Stairlift Buying Guide
Clearwell offers a wide range of stairlifts from leading manufacturers designed to help meet your physical and financial needs. All of our stairlifts are supplied, installed and maintained by our own engineers and are supported by our 24 hour 363 days a year call out service provided by our own in-house engineers.
At Clearwell we have a strict no sales pressure policy and none of our staff work on commission so you can rest assured that the advice they are giving you is the best for you. To add to your peace of mind and security all our staff are DBS checked.
When looking to purchase a stairlift for the first time it is a good idea to get information about the company you are researching. So to help you decide we have listed below what we can offer you:
- FREE no obligation survey and a clear, straightforward written quotation
- New and Rental straight stairlifts
- New curved stairlifts
- 24 hour call-out carried out by our own highly trained engineers
- Stairlift removal and relocation
- Factory trained engineers and surveyors
- World famous brands
- Demonstration stairlifts at our showrooms in Burgess Hill, Hove, Worthing, Brighton, Eastbourne, Chichester, Tunbridge Wells, Staines and Woking
Features
Having a stairlift installed may seem like a confusing and daunting prospect. First of all, what type of stairlift do I need and what do they do?
To help you we have listed below all the of the helpful features our stairlifts include both as standard and those available as optional extras.
Standard Features
All stairlift rails secure to the floor, not the wall preventing any unsightly marks.
Seat, footrest and arms all fold up when not in use.
90˚ swivel seat on the first floor, so you get on and off facing the landing.
Long life maintenance free batteries, your lift will work even in the event of a powercut.
Economical; the average cost to power a stairlift is roughly the same per month as boiling a kettle only twice!
Two easy to use wireless remote controls, one for the ground floor and another for the first floor, these can be used to call and send the stairlift.
Safety sensors to detect any obstruction on the stairs and prevent any accidental damage.
Lap belt and key switch for safety.
Popular Optional Features
Powered swivelling seat which turns at the top or bottom of rail automatically.
Retractable rail, perfect for saving space.
Harness for additional security and safety when travelling.
Choice of coloured rail
All optional features can be discussed during your survey and our trained assessor will suggest the most suitable solution for your needs. Please note that certain optional features are not available with certain stairlift models and brands.
Using a Stairlift
Despite what you may think, using a stairlift is easy. With only 2 buttons to choose from it is easier than turning on your favourite TV show.
Going Up!
1. Sit yourself on the seat, rest your feet on the footrest and put on your lap strap or harness.
2. Gently push the control toggle in the direction you want to go and within around 30 seconds you’re at your first floor landing
3. On arrival on the first floor the footrest will line up with the landing floor level. Using the seat swivelling lever, you rotate the seat towards the landing making your transfer on and off the stairlift safe and secure. If you prefer you can choose to have a motorised swivel seat.
Coming down
The process for coming back down is exactly the same just in reverse. The stairlift will start at the top of the stairs with the seat swivelled towards the landing. Simply sit on the seat and put on your seat belt, swivel it back so that you a sitting side on to the stairs and then start travelling down. Once you get to the bottom simply unclip your seatbelt and stand up.
Types of Stairlift
There are generally two types of staircase, a straight up and down staircase, and stairs which have either a landing or fanned tread section which changes the direction of the staircase. Like your stairs, stairlifts are either designed for straight or curved staircases.
Straight Stairlifts
If your stairs are a straight up and down flight we have a range of easy to use, reliable straight stairlifts.
Curved Rail Stairlifts
Many staircases have either a small landing on them or a fanned section that turns the stairs to a different direction; a straight stairlift cannot cope with this change of direction or angle and is therefore not going to get you to the top of the stairs.
A curved rail stairlift has a rail designed and manufactured bespoke to your flight of stairs and may even over-run onto the landing if there is space. Curved rail lifts can be fitted around the inside or outside edge of a staircase and offer you more flexibility and personalisation than a straight rail lift.
We believe that one stair remaining is one stair too many! We always aim to get you from one floor to another without leaving you to manage ANY stairs.
Ownership Options
New or Rental
We offer you a choice between purchasing a new stairlift, a reconditioned stairlift or just renting a stairlift for short period (min 3 months).
