Vi bruker heller møbelheisen enn å bære opp flyttelasset.

Heller ... enn means rather ... than.

So:

• Vi bruker heller møbelheisen enn å bære opp flyttelasset
• = We’d rather use the furniture lift than carry the moving load upstairs

A very literal breakdown is:

• heller = rather
• enn = than

This is a very common Norwegian pattern:

• Jeg går heller enn å kjøre. = I’d rather walk than drive.
• Hun vil heller lese enn å se på TV. = She’d rather read than watch TV.

In everyday Norwegian, heller often expresses preference, just like rather in English.

Because heller modifies the choice being made: use the furniture lift rather than carry the load up.

In Norwegian, heller usually comes before the thing or action that is preferred:

• Vi bruker heller møbelheisen ...
• literally: We use rather the furniture lift ...

That sounds unnatural in English, but it is normal in Norwegian.

You could think of the structure as:

• We would rather use X than do Y

where X is møbelheisen.

Because after enn, Norwegian often uses the infinitive marker å when the second part is an infinitive phrase.

So:

• enn å bære opp flyttelasset = than to carry the moving load upstairs

This is very natural Norwegian.

Compare:

• Jeg vil heller bli hjemme enn å gå ut. = I’d rather stay home than go out.
• De kjøpte heller nytt enn å reparere det gamle. = They preferred buying new rather than repairing the old one.

In English, than carry and than to carry are both possible depending on style and structure, but in Norwegian enn å + infinitive is a very common pattern.

Bære opp means carry up or carry upstairs/upward.

It is made of:

• bære = to carry
• opp = up

So å bære opp flyttelasset means carrying the load up into the building, usually by stairs or into an upper floor.

This is a common type of Norwegian verb combination, where a verb is used with a directional particle:

• ta med = take along
• gå inn = go in
• sette opp = put up / set up
• bære opp = carry up

Because Norwegian often uses verb + particle combinations, similar to English phrasal verbs.

So:

• bære opp = carry up

This word order is normal in the infinitive:

• å bære opp
• å hente inn
• å sette opp

In a main clause, the particle can also stay with the verb phrase:

• Vi bærer opp flyttelasset.

Norwegian learners often notice that this works a lot like English:

• carry up
• pick up
• bring in

Flyttelasset means the moving load, the load of belongings being moved, or more naturally in English, the stuff being moved.

It comes from:

• flytte = to move
• lass = load
• flyttelass = a moving load / a load from a move
• flyttelasset = the moving load (definite form)

This word is commonly used when talking about moving house, especially the furniture, boxes, and other possessions being transported.

Examples:

• Flyttelasset kommer klokka tre. = The moving load arrives at three.
• Vi må få flyttelasset inn før det begynner å regne. = We need to get the moving load inside before it starts raining.

Because Norwegian often uses the definite form where English might say the.

Here:

• møbelheisen = the furniture lift
• flyttelasset = the moving load

The definite ending is attached to the noun:

• møbelheis → møbelheisen
• flyttelass → flyttelasset

This suggests that the speaker has a specific furniture lift and a specific load in mind, which makes perfect sense in the context of a move.

This is very normal in Norwegian. You often use the definite form when both speaker and listener know what is being referred to.

A møbelheis is a furniture lift: a mechanical lift used to move heavy furniture or boxes up to a higher floor, often through a window or balcony.

It is a compound noun:

• møbel = furniture
• heis = lift / elevator

So literally it means furniture-lift.

This is especially useful in apartment moves, where carrying everything up the stairs would be difficult.

Yes, that is also possible, and it means basically the same thing.

Compare:

• Vi bruker heller møbelheisen enn å bære opp flyttelasset
• Vi bruker møbelheisen heller enn å bære opp flyttelasset

Both mean We’d rather use the furniture lift than carry the load upstairs.

The first version is often a bit more natural because heller comes early and clearly signals the preference. The second version puts slightly more focus on møbelheisen first.

So this is mostly a matter of emphasis and style, not a big difference in meaning.

Because Norwegian often uses the present tense more directly in statements of choice or preference.

• Vi bruker heller ... literally looks like We use rather ...
• but idiomatically it means We’d rather use ...

This is very common. Norwegian does not always need a separate form like would rather. The meaning comes from the adverb heller and the context.

So even though the verb is in the present tense, the overall sentence expresses preference, not just a plain factual action.

Very often, yes, when you are comparing two alternatives.

In this sentence:

• heller X enn Y = rather X than Y

Examples:

• Jeg drikker heller te enn kaffe. = I’d rather drink tea than coffee.
• Hun blir heller hjemme enn å bli med. = She’d rather stay home than come along.

But heller can also appear without enn in some contexts, especially when it simply means instead or rather:

• Kan vi møtes i morgen heller? = Can we meet tomorrow instead?
• Jeg tar den blå heller. = I’ll take the blue one instead.

So enn is common when there is a full comparison, but not every use of heller needs it.

It is natural and normal Norwegian.

Nothing in it sounds especially formal. It is exactly the kind of sentence people might say during a move.

The only word that may feel a little specific is flyttelasset, because it belongs to the context of moving house. But it is still an ordinary, everyday word.

A speaker might also say something slightly simpler in casual speech, such as:

• Vi bruker heller møbelheisen enn å bære alt opp.
• Vi tar heller møbelheisen enn å gå i trappa med alt.

But your original sentence is completely natural.