A wheelchair porch lift is basically a wheelchair lift intended to be installed on a porch. But as a wheelchair user who is planning to invest on a residential wheelchair lift, you’re perhaps asking, ‘what’s so distinct about this lift?’ The truth is, a wheelchair port lift is simply a kind of a vertical platform lift.
On the other hand, unlike the usual platform lift that carries the wheelchair up to the second floor of a house or building, a porch lift carries the wheelchair to a limited height, just enough to overcome the three to six steps that lead to the deck of the porch. Before I go into detail explaining how a wheelchair porch lift functions, let’s first take a look at porches.
A lot of houses, not only in America, have porches. A porch is a structure attached to a building (in most cases, residential buildings). It functions as a covered entrance to the doorway or lobby. More often than not, porches are elevated. It’s either that the floor height of the porch adjusts to the floor height of the building, or the other way around, depending on the architectural plan of the house. In ancient Asia, porches were included in buildings to prevent rats from reaching the houses.
But either way, most porches are led by a short series of steps. Although these steps are not as tall and challenging as those of interior staircases, people with disability (most especially those who are confined to wheelchairs), find it hard to access them. They have to ask another person to carry them and their wheelchair just to get in and out the house. This limits their freedom and independence. But as you perhaps have already anticipated, this is where wheelchair porch lifts come to the rescue!
Through a wheelchair porch lift, the wheelchair user simply rolls onto the lift platform, pushes a button to bring the device to action, and then rolls off the lift as soon as the deck is reached – as simple as that. No more laborious manual effort for the wheelchair user and the care provider. The operation is also not time-consuming. The duration of the operation depends, of course, on the height of the deck. But it never lasts beyond one minute.
Wheelchair porch lifts usually take up small space with an average footprint of 5’. They also come in three standard sizes: 3’, 4’ and 6’. Some powerful porch lifts can even go up to a height of 12’ and higher.
However, you should know that these sizes determine the maximum travel of the lift and NOT the fixed height. For instance, if you need a 43” height, then you should order a 4’ vertical lift, and then set it to stop at the 43” level.
You should also know that the higher the platform travel, the bigger is the cost. The truth is, porch wheelchair lifts are a bit expensive. You will have to prepare about $3,000 for the lift and its installation. This does not cover the cement pad and the electrical consumption (in case you purchased an electric wheelchair lift.
If you are out of budget for a wheelchair porch lift, you may instead buy a cheaper wheelchair ramp. However, a wheelchair ramp does not guarantee the full comfort and convenience that the porch lift does.
Aside from comfort and convenience, wheelchair lifts are also equipped with safety controls, like arm handles, seatbelts and emergency stop button, to ensure the welfare of their users. A porch lift also has a safety pan located under its platform. When touched, say by a pet, a kid or an obstructive object, the lift immediately stops its operation to avoid crushing down anything under it.