Why are Stairlifts so Useful in the Home?

For centuries, a flight of stairs has proved a simple, practical way to easily move through your home. As advancing years or reduced mobility begin to catch up with us, stairs become more of an obstacle.  But, a stairlift is a helpful housemate in all kinds of ways!

For centuries, a flight of stairs has proved a simple, practical way to easily ascend and descend between two floors of a home or other building. When we’re young and agile we bound up and down stairs without a second thought. Left something upstairs? No problem, just run up and fetch it! But as advancing years or reduced mobility begin to catch up with us, stairs become more of an obstacle.

And just as we’ve used stairs for centuries, we’ve also been looking for ways to avoid using them for almost as long.  You might be surprised to learn that England’s King Henry VIII had a rudimentary stairlift built in one of his palaces! An inventory of the King’s possessions, compiled around the time of his death in 1547, referred to “a chair… that goeth up and down”. Eminent historian Dr. David Starkey believes it was used to transport the ageing king up and down a 20ft staircase at Whitehall Palace, with servants hauling on a block and tackle system similar to that used on the king's warships. 

Thankfully things have moved on! Modern stairlifts offer a practical, affordable, and electrically-powered way to move between the floors in your ‘palace’. Whatever it is that causes you difficulty, a stairlift provides a comfortable and reliable alternative to struggling with the stairs. It is useful in delivering several benefits, including: 

• Access to all of your home, whenever you need it. No more confining yourself to a single floor or limiting the number of times you move between floors because of the difficulty or discomfort it causes. 

• Self-reliance – being able to go up and down stairs without help or supervision from anyone else. 

• Being able to stay in the home you love, without the upheaval and expense of moving to a bungalow or ground floor flat because you can no longer manage the stairs. 

• Eliminating the anxiety that you’re no longer safe on the stairs and the fear of a potentially catastrophic fall. It’s not just you who’ll benefit from this, but the loved ones who care and worry about you too. 

As well as carrying you up and down the stairs, a stairlift can be used to carry other loads, such as a basket of laundry, a box of shopping items for the bathroom, or even holiday luggage. Most modern stairlifts are supplied with remote controls, enabling you to send or summon the stairlift carriage to the top or bottom of the stairs, wherever it’s needed. A side benefit is that with two people at home – one stationed at the top of the stairs and the other at the bottom – you can use the remote control function to move some loads up and down the stairs. There’s nothing worse than trying to struggle up or down the stairs carrying a heavy or cumbersome load, especially if you already have mobility problems. A stairlift can help, provided you follow some common-sense guidelines: 

• Never exceed the stairlift’s maximum weight limit 

• Make sure any load is secure and won’t fall off the stairlift carriage 

• Never move a family pet or other animal on a stairlift  

• Never use the stairlift carriage to move liquids that might spill and cause damage, such as a cup of tea or coffee for breakfast in bed. 

You may well find other uses for your stairlift. Providing you follow the safe operating guidelines and think through what you’re doing, could prove a helpful housemate in all kinds of ways!