Most of us are quite familiar with stair lifts-what they look like, how they’re used and the options available to suit different stair configurations and with adverts and promotions, they’ve been largely marketed for the elderly.
And for a long time, stair lifts were considered to be the cheapest and only domestic option that enabled people with mobility impairment to move from one floor to another- thus enabling individuals to carry on living in their home.
In the last 10 years, designers and manufactures have been working with new technology to create the through floor lift- meant for homes and compared to the stair lift, these through lifts are providing greater benefits for a wider group of people that are unable or struggle to use the stairs.
There are still valid reasons why a through floor lift would not be considered by someone with mobility impairment however, the benefits to their independence and quality of life become significant if specific problems can be resolved.
Some of the benefits are:
1) A standard home lift is far more reliable than a stair lift which can often breakdown, leaving users potentially ‘trapped’ upstairs or confined to the downstairs until the problem is fixed.
2) Stair lifts may initially appear to be the cheapest option but the ongoing cost of repairs, maintenance and servicing means that, in the long run, it is far more cost effective to purchase a domestic lift.
3) The lifts do not take up an abundance of space or spoil the aesthetic of the home like a stair lift can.
4) Home lifts are far faster when compared to stair lifts which sometimes seem to take a lifetime to get up or down the stairs. A through-floor lift is capable of taking one passenger up to one floor in under 30 seconds.
5) Domestic lifts also allow for more than one person to travel at one time, meaning that unlike a stair lift, no one person needs to be left at the bottom or top of the stairs while the other one uses the lift.
6) Domestic lifts can also be used to assist people that want to transport a variety of household items between floors.