The range of options will vary depending on the type of stairlift you need for you staircase. If you have a staircase suitable for a straight stairlift, then we can offer the full range of ownership options.
Renting a Stairlift
If you only need a stairlift for a short period of time we can help. We understand that the lift might only be required for a limited time for post operative recovery, or if a person wants to see how they get on with having a lift; therefore we offer you a short 3 months minimum rental period that you can extend on a month by month basis with an option to purchase the lift at any time.
There is an initial one off payment which covers the installation, the first three months rental and the removal of the lift at the end of the rental. After three months there is a small monthly rental fee which includes maintenance and annual servicing.
Servicing & Repairs
In the unlikely event of you having a problem you need not worry, all new stairlifts include a 12 months, 24 hour a day support contract, which covers you for parts, labour and call-out. Our engineers are on call to assist you and will be in attendance within hours of you notifying us of a problem. We offer an out of hours contact number to get you through to an engineer as soon as a problem arises, even if this is in the evening or at a weekend.
As we only fit stairlifts in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, all our stairlift engineers live locally in these areas and are able to respond quickly unlike our national competitors who will often have to send an engineer from miles away leading to delays.
As well as offering a 1 year warranty with all new stairlifts, we also offer extended warranties which can increase your warranty period by between 2 and 5 years giving you additional peace of mind that there will be no unexpected repair bills. If you take out an extended warranty, it is a requirement that the lift is serviced each year and we offer excellent rates on our maintenance contracts giving you savings over our usual service costs.
Servicing & repairs
We are keen to help keep your stairlift working (even if you didn’t originally buy it from us). We can provide an annual service and even come out to carry out repairs. Please contact us on 01444 253300 for details on our servicing and call out rate - We are normally up to 50% cheaper than our national competitors.
Free Stairlift Removals
If you have a stairlift that is surplus to your requirements which we installed for you, we will remove the stairlift and take it away without charge.
Resiting a Stairlift
If you are moving property it may be possible to resite the stairlift to another property, there are some factors to consider. We are happy to discuss these with you and carry out the resite for you if it is suitable.
FAQ
It is very common to have questions regarding the installation of a stairlift and so we have put together a list of the most frequently asked questions on the subject below. If you still have further questions then please feel free to contact our team on 01444 253 300.
How is a stairlift fitted and will it mean I have to redecorate?
Stairlifts are always fitted to the stairs, not the wall. Very rarely on a curved lift there may be the need to fix a small bracket to the wall but otherwise there is no cosmetic damage to the wall. If you have a handrail on the wall then this will need to be removed to provide knee clearance.
How is the stairlift powered?
Stairlifts are battery operated. Inside the drive unit of the lift are 2 maintenance free, sealed, fire rated batteries that should last between two to three years. The lift needs a power supply that plugs into a mains socket and should be left on so the batteries are trickle charged and always ready for action.
What happens if the stairlift stops halfway?
This is exceptionally rare! In many years of working with stairlift users we can happily say we have never known it to happen. Being battery operated the stairlift will still work for several journeys even if the power supply fails.
How much does it cost to run a stairlift?
Not much at all, it is generally said that it costs about the same to run a stairlift for a month as boiling a kettle twice!
There is a doorway at the bottom of the stairs, can I still have a stairlift?
Yes, this is a common problem which can be easily overcome by using a rail with a folding hinged section at the bottom. When you descend the stairs the rail folds down and the stairlift travels to the bottom. When you get off and send the stairlift back up, the rail folds up and the doorway obstruction is removed.
There is a radiator, or item of furniture at the bottom of the stairs, is this a problem?
Depending how far the radiator or furniture is from the bottom of the stairs is key here. We would advise you what the options are when we have carried out a survey. If the radiator is in the way it can be replaced with a smaller item and moved along the wall or if its not used much possibly capped off.
We both need to use the lift, can we?
Yes, all our stairlifts are provided with two remote controls, one for upstairs and one for downstairs so wherever you are you can call and send the lift from floor to floor.
Will we still be able to use the stairs?
Yes, the stairlift folds up to only about a foot wide when not in use, leaving your stairs open and manageable.
We hope that this Stairlift Buying Guide has been helpful in providing you with information on how to choose the right stairlift for your needs. Discover our full range of Stairlifts here.
