07.08.2010
by Mike Gibson
Category Health Care
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Standing stairlifts or as they are known in the trade! Perch stairlifts allow the user to stand on the stair lift footplate while transported up and down the stairs. If you have a medical condition that does not allow you to sit or bend your knee/s then a standing stairlift could be the solution to your mobility problems.
Perch chairlifts are ideal if you have a very narrow staircase! Unlike conventional sit down stair lifts there is no overhang from the seat, hence standing in the upright position may enable a chairlift to be installed even on the narrowest of staircases.
It’s important that the user must be able to stand for a certain amount of time and have a good sense of balance. Perch chairlifts do come with safety height guards to protect the user from falling and the height guard also acts as a grasp rail making the user feel more safer as they travel on the stairlift.
The operating direction buttons (Joystick) is normally mounted onto the grab rail height guard via a simple Velcro attachment and can easily be removed so the user can hold the control unit in one hand and firmly grip the grab rail with the other hand. The operation controls are fail safe design! A constant pressure is required on the direction button (Joystick) if the pressure is released for what ever reason the stair lift will stop moving in the desired direction etc.
Perch chairlifts are constructed to a much higher specification than the standard sit down models! The footplate is designed to withstand the full standing load of the operator. Using a standard sit down model as a stand up unit is dangerous and will put excessive strain on the footplate fixings and could even cause the welds on the footplate to fracture.
Under no circumstances should you use a sit down model for the same use as a standing chairlift. As well as putting yourself in danger you will also be putting extra forces on the side acting rollers causing them to wear degrade rapidly.
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03.08.2010
by Mike Gibson
Category Health Care
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A lot of people fail to take out the optional stairlift maintenance contract offered to them once their 12 month warranty has elapsed. If you are not covered by a Maintenance / Repair Cover Plan repair bills can be both inconvenient and costly.
Replacing broken or worn parts on your stairlift can be very expensive often exceeding the cost of a Service Maintenance Contract and no guarantee a company will offer to send a call-out engineer to someone who is not on their system.
How much do they cost! Annual stairlift maintenance contracts start at around (250-500) Ballpark figure The lower price insurance packages will only give you basic limited cover. You will need to pay for the engineers call-out, parts and labour costs.
Now be very careful about call out charges! Some companies will charge you for traveling time. If you do not have a contract with the company you engage the services of, make sure you ask if they charge for the engineers traveling time.
If there not a local company and the engineer spends two hours travelling time to reach you? That’s a hefty bill! Average call-out price (80 per hour x 2 =160) and he hasn’t even arrived yet. That’s only half of it good possibility you will get stung for the two hour return trip as well 80 x 4 =320 smackers.
Most companies offer a range of maintenance service contracts rated by stars or colours. Obviously the more stars or metallic of colour the higher the price but more benefits and cover you receive. All contracts should include an annual service of your stairlift.
Personally I would recommend that you take some type of protection insurance cover out on your stairlift unless you have very deep pockets. It would be wise to use the company you originally purchased the stair lift from. Other companies might not have the service parts required to complete the service or repair of the unit.
In my next article I will explain what you actually get for your money when an engineer arrives to carry out an annual service of your stairlift. Keep your eyes peeled out for that one some good info to be had.
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