Who would use a folding wheelchair?
Most wheelchair users can benefit from a folding wheelchair. Folding electric wheelchairs will appeal more however to users who access the community regularly.
The fact that the chair will fold up easily allows for more flexible transportation and a folded wheelchair will fit easily into most car boot spaces. The main appeal to all users of folding wheelchairs is that when the user is not in their chair, the chair can be stored away snugly, allowing more for more space to be utilised around the home.
Folding wheelchairs today can be from extremely lightweight material, allowing for the user to be able to fold and stow the wheelchair without assistance on many occasions.
What to look out for when buying a folding wheelchair?
It can be hard to determine what is the best electric wheelchair. The main questions to ask prior to purchasing a folding wheelchair are where will it be stored, how often will it need to be folded down and who will be folding it down?
If the chair is needing to fit into a small space (for example, the boot of a hatchback car) then the chair will need to fold down at all available hinges, including the back and not all folding lightweight wheelchairs do this.
When considering how often it will need to be folded down and by who, take the weight of the chair into consideration.
Nowadays, even some of the heaviest all-terrain powered wheel chairs fold down but this will be no use to the user if they are need to fold it down themselves and can not manoeuvre it to do so.
How much does a folding wheelchair cost?
As with any product, prices will very depending on the specification. A lightweight, occasional use, travel wheelchair can be purchased new for around £50. At the opposite end of the scale, you could expect to pay up to £3000 for an all-terrain powered folding wheelchair.
The price you pay will ultimately be determined by the type of folding chair that you require.
The following reviews will allow you to explore the best lightweight folding wheelchair on the market.