Lift chairs

No. The Assistive Devices Program does not cover lift chairs. Ontario Seniors' Home Safety Tax Credit, March of Dimes HVMP, ODSP, WSIB and Veterans Affairs are the usual routes. We help with the applications and confirm what you actually pay in writing.

It is sized to the person, not the room. Seat depth is the critical one: if it is too deep the feet do not reach the floor when the chair tilts forward, which defeats the purpose. Chairs come in small, medium, large and tall, plus heavy duty widths. We measure at the fitting or in the showroom.

Two position reclines partway, to about a television angle. Three position adds a near flat position with the legs raised, and is what most households choose. Infinite position uses separate motors for the back and footrest, so any combination is possible including fully flat for sleeping and zero gravity.

In an infinite position chair, yes, and a good number of people do, particularly with breathing or reflux problems that make lying flat difficult. Two and three position chairs do not go flat enough to sleep in comfortably night after night.

It depends on the mechanism. Standard recliners need clearance behind them, while wall-hugger designs slide forward as they recline and need only a few inches. If the chair has to go against a wall, say so and we will specify accordingly.

Without a battery backup the chair stays where it is, which is a serious problem if someone is reclined and alone. The backup battery is inexpensive and returns the chair to upright, and it is the one option we recommend to nearly everyone.

Zero gravity raises the knees above the heart, which takes load off the lumbar spine in a way an ordinary recline does not. It is available on infinite position chairs. For persistent back or hip pain it is the option most worth paying for; otherwise it is a luxury.

It genuinely helps lower back pain and stiffness if the chair is used for long stretches. If someone sits in it for twenty minutes in the evening, it will not get used enough to justify the cost. We will say so rather than adding it by default.

Yes. Lift chairs arrive heavy and often in two pieces. Our technicians bring it in, assemble it in the room you want it, test the mechanism and show whoever is using it how the handset works before leaving.

Yes, and you should. Come to the Brampton showroom and sit in several. Seat depth and back height are things you feel immediately and cannot judge from a photograph.

Standard chairs are rated well above average adult weight and heavy duty models go considerably higher with a wider seat and reinforced mechanism. The mechanism is the part that matters, because it is what fails when a chair is used over its rating.

Most lift chairs come apart into a base and a back, so the doorway that matters is narrower than the assembled chair suggests. We check access before delivery day rather than discovering a problem on the doorstep.