You should leave this installation to the pros. Some may want to install the stair lift themselves. This trend is encouraged by many dealers who sell residential stair lifts – especially via the internet – as they imply that installation is a DIY do-it-yourself job, will save the customer money and is what most customers want anyway. However many organizations are concerned about self-installation of stair chair lifts. Another reason why many dealers prefer customers to self-install a home stair lift is because there is no come back if things go wrong. The dealer can always throw up his hands and put the blame solely on incorrect installation. Also, all its units are installed by its factory trained network of dealers. Bruno, like Stannah and others, does not recommend self installation even for straight models.

A Bruno stair lift is a chair that moves along a rail using an electric motor. A home stair lift is one of the most effective and least expensive ways to allow disabled individuals full freedom of movement throughout a multi-story home. You can install this chair on either side of the stairwell. The Electra Ride LT offers you a smooth ride without any hesitation or any jerking motions. Chair lift equipment is no different. This is why when it comes to stair lifting drive types, manufacturers are all too bold to state why their chairs lift the best, and all others are inferior.

What is particularly impressive about Bruno stair chair lifts is the length of their battery life. The company claims that the battery will last an amazing 3-4 days or 15 trips up and down the stairs. Straight stairlifts are ideal devices to help such individuals negotiate straight stairways. Bruno is proud to be one of the only manufacturers of these products in the US to become ISO 9001 certified. There are four independent Bruno Stairlifts in the indoor and outdoor straight-rail stairlifts categories, and they each incorporate a number of features that suits individual needs and budgets. Being the leading producer of indoor stairlifts, allows one to buy ISO-9001 Certified products, and the Bruno Stairlift will meet the highest expectations as well as conform to best standards of quality, and durability.

A Bruno stairlift in your home allows you to stay in your home and enjoy it to the fullest! Read my buying tips and other important things to consider before purchasing a stairlift. There are informative articles for you to read which will help you make the right choice in a residential stair lift.

Competitors to Acorn Stair Lifts claim that battery operated residential stair lifts are not reliable and need to have their batteries changed every 18 months. In addition, the battery compartment they say is hard to get to, so you have to have a tech come out and service the stair lift. Acorn counters that the Superglide has no cable that trails along so there is less chance of getting shocked. The battery operation offers a smooth start and stop which is essential, I believe, for handicapped.

And one of the best features I like about the Acorn lift is that it has a double tube rail that the chair rides on. Heavy duty rollers on the chair keep the ride smooth. This is the same technology many coaster cars use world wide. Acorn uses eight rollers making the ride one of the smoothest and improves stability.

The safety features are very nice. There is a mechanical brake and an electric one which is in the control of the rider. There are limit sensors on each end of the track, common in installations of stair lifts, and these give the unit a gentle start and stop as well. On a normal run, the chair will come to a very gentle stop and locks in the proper position for the rider to swivel out.

On the Superglide there are two ways to control it. First you can have a tethered joy stick which you keep in your hand while the car makes its way up or down. The other way is with an infrared handheld remote control device and with this, someone can operate the chair without physically being on it.

Chairs are a big consideration on a stair lift and Acorn has a three-position swivel seat that locks into place. Swiveling just makes it much easier when getting on and off the lift. You have a much less chance of falling on the stairs when you can swivel the chair to the side and dismount.

Acorn Stair Lifts can be designed to work in almost any staircase situation, straight or curved. There is even a small model that is thin and can operate on narrow stairs. And Acorn makes an outdoor model as well. Seems they’ve thought of everything.

Now any stair lift company is not going to have everything. There are going to be issues you will find with any company. It’s the customer support you get after the sale that makes the difference. I feel Acorn is a good company to deal with and make a good unit. When dealing with any of their representatives, make sure you build a relationship as you will be dealing with them through installation and service.

To know what is the best stairway chair lift for your home you have to consider what you are going to be using it for. And if you’re looking, you have already considered how to pay for it. Other things to consider that you might not have thought about yet are should you try to find someone local who can act as a consultant for your chair lift? And then there is the discussion on what is best – AC or battery operated.

It’s a big decision, sometimes a huge decision for you. And sometimes not getting the correct answer means that you have to move to a home that is more handicap friendly to you. You want the best but are concerned that the best may be out of your price range. But did you know that a stairway chair lift is affordable when you compare it to the alternatives of having to move or paying for assisted living conditions. It pays to investigate what a stairway chair lift can do for you.

