Which Ella walk-in tubs work best for wheelchair or scooter transfers?

For a transfer from a wheelchair or a mobility scooter, the Ella Transfer family is the place to look: the Transfer26, Transfer30, Transfer32, Transfer60 and TransferXXL. Every one of them carries the extra-wide L-shape outward door that takes the whole side of the tub with it, so there is no sidewall or corner post between your chair and the molded seat. How Do You Transfer From a Wheelchair Into an Ella Walk-In Tub? walks through the slide itself. This page sorts the five models by seat width, covers the floor space the door needs, and explains how you get back to a scooter once the bath is over.

Why the Transfer Family, and Not a Seated Walk-In Tub

On a seated walk-in tub the door is a panel set into the front wall of the tub, with tub wall on either side of it. You step through the opening, turn, and sit. That works well for someone who can stand and step, but it leaves a wall between a wheelchair and the seat. The Transfer family solves that with a different door. When the L-shape door swings open through its 172 degree arc, the sidewall next to the seat goes with it. A wheelchair or scooter pulls up alongside the open side, the bather drops the chair arm, slides straight across onto the molded seat, brings the legs over the low threshold into the footwell, and closes the door.

Three details make this work from a seated position:

• The handle is mounted on the front face of the door rather than inside the tub, so you open and close it from the chair without reaching over or into the tub. Turn it clockwise to close and lock, counter-clockwise to open.
• A two-latch gear and shaft mechanism pulls the door evenly onto its seal, so light handle effort gives a watertight closure whether the tub is empty or full.
• Every Transfer tub has a low threshold, a textured floor and deck and wall mounted grab bars for support during the move.

The lineup overview in Comparing Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tub Models names the Transfer 60 as the wheelchair accessible model, and the same door and the same transfer path apply across all five Transfer sizes.

The Five Transfer Models Side by Side

The door is the same across the family, so the figure that separates the models is the seat width. The table uses only figures Ella has published. The overall tub footprints are not listed in the sources for this page, so ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 for the dimensions of the model you are considering.

What the differences mean: the seat is the landing zone for a sideways slide, so the seat width is the first figure to match to the bather. A wider seat gives more room to land and settle, and the wider models take more room in the bathroom. Because the door, the handle position and the swing are identical, you do not give up any of the transfer features by choosing a smaller or larger model. Jet counts on the Transfer family depend on the therapy package you choose rather than on the model, so compare therapy packages separately from the seat width.

Floor Space the L-Shape Door Needs

Because the door swings outward, the room in front of the tub decides whether a Transfer model fits. The door needs 36.5 inches of clearance for its swing, and its winged shape fits over a standard size toilet, clearing a toilet up to 21 inches tall. That matters in the typical vanity, toilet, tub layout, where the toilet often sits right where the door opens. You also need room for the chair or scooter to sit alongside the open side with the door fully open, since that is where the transfer happens. Operating the L-Shape Transfer Door: Front Handle, Closing, and Wheelchair Entry covers the handle, the lock and the clearance in detail, and its videos show the outward door and its tapered pins being closed and opened.

Before you order, measure the clear floor in front of the planned tub position and note where the toilet, the vanity and the bathroom door sit. Share those measurements with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 along with how the bather transfers today, so the model can be matched to the room and to the person.

Transferring from a Scooter, and Getting Back to It

A power scooter or power chair follows the same path as a manual wheelchair. Bring the scooter right up alongside the tub at the open side, drop the arm, and slide straight across onto the seat. Then swing the legs in and close the door behind you. A caregiver can help with the slide and with the legs, and the open side is what gives the caregiver room to do that.

Getting back to the scooter is the same move in reverse, with one rule in front of it: let the tub drain completely first. The door should never be opened until the tub is fully drained. Once it is, open the door, bring the legs out over the threshold, and transfer back onto the scooter parked at the open side. Where the scooter waits during the bath depends on your room, and the team at (800) 480-6850 can talk that through with you when you share your bathroom measurements. The Ella door decides what is physically possible. How a particular person should be lifted, steadied or positioned is a question for that person's physical or occupational therapist.

When a Roll-In Shower Is the Better Choice

The Transfer family is built for someone who leaves the chair and sits in the tub. If the person bathing stays in a wheelchair or shower chair, a curbless roll-in shower base is the better fit. Ella's wheelchair accessible roll-in base comes in three standard sizes, 30 by 60, 32 by 60 and 36 by 60 inches, with no lip to lift a wheel over and a collapsible rubber dam that keeps the water in. Should I choose a walk-in tub or a roll-in shower? compares the two, and What Are the Best Accessible Tub and Shower Options for Retrofitting a Home? sorts the full set of choices by how the bather enters.

Related Guides

• How Much Floor Clearance Does the Transfer L-Shape Door Need to Swing Open?

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