What is the Ella Big4One walk-in tub and what do owners say?

The Ella Big4One is an extra-large single-bather walk-in tub with an outward-swing door, built for tall and wide bathers who feel cramped in a mid-size tub. Its actual size is 33 1/8 inches wide by 66 inches long by 39.5 inches high, with a 24 inch wide seat, and it ships with seat hydro massage, independent foot and calf hydro massage, three-speed air massage and a chromatherapy light as standard equipment. You can see how it compares with the rest of the lineup in Walk-in tub dimensions by model, and the customer testimonial video on this page is the first-hand review Ella's Bubbles publishes for it.

Size, Seat and Interior Room

The Big4One is one of the largest walk-in tubs Ella's Bubbles makes, second only to the ShaK among the single-seat models. The current spec sheet lists an actual size of 33 1/8 inches wide, 66 inches long and 39.5 inches high, a 24 inch seat width, and a net weight of 271 pounds. The product video adds the figure most tall bathers care about: 56 inches of interior length, which is what lets a long-legged bather stretch out instead of sitting with bent knees. The soaking depth, measured from the top of the seat to the center of the overflow, is 22 inches, the deepest figure in the Ella seated lineup, so the water reaches well up the torso of a tall bather. How that figure is read, and why it matters more than the height of the tub wall, is explained in What Is Soaking Depth on a Walk-In Tub?.

Ella's guidance on fit applies here just as it does to smaller tubs. Sit in a chair facing a wall and measure your hips while seated, your shoulder width while seated, and your length from head to feet. The 24 inch seat must be wider than your seated hip measurement. The same length that makes the Big4One comfortable for a bather around six feet and taller makes it feel oversized for an average or shorter person, so bigger is not automatically better, and a shorter partner who will share the tub should be measured too. What size walk-in tub fits a six-foot-tall person? weighs the Big4One against the ShaK and the two-seat models for that decision.

Door, Shell and Safety Features

• An outward-swing door made of plastic composite and tempered glass with a 3-latch gear and shaft mechanism. Because the door swings out, it gives a wide, easy entry and does not take up room inside the tub.
• An acrylic shell in a gloss white finish, reinforced with fiberglass gelcoat, on a stainless steel frame with adjustable leveling legs.
• A low threshold, a textured slip-resistant floor, and a stainless steel chrome-finish wall-mounted grab bar for stability on the way in and out.
• A removable front apron with two access panels and one reversible end panel, which keeps the pumps and drain connections reachable after installation.

The Therapy Systems That Come with It

Ella's jetting design covers parts of the body that many walk-in tubs leave out, and the Big4One carries the full set. Each system below is included on the standard tub according to the current spec sheet.

• Seat hydro massage: a 9A, 900W pump drives 15 upper seat jets for the back and hips, with an intensity dial air control, run from the digital controller.
• Foot and calf hydro massage: a separate 7A, 900W pump drives 4 foot jets and 2 calf jets with its own intensity dial and an on/off push control. Because it has its own pump, this is the independent foot massage the product video describes: you do not need to fill the entire tub to enjoy a hydro foot massage. The 6A, 750W in-line water heater and the 0.04A ozone sterilization belong to this circuit.
• Air massage: a 4.5A, 500W three-speed pump feeds 12 seat jets and 4 foot jets from the digital controller. The auto purge activates about 20 minutes after the air pump is turned off and runs for 120 seconds to blow residual water out of the air lines. It is fully automatic, cannot be stopped, and is normal even if it starts while you are still in the bathroom.
• LED chromatherapy: a multicolor 0.5A LED light bulb with a transformer, controlled from the digital control pad.

Two options can be added at the time of order: a microbubble therapy system with a 1 HP, 7.3A pump, pressure vessel, agitator valve and on/off push control, and a heated seat and backrest. Remember that the in-line heater maintains the temperature of the bath while a pump runs. It does not heat cold water, so your house water heater does all the work of filling the tub hot.

Water, Drains, Faucet and Electrical Needs

The Big4One holds 127 gallons of water unoccupied and 75 to 100 gallons when a bather is seated, with the actual occupied volume depending on the bather's size. Use the gallon figures only; the litre values printed on the spec sheet are misprints. The occupied range is the number to size your hot water around, and What Is Occupied vs Unoccupied Water Capacity on a Walk-In Tub? explains how the two figures relate. Ella recommends a 75 gallon or larger house water heater for the average walk-in tub, and the largest models may need a dedicated additional heater, so have your contractor look at heater size, supply pressure, pipe size and the distance from the heater to the tub before installation day.

Draining is handled by Ella's dual drain technology: two independent 2 inch T-type dual-port floor drains, two overflows, two stainless steel cable-operated openers with extended chrome handles, and two end caps. The house drain can be connected to either or both ports, which gives the plumber flexibility in where the waste line lands. The tub comes with the 5-piece single lever fast-fill faucet with a solid brass chrome spout. On the electrical side, all of the equipment is 115V 60Hz and the spec sheet calls for dedicated GFCI protected lines, so plan on a licensed electrician running the circuits the pumps and heater need.

Fitting It into the Bathroom

The Big4One ships crated at 36 by 68 by 49 inches with a shipping weight of 400 pounds, so check the path from the delivery point to the bathroom, including doorways, hallways and stair turns, before the truck arrives. At 66 inches long it is longer than the 60 inch opening most bathrooms were framed around, which means it does not simply drop into a standard three-wall alcove the way a 52 or 60 inch tub does. Measure the opening wall to wall at the back and at the front and compare it with the actual size on the spec sheet; What Is an Alcove Installation for a Walk-In Tub? covers how alcove placement affects service access and why the plumbing end needs an access panel. If your bathroom cannot take a 66 inch tub, share your measurements with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 so they can point you to the next best fit.

What the Review Video Says

This page does not summarize outside review sites. The first-hand review Ella's Bubbles publishes is the customer testimonial video above, in which a bather who describes himself as six feet seven inches tall and 350 pounds says the massage worked his full body, his back, his legs and his feet, that the tub fit him really well, and that he was not cramped. The product video describes the same bather as a former professional football player and shows the low threshold, grab bar, textured floor and jetting layout. That is a single experience rather than a rating, so the most useful review you can do is your own: take the seated measurements above, compare them with the drawings, and ask the team any fit question through ellasbubbles.com/support before you order.

Watch: Ella's Big4One Walk-In Tub: William's Customer Testimonial | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Ella ShaK 36x72: The Largest Single-Seat Walk-In Tub
• Walk-In Tub Dimensions Explained: Which Figure Is the Width, the Length and the Height, and Where to Find the Spec Drawing
• Your Outward-Swing Door Owner's Manual, Section by Section, With the Corrections to Know (Capri, Monaco, Front Entry, Mobile, Lounger, Shak, Big4One)

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