A stair lift, also called chair lift, is a great piece of equipment to help elderly and disabled move around their home. It is designed to physically carry its occupant safely up and down their stair. You have chair lifts for both straight stairs and curved ones. The curved staircase lift is quite a bit more expensive, as it often has to be special designed to fit one type of stairs.

You need a lift to fit your staircase, so choosing between curved or straight is not the problem, choosing between an AC lift and a DC lift might be much more difficult however. DC lifts are also often called battery powered chair lifts, because they operate under battery power. Anyways, the main difference between the two type of lifts is that the AC lifts draw power directly from your home power supply, so if your home power supply is out it will not work. The DC or battery powered lift is also plugged in to your home power supply, but it will only use the home power supply to charge. To move up and down the DC lift gets its power from the batteries.

As you have probably figured out the stability of your power at home is the main concern when deciding which of these chair lifts will fit you best. Think about the last few years and how often the electricity has been out. In many homes the power hardly ever cuts out, and then a AC stair lift would be a good choice. The reason you should not buy a DC stair lift if you do not have to, is because of the costs. The DC stair lift costs more to both in initial costs and in maintenance. The batteries have to be replaced every 12 to 18 months and can easily cost $100 or more.

Overall, if you have an unstable power supply in your home you have to go for the DC powered chair lift. Being unable to move from one floor to another for a long time is not a nice experience. If your power supply is stable however the cheaper AC option would most likely be your best choice.