Wednesday 17 September 2008

AmeriGlide Vs Acorn Stair Lift

Stair lifts are used by people who have difficulty using the stairs. A chair or small platform is used to carry a person up and down the stairs. There are several different manufacturers of stair lifts. AmeriGlide is one of the most well known and popular brands and is manufactured in the United States. A European company, Acorn Stair Lifts, also manufactures lifts and is very popular overseas.


The types of stair lifts offered by the company are very similar, but AmeriGlide has many more stair lifts to choose from. AmeriGlide offers both battery and direct current stair lifts. Acorn only offers battery powered stair lifts.


A battery powered stair lift plugs directly into the wall, but the stair lift itself is powered by a battery. These types of stair lifts are great if you live in an area with frequent power disruptions because you are never without power. In addition to offereing battery powered lifts, AmeriGlide also offers AC models, which get their power directly from a wall and plug into a normal household outlet. An AC model is less expensive than battery powered lift, but will not function if the power goes out. If you have a battery powered lift, you will need to periodically replace the batteries as well, but are usually not very expensive.


While there are many different models of lifts offered by AmeriGlide, Acorn really only offers one model. The model offered by Acorn is the Superglide 120 and can be outfitted for indoor/outdoor use, supports around 300 pounds, and can also be outfitted with a small platform instead of a chair. The different types of stair lifts offered by AmeriGlide are much more comprehensive. They offer several different models for both indoor use and outdoor use. Most of their models support around 300 pounds, but AmeriGlide also offers a heavy duty lift that can support up to 500 pounds and has a wider reinforced seat.


Both AmeriGlide lifts and those made by Acorn offer many safety features. They both offer footrest sensors that detect objects in the path of the lift and are made out of only the finest materials. AmeriGlide stair lifts utilize high-test aircraft cable that has a 4,200 pound breaking point. Lifts by AmeriGlide have also been tested for over 30,000 cycles (about 16 years of use) and have shown no abnormal wear. Acorn lifts are also very dependable and reliable. The installation of both of these stair lifts is very straightforward and can typically be done in a few hours.


Both of the warranties that cover the lifts manufactured by AmeriGlide and Acorn are very comprehensive, but it can often be problematic to get an Acorn stair lift serviced. This is because it is manufactured in a foreign country and imported to the US. Even just a day can be too much if you depend on your stair lift, and frequently service issues take much longer to resolve with Acorn. In this regard AmeriGlide is far superior. In most cases you will probably never need to activate your warranty, but it is nice to know that it is there if you need it.


The lifts manufactured by AmeriGlide and Acorn are both of very high quality. They are very safe and very reliable, but you can frequently get a better deal on an AmeriGlide lift. This is in large part due to the fact that they are manufactured in the USA and do not have the high overhead that a foreign manufacturer does.


Brad Brubaker is an experienced technical writer with experience in the home medical supplyAcorn SuperGlide visit or call the folks at US Medical Supplies. industry. To learn more about the AmeriGlide DC Powered Stair Lift or to learn about the


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