Navigate Stairs Safely With The Wheelchair Stair Lift
When you get that long-overdue promotion, what do you do? You take the stairs two at a time! But there are a number of people who just can't take the stairs at all. Unassisted, that is. If they happen to live in a multi-floor accommodation, then their woes are multiplied many times over. They may even consider moving to a single-floor accommodation just to avoid navigating stairways. Of all the means available to traverse stairs, the wheelchair stair lift is the most affordable and the simplest to install.
The wheelchair stair lift is the most affordable device to navigate between floors. It is installed with the existing stairway. It does not require a separate well, nor does it obstruct the normal stairway usage.
Cost being the prime operative factor to consider when planning to install a wheelchair stair lift, let's do a little costing here. If the stairway is straight then the installation bill will be less than $5000. For a curved stairway, a site inspection needs to be done by the installation contractor who'll prepare a quote for the installation. The cost could go up to $20,000 depending on the complexity involved, both in the nature of the curvature as well as the actual wheelchair stair lift that has to be installed.
All modern wheelchair stair lifts are driven by electric motors, which can be light-duty for individual use or heavy-duty for institutional use, and mains powered or battery powered. There are four types of drives that are commonly found on wheelchair stair lifts. The most popular one for individual use in a residential environment is the rack-and-pinion drive system.
The cable-hauled wheelchair stair lift is the quietest among all categories and requires the least maintenance. The long cable tends to have a little play in it which makes its starting and stopping a little less than smooth.
Another type of wheelchair stair lift is driven by a set of running chains. A thumb on the wheelchair stair lift engages the chain which carries it up or down. Its noise and price puts it out of the popularity race.
Another type of wheelchair stair lift uses a screw-drive system, and usually carries a rechargeable battery-pack. It is very good but not very popular for individual use.
Most wheelchair stair lifts found in residential environments for individual use are of the rack-and-pinion type. These are reliable, maintenance-free, and quiet. The platform is mounted on pinions which engage racks set into the walls on either side of the stairway.
Sometimes the rack-and-pinion system is modified to run on tracks laid on the stairway itself, instead of being set in the side walls.
Mains powered wheelchair stair lifts are going out of fashion, the reliability and safety of rechargeable batteries making them more popular by the day. Wheelchair stair lifts require official clearance before they can be installed or put to use.
Most users feel uneasy when descending stairs facing forward. It makes them dizzy, almost a mild form of vertigo. So most wheelchair stair lifts allow the chair to be turned sideways and some even all the way around. This eliminates the queasiness of looking down from a height, from what feels like an insecure position. Modern wheelchair stair lifts are so advanced that they have computerized systems to check themselves and give advance warning of maintenance requirements before problems arise.
The modern wheelchair stair lift is safe, reliable, maintenance-free, and affordable. People with any form of disability which prevents them from navigating stairways on their own, can avail themselves of this marvel of modern technology and regain their lost freedom. But they'd better not knock their cigar ash on the carpet!
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