Wheel chair stair lifts are also known as inclined platform lifts, wheelchair platform stairlifts, or inclined wheelchair lifts. This is to distinguish them from the more common vertical platform lifts. The vertical platform lifts will transport the entire wheelchair including the wheelchair driver straight up one floor to another, while the inclined platform lifts can adopt to the incline of the stairs, follow the stairs, and transport the entire platform with a wheelchair and the person sitting in it to the other floor.

Wheelchair stair lifts for stairs thus provide the maximum comfort for a person who is wheelchair or mobility scooter bound while at the same time enabling them to stay in the house they love.

A big advantage of an electric wheelchair stair lift is that it can use the same space provided for the stairs for its operation. There is no need to dedicate a separate part of the floor plan for the wheelchair lift.

If your house is multi-level, and you want to take advantage of all levels, then possibly a wheelchair stair lift is for you. There is no need to change the seating when you are wheeling around, no need to have multiple wheelchairs or mobility scooters. A single mobility vehicle can be used upstairs, downstairs, even outdoors, and transported between the floors across the stairs using a residential wheelchair stair chair lift.

This is the most comfortable solution provided the stairs are wide enough to accommodate the wheelchair stair lift.

We will on this page review four of the most popular wheelchair stairlift manufacturers today. They are Garaventa, Savaria Concord, Axess4all and ThyssenKrupp.

Garaventa

Garaventa is a multinational corporation that started initially by building mountain aerial tramways. Later, in the 1970's it expanded into the mobility niche, and today, after 50,000 in home stair lift installations completed, Garaventa can solve many accessibility challenge that pops up. Can Garaventa help solve your mobility problem with a wheelchair stair lift? We will focus here on three main models, Garaventa Artira, Garaventa Xpress II and Garaventa X3-R residential inclined lifts.

Top Garaventa Model: Garaventa Artira

Garaventa claims Artira is the easiest to use inclined platform lift available today and the one with the most safety features. The redesigned computer system, called Smart-Lite, in Garaventa Artira will gracefully and safely handle both the straight sections and the curved sections of the track. It will make sure the motion slows down before the curved areas and of course before the end of the trip. Artira is flexible in design so it can operate both indoors and outdoors and it can be equipped with folding chairs to accommodate both people in wheelchairs and people who prefer to ride the stairs sitting in a chair. The carrying capacity of Garaventa Artira is 495 lbs.

Savaria Concord

Savaria Concord has been in business for over three decades and has assembled an army of 600 distributors just in North America. It has under its belt well over 5000 installations of commercial and residential elevators, lifts, and stair climbers. We will focus here on the Savaria Concord ES-125 Wheelchair Incline Platform Lift.

Savaria Concord ES-125 Stair Platform Lift

Safety comes first with the Savaria ES-125. With its safety rails, non-skid platform surface, safety emergency brake, and obstruction sensor detector, you will feel safe riding Savaria ES-125 in your wheelchair, or even seated on an optional fold down chair.

The ES-125 comes in four platform sizes, and has been rated at 450 lbs carrying capacity.

Axess4all - A1000 Incline Stairlift

A1000 is a versatile straight or curved incline stairlift by Axess4all. It will follow the two rails wall mounted over stairs, intermediate landings, and around the corners if needed. All of that indoors or outdoors. Its requirements are minimal, it will take a single phase electric current, and will fold and unfold automatically at the end stations. The small fold down chair is provided on the platform as well. The carrying capacity of the Axess4all A1000 Incline Stairlift is 220 kg.

ThyssenKrupp USA - Journey Straight Inclined Wheelchair Lift

ThyssenKrupp USA Journey is a straight inclined wheelchair stairlift with the carrying capacity of 650 lbs. It can be used both indoor and outdoors, and is packed with safety features. This makes it usable both in residential as well as in commercial areas. It will travel up to 130 feet far, and on inclines up to 45 deg. When in operation it requires about three feet width and when folded, it compacts to just over a foot.

How to locate a Wheelchair Stair Lift installer locally?

As odd as it may sound, it is probably the most effective to look for a local dealer and/or a wheelchair stair lift installer in online advertisements. Or, sometimes, you will find one in your yellow pages under wheelchair stair lifts. Most companies will exchange information with you on the phone, then schedule the initial visit for taking the measurements and to discuss the type of wheelchair stair lift that would most suit your circumstances. This would be a no-obligation visit and you should get a quote as well, both for the installation and for the cost of the stairlift itself.

Enjoy your newly discovered mobility!

For more information on stairlift installation procedure, go here: Stair Lift Installation.