Probably bigger than anything, a chair lift offer peace of mind to families. You know they will be safe and have mobility getting up and down the stairs with a chair lift. One of the biggest concerns is making sure the person using the lift feels and is truly safe. Walking up and down stairs is the leading cause of injury in the elderly. Even though a lift is an investment, you must agree that with the mobility it will bring you will have a safer and more pleasurable home for your loved one.

So who makes the best stairway chair lift? I offer my opinion on the major models on this website and I trust you will read and consider each paragraph. Modern stair lifts can be configured to just about any stairway. For example, some staircases are curved and some have a landing which might require two chair lifts.

You will need an electrical outlet if you don’t already have one near the base where the chair lift will stay most of the time. This is used to power the lift. There are battery operated systems, or rather, AC systems with a battery back-up that work if the power fails. The main features of a stair lift include a seat belt, a sensor that alerts if something is in the path of the chair, and the swivel seat that locks. Controls are normally handheld and operate the chair as long as you are depressing the button.

Here are the companies involved in this market:

Bruno Stairlifts
Makes stair lifts right here in America, battery powered, for your home. Has some of the nicest curved staircase lifts. Is ISO-9001 Certified. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. This company has been in business a long while, has managed to keep its nose clean, and people obvious like the lifts.

ThyssenKrupp Access
One of the nicest features of the ThyssenKrupp site is that they have live chat so you can sit back and ask questions while you ponder the pages, but it wasn’t working on the Friday noonish time we checked. Remember, these are sales people. ThyssenKrupp has been in business about 60 years and says they are the world’s most trusted name in home stair lifts. They offer three models.

AmeriGlide
The site is slow mainly because of a review site plug in they are using. Makes their whole site sluggish. They claim their home stair lifts are A17.1 and A18 safety standard rated. And they sell reconditioned units here as well. It appears they are mainly for the do-it-yourselfer. A whopping 5 year warranty on the stair lift. But don’t trust any reviews you see on a manufacturer’s site. They supposedly buy their lifts from Summit and change out the seat to call the unit their own.

Acorn
Started as a refurbisher in the early ’90’s, Acorn soon started making their own stair lift and became a world leader selling over 30,000 lifts a year. They operate worldwide. There are few complaints, but one person mentioned it took them weeks to get an install right and customer service was spotty. Battery replacement requires dismantling the whole unit.

Summit Stairlifts
Another Made in America stair lift, the Summit offers three models with varying features. Summit prides itself in reliability and I found that the best benefit of these units. You could potentially get trapped on the top floor if the unit failed. I believe that Summit is the best deal and value for you and has the best support. I recommend this home stair lift. They offer free shipping as well.

Harmar Stairway Lift
See Summit Stair Lift above.

Stannah
Stannah also claims to be the world’s largest in home stair lifts. Family owned and operated they manufacture their lifts and offer three models to choose from. One is an outdoor stair lift. They are made in the UK and have been the recipient of the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement.

Home Stair Lifts
You have probably seen stair lifts in hotels or in meeting rooms, but they are now actually quite common throughout many residences. Home stair lifts have come of age. The technology, mainly refined through the space-age, has improved to the point where smaller parts can be used and materials made that withstand greater weight and forces. Plus, the drive train of today is totally different than it was even ten years ago. Improvements continue to happen and I’ll tell you about those.

Stairway Chair Lift
These lifts accompany stairways because that part of the home was designed to carry traffic. In addition, the construction of the house is reinforced at these points and adding a stairway chair lift is no burden whatsoever to most existing structures. So what you have to consider is what type of chair you will need; light or heavy duty, and what sort of warranty you think you might carry. There are also used stairway chair lifts to think about.

Acorn Stair Lifts
Acorn has a lift they call the Superglide and it got the name because the movement is just so smooth, you really do feel like you’re gliding. The Acorn Stair Lifts can be manually operated by the person sitting in the chair. These are not just for people unable to walk, but those who have a hard time climbing up and down, or need a break now and then. Being battery powered, there is no hard wiring that follows the chair back and forth as it goes between floors. Acorn has done a good job with moving people with stair lifts.

Bruno Stair Lift
Bruno is another manufacturer I like. They have a model called the Electra-Ride which is smooth and simply amazing how it can follow a curved track around a curve staircase. Again, battery powered to keep from any entanglement with cords, the Bruno Stair Lift is used in many commercial applications as well. They claim to be leaders in the curved rail technology and they say there isn’t a staircase they can’t install on. Bruno does suggest that you have one of their representatives install the stair lift for you.

There are used residential stair lifts as well, with some very good pricing. I would hesitate in buying from an individual, but would have a company completely check out the unit and know what I am getting before buying it. A lift will completely change the lift of someone who cannot climb the stairs.