Is a power recliner chair a good purchase?

I participated with my uncle in buying one of these for him last winter. He’s 87 years old and pretty frail, so getting in and out of normal recliners can be a problem for him.

He got a Lazy Boy (or however they spell their name) top-of-the-line model… and almost never uses it.

It’s slow, for one thing, and this is a problem for him because when he wants to get up he wants to get up NOW (and he’ll happily spend longer trying to pull himself out of a manual recliner than he would have to wait for the motor in the chair to get him upright).

For another thing the recliner only works in certain positions. That is, the footrest extends before the back starts to recline, and that can be sort of uncomfortable (and it takes forever to get into a reclining position).

I wouldn’t recommend one unless you have real mobility issues with simply being able to get out of a recliner on your own.

(One thing that was good to see was that the chair comes with a battery backup system, so in case the power goes out while you’re reclined you can still get it upright from 9V batteries that will power the motor for at least that operation.)

Depends on your needs. If it is physically difficult for you to move the recliner yourself, then it makes sense. You can get power chairs that actually raise up so you can get out of the chair to a standing position easier.