The control system of the stairlifts can vary from model to model. In general the control panel for operating the lift is situated on the chair’s arm-rest. The controls are either toggled or a normal throw-switch. For a toggled switch a user merely has to rest his or her arm on the button for the lift to move. This can be extremely helpful when the person in question has partially lost the dexterity of the fingers necessary to operate a normal switch.

Though the stairlifts prices may get higher with extra features added, at times this turns out to be inevitable. If the staircase curves around a pillar then a curved stair chair lift is a necessity though this drives up the costing as the rails will have to be laid specifically and made to measurements of the particular case. Also the locomotion system will also be more complex, as the carriage will have to slow down when it navigates the curved path and move faster when the rails of the stairlifts are straight.