Recommended Monthly Product

It is not in the purview of The National Resource Center for Supportive Housing and Home Modifications to endorse any particular product. We do, however, make available to visitors to our web site the opinion of several individuals who we feel demonstrate an expertise in the area of home modification and are willing to share their knowledge with us.

When a person is unable to walk between floor levels inside a home, the use of a stairway chairlift is usually the first solution to consider. A stairway chairlift is known by many other names - stair glide, stair climber, and stairway elevator to mention just a few. All of these terms refer to an assistive device that features a chair riding over a stairs on a track, from one end of the stairs to the other. As elevating equipment goes, this type equipment usually has the lowest installed cost, although it is the most limiting equipment for this purpose.

Stairway chairlifts can provide service on all types of stairs - stairs that run straight up and down, stairs with 90° and 180° curves, stairs with flat landings and spiral landings, completely spiral staircases, stairs with intermediate landings, and all combinations thereof.
While there are approximately one-half dozen manufacturers of stairway chairlifts, we strongly prefer the Bruno Electra-Ride II and III (http://www.bruno.com). The Electra-Ride CRE III is custom fabricated for stairs with turns and curves, while the Electra-Ride II is designed for straight stairs.

Regardless of which stairway chairlift is used, there are a handful of important issues that must be adequately addressed by the equipment installed. The height of the seat above the floor at the top and bottom of the stairs is one such important consideration. The Bruno Electra-Ride II can provide a seat height as low as 21" above the floor at the bottom of the stairs, with a completely variable stair height at the top of the stairs. The Electra-Ride CRE III can provide a minimum seat height at the bottom of the stairs of 23-1/2" above the floor, while again the seat height at the top of the stairs can be as desired. Many of the available units on the market are able to provide a minimum seat height at the bottom of the stairs of 25" above the floor or more, and that limits the usefulness of the equipment for many people. With the typical height of a wheelchair seat being 20" or 21" above the floor, it is able to see that a transfer from a wheelchair can be very limiting, depending upon the equipment. Additionally, the seat height is important for people of shorter stature.

It is important that the seat of the chairlift have the ability to rotate, or swivel, at the top and bottom of the stairs. This is particularly important at the top. In almost all cases, the user of a stairway chairlift rides with his or her back against one sidewall while looking straight across the stairs. Safety considerations make it desirable for the seat of the chairlift to be able to turn away from the stairs at both top and bottom so there is no risk of a person stumbling on the stairs themselves. Any chairlift unit that requires a person to walk on one or two stairs should be avoided at all costs.

It is helpful if the arms of the stairway chairlift can move away from the sides to accommodate easier transferring, and to accommodate larger persons. The side arms on the Bruno Electra-Ride II open outward to the side to facilitate transferring and to service a larger user.

Most units have a weight capacity of 250-300 pounds. The Bruno products have a weight capacity of 350 pounds.

Another important consideration is the amount of space that the unit will consume on a staircase. The Bruno Electra-Ride II is designed for a staircase measuring at least 32" wide. The track on which the chairlift rides is 7" in width, and when properly installed the entire unit will consume 13" of space on the stairs when folded for storage. The track itself will extend from the wall approximately 8-1/2" - 9".

Finally, we recommend that the stairway chairlift be equipped with a battery system that allows it to function even if the power is out in the home. While some manufacturers offer the battery as an option, others do not offer it at all. The Bruno Electra-Rides have battery operation as standard features, although it is possible to purchase the straight-track unit with electric power. The battery life in these units is in the range of 3-5 years, with replacement battery costs of approximately $80. That is a small price to pay to be sure the equipment will work a number of years.

Stairway chairlift equipment should be installed only by someone trained in the installation of such equipment. This is not a project that a typical homeowner should consider undertaking.

Stairway chairlifts have a fairly broad range of costs depending upon the manufacturer and the features. The standard units that work on a straight-run stair have the lowest cost. In the Chicago market, the total installed cost of a straight-track unit tends to be $3,000 or modestly less, while in other parts of the country the cost may be $500 higher. Custom units that turn corners or have curves in the track will have a much higher cost, depending upon the complexity of the curves. The simplest type curve, a 90° turn will result in a cost of the unit in excess of $8,500 while we have installed very complex units with cost as high as $13,000.

These units work very well for their intended purpose. While some manufacturers advertise that their products can be used outside, that is not an option that we can recommend unless the climate is free of snow and rain.