Orthopedic chairs - Stairlifts

A Stairlift (sometimes called a chair lift) offers access up one or more flights of stairs via a chair combined with a motorised transportation mechanism. Stairlifts are ideal for anyone who uses a wheelchair or who has difficulty climbing stairs.

The benefits

Stairlifts allow independence across different levels of a building without the need for anyone else's assistance and they have become increasingly affordable over recent years. They are easily fitted into a home (usually in a single day), and they are safe and simple to use. They require mains electricity power and many have an emergency reserve battery in the event of power cuts (power outages).

For anyone who requires a wheel chair, or who uses a mobility scooter or a stroller, a stairlift will make independent movement from one floor level to another trouble free. Stairlifts are also ideal for those who find the climbing of stairs a difficult or dangerous task. What a stairlift does is make ascending and descending stairs a safe, independent and stress free job. By doing this the stairlift can remove the need for anyone who has developed mobility issues to move into a single storey dwelling.

How a stairlift works

A stairlift combines a chair and a stair-wall fitted track (or floor fitted track) that allows the chair to glide smoothly and effortlessly between different floor levels.

The chair will usually have a fold up seat and armrests so that it can rest flat against the wall at the top or the bottom of its run. This prevents it from becoming a hazard to anyone who climbs the stairs normally.

The stairlift is operated by a remote control pad that is often integral with (or connected to) one of the armrests. This enables the person using the stairlift to stop or start the stairlift at any time at the touch of a button.

Stairlifts can be designed and assembled to fit almost any staircase and landing design and they can have curved tracks that take them around corners and bends, or even curved staircases.

Stairlift Considerations

There are very few situations where a stairlift cannot be fitted and these tend to be restricted to stairs where the width of the stair is too narrow for the lift to operate. This is however very unusual, even in older houses.

The cost of a stairlift is determined primarily by how many curved or bending track sections are required. Unfortunately there is no standard staircase design for a house and this means that every stairlift that has a landing or change in stair direction requires a unique and purpose built lift. Consequently, stairs with multiple landings or 180 degree direction changes rather than 90 degree direction changes will be more expensive to build and install.

The perch lift is an alternative version of the stairlift that, rather than have a normal seat, has a small stand-on perch area with grab rails. Perch lifts work in exactly the same way as standard stairlifts, the only difference is that you stand on them rather than sit on them. They can be a solution for people who have difficulty standing up or sitting down.

Other powered chairs

If you are interested in stairlifts (chair lifts), you may also find power chairs like lift and tilt chairs worthy of consideration. For more details about “lift and tilt or riser recliner chairs” (also called rise or riser and recline chairs), see the menu to the left or click on this main riser and recliner (lift chair) page link. These chairs take the effort out of sitting down and standing up.