Stairlift Reviews

The basic function of a home stair lift system is to provide the elderly and people with disabilities easy and safe access between the floors of their house. But then, when people start looking for a stair lift, they would generally cast their eyes on the tag price and tend not to read the safety features. This is ironic because the focus of the purchase should be on the safety features considering the fragile physical condition of the people for whom the home stair lift system is intended. Fortunately, most stair lifts that leave the modern assembly line are now equipped with the basic safety mechanism that will keep the rider or other members of the household out of harm’s way whenever the home stair lift system is in operation.

When you are actively seeking out the appropriate home stair lift system that would fit both your stairs and your budget, regardless of whether it’s a new or reconditioned unit, be sure to look for the following standard safety features:

The ideal home stair lift system must be able to detect any obstruction in its path. Most modern stair lifts are equipped with six up to eight highly sensitive safety sensors that effectively stop the stair lift the moment they detect any kind of obstacle along its path. To prevent the stair lift from running into any obstacle on the stairs, the stair lift must be equipped with an added safety feature such as pressure-sensitive safety surfaces around the footrest, at the bottom of the carriage and at the top of the carriage. To see to it that the stair lift will always stop in the right position, it should have limit sensors as well.

To prevent accidental activation by children, the stair lift should have a lockable power switch and must run on 24 volt DC batteries instead of the traditional electrical house mains to eliminate the risk to electric shock when the home stair lift system is in operation.

One of the most important safety features that you should look for is a dual electro-mechanical braking system to prevent uncontrolled descent of the home stair lift system in case of a motor failure. Another standard feature is a “soft stop and start” technology that allows for smooth starts and stops of the lift just in case the rider has a back or neck injury that might be exacerbated by sudden starts and stops that might jerk the head back and forth. Lastly, the stair lift must have a swivel seat that will prevent the rider from falling backwards unto the stair case.

Tags: Stairlift, Acorn, , Electric, A1, Chair Stairlift, Stair Lifts, Bruno, Handicapped, Concord