsApp +91 84489 44342 or +91 62077 91650.
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