Stairlift Reviews

An electric stairlift is the most practical and cheapest solution to providing the handicapped and elderly a safe and easy access between the floors of their house. When the first stairlifts came out of the production line, these were powered by AC motors that run on electricity supplied by the household mains.

Any invention is always a work in process and the electric stairlift is no different because it had its own share of technical glitches that were later ironed out resulting in the almost perfect models that the present generation enjoys. Back then, the early electric stairlift models were plugged into the nearest household power outlet and the trailing power cord had to be reeled out and reeled back in each time the stairlift traveled up or down the stairs. There was always that potential for accidents cause by someone tripping over the trailing power cord or getting an electric shock.

But the biggest disadvantage of an electric stairlift that is powered by an AC motor is that once a power outage occurs while the stairlift is in motion, it gets immobilized and its passenger gets stuck right where he is. The disabled passenger either waits in the stairlift until the power is restored, which could take hours, or attempts to get out of the stairlift in total darkness and risks falling down the stairs.

These problems have been eliminated with new breakthroughs in battery technology. The electric stairlift is one of the beneficiaries of the invention of state-of-the-art rechargeable batteries that power its DC motor for extended periods of time. Sleek electric stairlift models now being offered in the market have whisper quiet DC motors that feature “soft starts and stops.” They have such a smooth ride that a blindfolded rider would hardly notice that the stairlift is in motion. There are no trailing cables, no danger of a power shock because batteries operate at very low voltages—and more importantly, it continues to operate even when there is a power outage.

The batteries of an electric stairlift could be recharged at static station charging points located at each end of the track or at flexible station charging points that could be located anywhere along the track. The advantage of the flexible charging station is that it allows you to hide the stairlift a few steps up the staircase if you want to hide it from view while its batteries are being recharged. If you are planning to buy a used electric stairlift, make sure that it runs on a battery-powered DC motor.

Tags: Disabled, Electric, Bruno, Elderly, Concord, Chair Stairlift, Stair Lifts, , Stairlift, Handicapped