Stairlift Reviews

Installing a stairlift in your home requires a sizeable investment. Some people who feel the need to install this vital home accessibility equipment but are concerned about going financially overboard, look at the cheaper used stairlift market. However, before buying one, you need to look at both sides of the equation of a new versus a used stairlift to help you make a better, more informed decision.

First of all, it is important for you to determine whether a straight or a curved stairlift can be fitted into your staircase. The reason for this is that the price difference between a brand new straight stairlift and a used stairlift is not too significant, unlike in curved lifts where there is a large price difference between a used and a new model.

Another point to remember is that as the price of the used stairlift gets cheaper its model naturally becomes older. Older stairlifts are usually powered by AC motors that get their electricity supply from the house mains. In the event of a power outage, these electricity driven stair lifts would be immobilized. Moreover, many of these used stairlifts use steel cables to haul their load up and down the staircase in a rather noisy and a bit jerky fashion. New models are now driven by whisper quiet DC motors that operate on rechargeable batteries. Their rack and pinion drive assures a smooth ride with “soft” starts and stops at the top or bottom of the staircase. When riding a battery powered stairlift, the homeowner doesn’t have to worry that a power outage would leave him stranded on his machine all by his lonesome at the middle of the staircase.

Not all used stairlifts are old models. A good number of these are also the smooth-riding battery-operated type with rack and pinion drives. If you are comparing a brand new and a used stairlift of the same exact model, you’d find out that there is only a small price difference between a new and a used straight stairlift. On the other hand, you’d find a significant price difference between a new and a used curved stairlift. Another point to remember is that installing a used stairlift is faster particularly when it comes to curved stairlifts. Moreover, a used stairlift is less likely to require a “settling-in” period and will most probably run smoothly at the outset.

However, a downside of a used stairlift is that it would most likely be due for maintenance and repairs. If your staircase would require a straight stairlift and the price difference between a new and a used unit of the same model is not at all that significant, there perhaps it would make more investment sense and give you more peace of mind to install a new stairlift.

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