Folding Foot Rests And Seats
We're sometimes asked how much room a stair lift really takes up when no one's using it. Most stair lift seats and footrests can fold up so they're not in the way when no one's using them. The lift typically protrudes only 14 inches from the wall when folded. Since the chair will either be parked at the bottom or top of the stairs, it's out of the way and not an issue when it comes to space, except in maybe the tiniest staircases.
Seat Belts On Stair Lifts
All stair lifts come standard with seat belts. We recommend that you never use a stair lift without fastening the seat belt, as an important safety precaution, just as you should never ride in a car without using the provided safety belt. Stair lifts, after all, are designed to prevent falls, so why not use all of the available safety features? Seat belts are especially important for those who have issues with steadiness or dizziness, to help prevent them from falling out of the seat.
Hinged Rails
Hinged rails can be helpful when a stair lift track gets in the way of a walkway or a door. A hinged rail can fold back and out of the way so that the rail doesn't protrude into a walkway or prevent a door from opening. The rail can simply be folded out when the stair lift will be used. These folding rails are available for stair lifts, but typically don't come standard as they're not often needed.
Raised Mounting Brackets
Raised mounting brackets come in handy if the stair lift track prevents a door at the top of the stairs from closing. These brackets mount beneath the track. A stair lift track has to extend past the edge of a landing at the top of the stairs, sometimes as much as a foot. Raised mounting brackets can keep the track from being an inconvenience when a door is present by allowing the track be lifted up so the door can easily close.
Swivel Seats
A person who uses a stair lift needs to be able to sit in the chair easily without having to step on a stair to do so. Otherwise, the risk of a fall would be too great. A swivel seat allows the chair to be turned so the user can sit down comfortably, then swivel the seat toward the stairs. This makes a fall much less likely. Once the lift is used, the seat can be swiveled to face away from the stairs so the user can step onto flat ground to get up and walk directly away from the lift without ever touching foot on a step. For safety, the swivel seats lock into position so they don't move while the lift is traveling.
Call-Send Stations
People are often concerned about how to operate a stair lift that's at the other end of the stairs. Almost all stair lifts have what's called a call-send control. Most will have one mounted at both the top and the bottom of the steps. These are usually either conveniently on the wall or lower down to be operated with the touch of a foot. If you find yourself at the bottom or top and the chair is at the opposite end, you only push the switch and wait for it to return. This is helpful for homes where more than one person regularly uses the lift, or where the stair lift is regularly used to send items up or down.
Emergency Stop Switches
All stair lifts have basic safety features like emergency stop switches. These switches will instantly stop the stair lift if it comes against any type of obstacle. Without this feature, imagine someone paralyzed from the waist down whose foot happens to fall while the lift is in motion. If the foot gets in the way of the lift's movement and there's no emergency sensor switch, you could say goodbye to the foot. Not the best place for a spot of humor, but you see the point. At minimum, that's an injury waiting to happen. Emergency stop switches are in place, typically on the seats and the footrests, to prevent these types of dangerous situations. This is one big drawback with DC models. If you change the battery yourself and those wires have come apart during the battery switch, as often happens, it can leave you without functioning emergency stop switches.
Constant Pressure Arm Rest Controls
Stair lift controls are mounted conveniently on the arm rests. Typically, they're pressure switches or toggle switches. To make the chair lifts even safer, pressure has to be applied to the switch to keep the lift in motion. The moment the pressure stops, the lift will stop. This ensures that the user of the lift always has complete control of the movement.
Need more information about a stair lift feature detailed here? Don't see a feature you think you may need when you order? Call our stair lift specialists for assistance at 1 (800) 910-0954!
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