Optional Porch Lift Accessories

Landing Gate

A landing gate is simply a gate supplied by the manufacturer which is installed on the porch or deck as a safety feature to prevent people from falling off the porch when the lift is in the lowered position. In my area of Ontario it quite acceptable for the installer or home owner to create their own gate as long as it is self closing and self latching to avoid the cost of these manufacturer's gates.

Interlocks

Interlocks can be either mechanical or electric strikes (like in an apartment building lobby), and will prevent the gate from opening when the lift isn't in the upper position. While not normally needed in residential applications interlocks are usually required in commercial applications.

Manual Lowering Device

Manual lowering device is a fancy name for a hand crank and is used in the event of break down or power failures where no battery back up system is installed. these cranks can not be used by the person on the lift usually and will only lower the platform, not raise the platform. While handy when needed, most people who have used one will hope they never have to use one again. They are a lot of work as it takes a lot of cranking to lower the lift platform.

Battery Back Up

Some models of porch lift offer battery back ups as an option to allow use of the lift during a power failure and other models actually operate on a battery all the time. Both of these systems will work during a power failure however depending on the distance of travel and weight of the user there may only be enough power for a couple of trips before recharging is required.

Keyed Controls

Keyed controls are a safety feature to prevent unauthorized people and children from operating the lift without supervision. Keyed controls are optional for residential applications but normally mandatory for commercial or public applications.

Call/Send Controls

Call/send controls allow a user to call the lift platform to their level if the platform is at another level. They can be places at both the top landing and the bottom landing if required. They will also allow the user to send the lift platform to the opposite landing once they have exited the lift platform.