Hydraulic Home Lifts

Installing a Hydraulic Wheelchair Lift for the Home

It has never been easier to install a home lift, in order to enhance access for wheelchair users, or for anyone experiencing mobility impairment. Innovative platform lift technology offers homeowners a range of options, including curved inclined lifts or straight inclined lifts for stairways, step lifts for short flights of stairs, and the vertical platform lift which provides access to every floor.

Where clients opt for a vertical platform lift, we offer the option of either a hydraulic or electric drive to power the transport. In this blog we consider the advantages of hydraulic lift drives and compare them with electric lift drives.


Do you require an Hydraulic Home Lift? Call the Tower Lifts lift team today on 01525 601099 for more information.

How Does a Hydraulic Lift Work?

A hydraulic lift uses an electrically powered pump to push pressurised hydraulic fluid, which is normally oil, to a lifting system. The passenger cabin, or platform will rise due to increased pressure on the hydraulic fluid as it is pumped into a cylinder at the base of the lift. To travel down, a valve opens to release the pressure on the fluid.

By contrast, the electric lift is moved by steel ropes that are connected to an electric motor. A counterweight is used to balance the load of the passenger cabin, and traction on the ropes is what raises and lowers the lift.

The Benefits of Installing Hydraulic Home Lifts

The hydraulic lift became the default lifting mechanism used throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Its major advantage is its space-saving capability, as the mechanism occupies around 10% less space than an electric lift. This makes it particularly useful when installing small lifts for the home.

A hydraulic drive is the ‘long distance runner’ of lift mechanisms. It’s extremely durable and, so long as it’s maintained regularly, it can be relied upon for years’ of service. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the hydraulic drive is particularly effective for heavy loads as it provides an extremely efficient lifting force. Other benefits include:

  • Speedy Installation – each installation is different, but installation normally takes 2-4 days.
  • No electrics required to travel downwards – your lift will return you to the ground floor, even in a power cut.
  • Cheap to run – hydraulic lifts use the same amount of electricity is a small appliance.
  • No machine room required – all equipment is integrated into the lift shaft.
  • The quiet option – hydraulic lifts are extremely quiet systems.
  • Pleasant to use – the lift provides a smooth, enjoyable ride.
  • Good looking – hydraulic home lifts can be finished to integrate seamlessly with your home décor.
  • A hydraulic wheelchair lift for the home can be accessed without leaving your wheelchair.

Maintenance for Hydraulic Home Lifts

Once you experience the access potential that a platform lift can offer to your home, you’ll want to ensure that you’re never without it. Tower Lifts engineers recommend regular servicing and maintenance to maximise the life of your vertical transport and maintain its high performance.

Our personalised maintenance package takes into account the age of the lift, the number of people using it, and the function it fulfils in the household. A maintenance package, tailored to your requirements, also means that should you experience any problems with your hydraulic platform lift, our repair team will respond immediately.

Residential Platform Lift Design

Tower Lifts engineers will visit your home to help you assess which kind of home lift would best serve your needs. They will go through the relative merits of hydraulic home lifts vs electric home lifts and answer any questions you may have. Our designers can help with the positioning of your lift, to ensure a compact and aesthetically pleasing solution.

Once these decisions are made, you can concentrate on the more creative aspects of home lift design. These include customising the passenger cabin and doors to integrate with the décor and style of your interior design, and ensuring that lift buttons are easy for you to reach and operate. Each of these decisions ensure that your platform lift provides both the access and aesthetic that suits your requirements.

Why Choose Tower Lifts for Hydraulic Home Lifts

The Tower Lifts team has been designing and installing bespoke platform lifts for nearly two decades now. In that time, we’ve overcome just about every challenge a domestic interior can throw at us. We’re a friendly, skilled, and experienced team of professionals that love transforming interiors to make them fully accessible for families and individuals.

Tower Lifts’ factory trained engineers have extensive experience in bespoke lift design, installation, and maintenance. We are able to service, maintain and repair a wide range of products, including lifts not originally installed by us. We are a ISO9001:2015 Lift Cert and UKAS approved company adhering to all current Lift Regulations.

If you like to speak to a Tower Lifts engineer about installing hydraulic home lifts, call us today and we’ll take you through the options – 01525 601099

Tower Lifts carry out design and installation on a varied range of lifts throughout the UK including:

Domestic Lifts • Food Lifts • Bespoke Platform Lifts • Service Lifts • Platform Lifts • Goods Lifts • Scenic Lifts • Heavy Duty / Car Lifts • Passenger Lifts • Dumbwaiter Lifts • MRL Lifts • Fire lifts • Residential Lifts • low-Headroom Lift