If it happens to be the case that you are disabled, chances are that you experience major difficulties walking the stairway of your home. For a significant portion of these individuals, a similar situation might ultimately lead to the purchase of a stair lift. However, in case you have a curved or narrow stairway, have problems with your weight or can not leave your wheelchair, a stair lift might just not be suitable for your particlar situation. Instead, you might be better served by a home elevator. Having a lift at home may sound exhorbitantly extravagant, but as a growing amount of satisfied people can tell you, it may simply be a bare necessity to those in need. So, if your residence is fitted with a curved or narrow stairway, you might want to consider making a comparison of the cost and benefits of a home elevator with those of a stair lift.



An additional advantage of a home elevator, is that having one can signficantly increase the value of your home. A properly maintained elevator will keep its value almost for a lifetime. In fact, home elevators are amongst the most popular amenities offered to boost the value of newly built homes. Given modern technology and thanks to recent price drops, a home elevator has now become an acceptable solution to individuals wanting to improve the quality of their daily lives. The old advice of 'simply' moving to a single-leveled home once the stairway becomes an obstacle, simply holds no more value. People still handing out this advice often forget to take into account the mental effects associated with having to move one's home.

If you are planning to purchase a residential elevator, the most appropriate moment to have one mounted, is during the building of the property. However, during this phase, most home owners forget that they may one day need assisted vertical transportation. Because elevators require a shaft, a foundation, an engine and several (mostly two) entry points, not all buildings can support an elevator 'out of the box'. Chances are therefore, that major modifications are to be made before being able to have a home elevator installed. Some of these modifications might have major aesthetic and/or financial consequences. To be brought up to speed on your home's suitability, it would be wise to contact a local installer before purchasing the elevator. The company will dispatch an engineer to survey your house for any potential issues. The report handed to you afterwards may include a price quote for having the modifications done by the company themselves. In order to get a non-subjective opinion of your home, be sure to have it inspected by different firms.

If your residence has been found appropriate for elevator installation, it is time to start worrying about the more subtle details of the elevator in question. The primary factors that determine the cost of your residential elevator are track height, number of stops and the elevator's cabin capacity (weight). In general, the lower these metrics, the less expensive your investment will be. An additional factor that might have major influence on your choice of elevator, is drive type. There are several types of drives, including the chain hydraulic drive, cable hydraulic drive and the vacuum lift. Every system has its specific (dis-)advantages in noise, speed, durability, cost and capacity. Make sure you are well-informed by your local installer, so you can make a well-educated decision. Finally, you probably want to make sure the interior of the lift cabin has all the features you need. Things you could consider are an emergency button, a telephone jack and gate type. An accordeon-type gate is generally recommended, since a scissor-type gate could snap on your fingers when used incorrectly.