Why does the brochure show several versions of the same tub model?

When the Ella brochure lists several versions of one tub model, you are looking at the same acrylic shell on the same stainless steel frame, offered with a different door side, a different therapy package, a different control style, and in a few families a different size. The measurements of a left-hand and a right-hand version are identical, mirrored, while the jets, pumps and controls listed on a spec sheet belong to the therapy package rather than to the model name. Where Can I Find Side-by-Side Dimension Guides for Walk-In Tubs? gathers the actual sizes; this page explains what each kind of version changes and what it leaves alone.

Left-Hand and Right-Hand Door Versions

Every Ella model is offered with the door on the left or on the right, and the two versions share the same measurements, mirrored. What moves is the plumbing. The door and the tub drains sit on opposite sides of an Ella walk-in tub: a right-side door tub has its drains on the left, and a left-side door tub has its drains on the right, with sides read as you face the tub. That is the detail your plumber needs before the rough-in, because the door side you order decides which end of the alcove the drain line lands in.

The size printed in the model name does not change between versions either, but it is only a nominal figure. The Petite is nominally 28x52 and actually 27.5 x 52 x 35 inches, and the Standard is nominally 30x52 and actually 29 5/8 x 52 3/4 x 37.5 inches, so frame the alcove and plan the extension panel from the spec sheet figure, as What Is Nominal Size vs Actual Size on a Walk-In Tub? explains. If an older brochure disagrees with the current spec sheet, the spec sheet wins, and the imperial figures are the authoritative ones.

Therapy Package Versions: Why the Jet Count Changes

The most common reason a brochure shows one model more than once is the therapy package. A model can be ordered as a soaking tub with no jets, with air massage, with hydro massage, or with both, and the jet count printed beside each version belongs to that package. The Transfer family is the clearest example. There is no single per-model jet count for a Transfer, because the count is determined by the therapy package purchased, so two spec sheet figures for the same Transfer are both correct for their respective packages. In the Transfer video on this page, the air massage version is presented with a 17 jet three-speed air massage with auto purge, and the hydro massage version with 13 massage jets, an intensity control dial and an in-line water heater for a consistent temperature. The Standard, by contrast, ships as a hydro-massage configuration with 18 hydro jets, the 5-piece Ella Fast-Fill faucet with pull-out hand shower, and one 2 inch gravity floor drain with overflow.

The package also decides what sits under the deck. An air massage version carries an air pump with auto purge, which activates automatically 20 minutes after the air pump is turned off and runs for 120 seconds to blow residual water out of the air lines. A hydro massage version carries the hydro pump, the in-line water heater and an ozone generator feeding the hydro loop. The combined air and hydro package carries all of it, plus an LED chromatherapy light. Which packages a given model can take varies by model: Comparing Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tub Models notes that the Elite offers more therapy options than the Zen, and that every two-seater model comes equipped with jets.

Control and Heated Seat Versions

Within one therapy package there can be a further split between push controls and a digital controller. The three Air + Hydro schematics explained in What the Air + Hydro Digital Controller and Heated Seat Schematics Show describe the same dual jetting package three ways. The first replaces the individual deck push buttons with a single Digital Controller. The second adds a heated seat and backrest and renames the control box a Master box. The third, a push-control drawing, covers the heated seat with buttons instead of a touchpad. The two digital diagrams list "Available With: Ella Lounger, Stainless Steel, Outward Door," which is the schematic's way of saying that version exists across the Lounger, the stainless inward-swing door family and the outward-swing door family.

One thing does not change between those versions. The Air Flow Hydro Massage Intensity Dial Control still appears on the deck even with a digital controller, because it is an air control on an air hose rather than an electrical control, and the control box still shows Load 1 and Load 2 for the hydro pump and the air pump. So a digital version and a push version of the same model have the same pumps and the same plumbing. What differs is the panel the bather touches and, with the heated option, the extra components behind the apron that your electrician should plan for.

Size Versions Inside One Family

Some families carry the same name at more than one size, and the brochure lists each size as its own version. The Transfer video shows the two sizes side by side: a 32 inch by 52 inch model with a 24 inch seat width, 44 inches of interior length and a 15 1/2 inch seat length, and a 30 inch by 52 inch model with a 22 inch seat width, the same 44 inches of interior length and the same 15 1/2 inch seat length. The soaking depth of the Transfer32 is shown as 14 1/2 inches, and the video notes that a bather's own size ultimately determines the soaking depth they will get. The LayDown family works the same way, with a 30 inch by 60 inch tub and a 32 inch by 72 inch tub, and here the size version changes the faucet story too. The LayDown60 is never sold with a factory faucet and needs a pre-existing or customer-supplied wall-mounted faucet, while the LayDown72 is faucet-ready and offers optional Ella deck-mount faucets. Two-seater tubs measure 32 inches wide by 60 inches long.

What Stays the Same, and the Versions Side by Side

Door style is a model difference, not a version choice. The Elite has a stainless steel inward-swing door, the Zen has an inward-swing acrylic door, and the Big4One has an outward-swinging U-shape door of plastic composite and tempered glass, and none of those change when you pick a door side, a package or a controller. Every model comes in white, and every version rides on the same acrylic shell and stainless steel frame.

Read together, the rows tell you which version question matters to whom. The door side is a plumbing decision and changes nothing about how the tub fits your body. The therapy package and the controller change what is under the deck and on the panel, so they drive the electrical plan and the jet count you should expect to see on your spec sheet. Only the size versions change the shell itself, and for those the seat width, interior length and faucet rule are the figures to compare. When you contact your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 about a model, have the door side, the package, the controller and the size version in front of you, and they can confirm which spec sheet and which schematic belong to the tub you are ordering.

Watch: Wheelchair Accessible Transfer Walk-In Tubs in 30x52 & 32x52 Sizes | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How to Read an Ella Spec Sheet: Actual Versus Nominal Size, Shipping Size, Occupied Versus Unoccupied Capacity, Package Jet Tables, Amp Disclaimers and Known Misprints
• Left-Hand or Right-Hand? Choosing Door, Drain, and Faucet Side

Common Questions