What Is the Smallest Space You Can Plan for a Home Lift?

Small Home Lift does not always equal to small home lift price. Often, “Can this fit a lift?” is one of the questions we hear most frequently from our architect friends. The good news is, certain lifts are so space-saving, that the answer is usually “yes!”. But exactly what is the smallest lift you can get? And do we recommend it over larger sizes? The answer might surprise you.

Understanding Cut-Out Size, Final Size and Platform/Car Small Home Lift Size

Before we talk about sizes, it’s important to make sure we are all talking about the same thing! In the lift industry, sizes are usually as follows:

1. Platform / Car Size – this is the available standing space, be it within a cabin or on a platform. It is very important while comparing across lift technologies. While the actual size of the lift might be similar, the standing space can be super different based on how space-saving the company is!
   
2. Finished Size – this is the actual outside size of the lift. It is the final amount of space the lift will take, if you measure it from the outside once it is fully installed. Funnily enough, this is the least useful metric of the three for architects!
   
3. Cut-Out Size – this is the space needed for installation. It is always a little bigger than finished size, because installers need a little extra space for tools, fingers, and to account for slight irregularities in construction (things are rarely perfectly aligned!)

So Which is the Smallest Small Home Lift Size?

The smallest cut-out size we know of is Cibes with 940 mm x 1070 mm, or less than one square meter! With a size like this, you can fit in almost anywhere.

In terms of standing space, this size also delivers quite well, with a total standing space of 710 x 815 mm. A crazy level of space utilization. See what it looks like below!

However, there is one big downside to this tiny size: this space is only suitable for 1-2 people – and forget wheelchair accessibility. It is simply too small.

What is the Smallest Size that can fit a Wheelchair?

Again, we need to make sure we are talking about the same thing. After all, wheelchairs come in all shapes and sizes, from your Compact wheelchairs to Electric wheelchairs. This makes it very hard to say whether a wheelchair will fit or not!

That being said, we have been providing wheelchair friendly lifts for a very long time (since 1947 in fact!). That means that we do have some experience with different wheelchair types. We have managed to put together this useful guide.

As you can see, the smallest size for an Electric Wheelchair would be our size 4, while the smallest size for a Compact Wheelchair would be our size 11. Yes, our 41 sizes make it a little confusing at times!

This is why the best way is to reach out to our salespeople, who can find the perfect size for you every time. Let us know the size you have available and the wheelchair dimensions, and we will find the perfect lift for you, guaranteed.

Have you chosen where to put your lift? If not, make sure to also check our guide on best places to put your home lift!

Hope it helps!