Difference Between Escalator and Elevator

Escalator vs Elevator

Escalators are the moving stairs that are omnipresent these days whether we are at railway stations, airports, or even shopping malls. So visible are these escalators that help us move from one level or floor to another that most of us are tempted to make use of these moving stairs rather than take stationary stairs that require effort on our part. There are also the age old elevators or lifts that we have become used to when trying to go to high levels or floors in high rise apartments or offices. This article attempts to highlight the differences between escalators and elevators for the benefit of the people who remain confused as they cannot differentiate between them while speaking and writing.

Escalator

If someone asked about an escalator a few decades ago, it would have been difficult to explain him, but today these moving stairs are so ubiquitous that even those living in rural and remote areas of a country know how to take a flight between floors using these stairs. The stairs keep moving whether going up or coming down and all one has to do is to step on the moving stairs to reach the level, whether lower or upper.

Escalators are perhaps the ideal way to transport a large number of people from one level to another in a crowded place such as an airport or a shopping mall. The steps of an escalator are fixed and linked together and move up but come down from behind on a conveyor belt that is driven by a motor. These moving staircases are continuously moving, and there is no waiting period as one can set foot anytime to climb up or come down. Even when there is a breakdown of sorts, these escalators serve the purpose of stationary stairs thus remaining functional.

Elevator

Before the advent of escalator, elevators, also called lifts in commonwealth countries, were the mainstay when it came to transporting people up or down between floors in high rise buildings and apartments. Till today, in offices and hotels, elevators serve this purpose very well. These are cabins or cages that move up or down at high speeds inside vertical shafts. These cabins or cages move up or down using counterweights or traction cables. In present times, with high rise apartments and offices located in upper floors of tall buildings, it has become imperative to get installed elevators as people cannot be expected to climb so many stairs every time.

What is the difference between Escalator and Elevator?

• Elevators are closed cabins inside vertical shafts that are used to transport people between different floors in high rise buildings.

• Escalators are moving stairways that allow people to move between floors in busy places such as shopping malls, airports, and railway stations.

• Escalators are slow moving whereas elevators are fast and can move up or down at great speeds.

• Escalators are ideal where lots of people have to move between floors at the same time. They are also more visible than elevators that are tucked behind structures.

• Escalators are energy guzzlers as they have to operate continuously, whereas elevators consume electricity only when in operation.