Which Bathtub Faucets Offer Quick-Fill Flow Rates for Walk-In Tubs?

Ella's Bubbles offers two quick-fill bathtub faucets for walk-in tubs, both under the Ella Fast-Fill name: the 5-piece deck-mount set rated up to 18 GPM at 60 PSI, and the 2-piece single-lever set rated up to 16 GPM at 60 PSI, each measured under ideal in-home plumbing conditions. Those ratings describe the most the faucet can deliver, and your home's water pressure, supply lines and water heater decide how close you get. The two sets are compared feature by feature in Ella Fast-Fill Faucets: 2-Piece vs 5-Piece, Finishes, and the Waterfall Option, and this page focuses on the flow figures themselves, what they mean in a real bathroom, and how to make sure your plumbing can use them.

The Quick-Fill Flow Ratings Side by Side

You sit inside a walk-in tub while it fills, with the door already closed, so the faucet's flow rate matters far more than it does on an ordinary bathtub. That is why Ella publishes a gallons-per-minute rating for its fast-fill sets instead of simply calling them high flow. Here are the published figures for each faucet choice.

On paper the 5-piece set carries the highest documented rate, 2 GPM above the 2-piece. In most homes the two sets fill at similar rates, because the home's water pressure and pipe size become the limit before the faucet does. That means you can comfortably choose between them by how you like to control the water: two handles, or one lever. The thermostatic package trades a listed fill figure for temperature control, and a thermostatic control valve added to the hot line may reduce water flow and extend fill time. The hand shower is limited to 1.9 GPM on purpose, so it is the rinsing tool, and the spout is what fills the tub.

What Is Built into Each Fast-Fill Set

Both sets are deck mounted and share the parts that make quick filling possible: a high-flow cartridge, two 3/4 inch by 5 foot water supply lines, and the 5-setting pull-out hand shower on a 5 foot retractable stainless braided hose. The Royal spec sheet also lists a back-flow prevention valve with the 5-piece set. Shut-off valves are not included with either set, so your plumber supplies those.

• 2-piece set. Lift the lever for on, move it left for hot and right for cold, and push it down for off. The diverter button under the spout switches between the spout and the hand shower. The set has a solid brass chrome spout and an ADA lever, and it is certified to CSA B125.1, ASME A112.18.1, ICC 117.1, ANSI/NSF 61/9 and IAPMO UPC.
• 5-piece set. The red handle is hot, the blue handle is cold, and the middle lever is the diverter that sends water to the hand shower. The 5-piece set is not thermostatic. Tubs ordered with the thermostatic package have a thermostatic control valve on the deck plate instead.

The faucet options video shows the 2-piece high-flow faucet, the thermostatic faucet and the 5-piece high-flow faucet installed on Ella tubs, and explains that when your order is placed, the tub is drilled and fitted for whichever faucet you select. That is why the faucet decision is made with your order and not after the tub arrives.

Which Ella Tubs Come with Which Quick-Fill Faucet

The 5-piece set is the published standard on the Elite, Royal, Deluxe, Ultimate, Ultra, Capri, Monaco, ShaK, Big4One, Standard, Standard60, and the Transfer30 through TransferXXL. The 2-piece set is standard on the Zen, Flow, Front Entry, Mobile, Lounger, Transfer26, and the two-seat tubs, which have two spouts. Many models offer either set at order time, so the standard faucet is a starting point and not a restriction. A worked example for one model is in Which Faucet Comes With the Ella Royal Walk-In Bathtub?, where the spec sheet documents the 5-piece set and the 2-piece and thermostatic choices are laid out beside it.

The LayDown tubs are the exception. The LayDown72 is faucet-ready and can take either deck set as an option, while the LayDown60 has no deck faucet and uses a faucet supplied for the bathroom, typically wall mounted. Chrome is the standard faucet finish. Other finishes come and go, and the tub's therapy buttons, dials and other controls stay chrome whichever faucet finish you choose, so please ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before ordering if a particular finish matters to you.

What Decides Whether You Actually See the Rated Flow

The 16 and 18 GPM ratings are both measured at 60 PSI under ideal in-home plumbing conditions. The faucet sets the ceiling, and four things in your home determine how close you get to it.

• Home water pressure. The rated flow assumes 60 PSI. Lower household pressure means a slower fill, and Ella publishes no flow curve for lower pressures, so there is no official figure to quote for a home below that mark.
• Supply lines. Both sets include two 3/4 inch by 5 foot braided supply lines, and Ella recommends 3/4 inch water lines to the tub with easily accessible shut-off valves nearby.
• Hot water capacity. Ella recommends the maximum capacity water heater available for your house, and anything less than 75 gallons is not recommended. Tankless heaters should be rated 11 GPM or higher.
• Added valves. A thermostatic control valve added to the hot line may reduce water flow and extend fill time.

In real homes, walk-in tub fill time ranges from 7 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the tub and the configuration of your water supply lines. Fill time is simply water capacity divided by real-world flow, and because you fill the tub while seated in it, the occupied capacity is the practical number. The spec sheets list the Standard at 30 to 50 gallons occupied, the Elite at 35 to 55, the Capri at 45 to 65, the Standard60 at 70 to 90 and the Shak at 80 to 120, so a larger tub behind the very same faucet simply takes longer. The full picture is in How fast will my walk-in tub fill? Fast-fill faucet expectations and operation.

A Short Checklist for You and Your Plumber

1. Find your tub's water capacity on its spec sheet, under the Downloads tab of the product page, and use the occupied figure for planning.
2. Have your plumber check household water pressure, since the published ratings assume 60 PSI.
3. Plan 3/4 inch water lines to the tub location, with easily accessible shut-off valves near the tub. The valves are not part of the faucet set.
4. Compare your water heater with the recommendation: the maximum capacity available for your house, nothing under 75 gallons, or a tankless unit rated 11 GPM or higher.
5. Decide on the 5-piece set, the 2-piece set or the thermostatic package before the order is finalized, because the tub deck is drilled for that choice.

If you already own an Ella tub and the faucet needs attention, the complete Fast-Fill set is available on its own, and the valve body is sold by itself when only the hot or cold side has failed. Ella tubs have been built with either a 1-1/4 inch or a 1-3/4 inch deck hole, so measure before ordering. The details are in Buying a Fast-Fill Faucet Set or Valve Body on Its Own: Specs, Finishes and Deck Hole Size.

Watch: Luxury Faucet Options for Your Walk-In Tub, Voted Best/Safest 2020 | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• What Size Water Heater Do I Need for My Walk-in Tub?
• Water Supply Lines, Shut-Off Valves, and Pipe Size for a Fast Fill
• How long does it take to fill a walk-in tub?

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