What is the Ella Big4Two 36x80 two-seat walk-in bathtub?

The Ella Big4Two is the longest two-seat walk-in bathtub Ella's Bubbles builds: an acrylic tub with two facing seats, an outward-swinging door, and seat hydro massage, independent foot and calf massage, three-speed air massage and LED chromatherapy all included. Its actual size is 36 inches wide by 80 inches long by 40 inches tall, with seats of 22 and 24 inches. To see how it lines up with the other three two-seaters, read Choosing a Two-Seat Walk-In Tub: Companion, Escape, Tub4Two, and Big4Two Compared.

Size, Weight and Water

The current spec sheet gives the Big4Two these figures:

• Actual size: 36 inches wide by 80 inches long by 40 inches tall.
• Shipping size: 38 by 82 by 50 inches, so the crate is what has to pass through the front door and any hallway, not just the tub.
• Weight: 328 pounds net and 531 pounds as shipped.
• Seats: 22 inches and 24 inches wide, facing each other.
• Water: 145 gallons unoccupied and 85 to 135 gallons occupied.

The 80 inch length is the whole point of this model. The Companion is sized for the standard 60 inch tub alcove and the Escape is 72 inches long, but the Big4Two needs a bathroom that can give up 80 inches of wall length, so it is usually planned into a larger bathroom or a remodel rather than dropped into an existing alcove. Once it is in, that extra length is soaking room. The two-seat video tour makes the point that a true two-seater is exceptionally comfortable for one bather too, because you can put your feet up on the other seat like a recliner, and the Big4Two has the most room in the family for doing exactly that.

Plan around the occupied capacity rather than the 145 gallon unoccupied figure. Two bathers displace part of the water, so a shared bath uses somewhere in the 85 to 135 gallon range depending on the size of the people in it, and that range is what your hot water supply has to deliver in a single fill.

The Outward-Swinging Door and the Deck

The Big4Two uses an outward-swinging door made of plastic composite and tempered glass, closed by Ella's 3-latch gear and shaft mechanism. It shares that door with the Tub4Two, while the Companion and the Escape use the inward-swinging brushed stainless steel door. The outward swing keeps the door out of the bathing space, but it needs clear floor space in front of the tub to open, so check the room in front of the tub as carefully as the wall behind it. Two-Seat Tubs on Video shows both door styles across the family. As with every Ella tub, the threshold is low and the floor is textured.

The rest of the tub is listed on the spec sheet as follows:

• A gloss white acrylic shell reinforced with fiberglass gelcoat, on a stainless steel frame with adjustable leveling legs.
• A removable front apron with two access panels and one reversible end panel, which is how your installer reaches the pumps after the tub is in place.
• A chrome-finish stainless steel wall-mounted grab bar.
• Two 2 inch four-port PVC drains with two end caps, two overflows, and two stainless steel cable-operated openers with extended chrome handles. The house drain can connect to either or both ports, and the drains install in either direction.

Two drains means two drain plugs and two openers on the deck, one for each seat, which is what Ella calls Dual Drain Technology. If the labels on the brochure drawing are unfamiliar, the brochure callout map explains every part on a Big4Two drawn with the Air plus Hydro option.

Three Pumps and One Control Pad

Each seat gets its own share of every system, so the Big4Two carries three separate pumps plus the light:

• Seat hydro massage. A 9 amp, 1250 watt pump feeds 16 upper seat jets, 8 on each seat, with an intensity dial to adjust jet strength. It runs from the digital controller.
• Independent foot and calf massage. A separate 7 amp, 1000 watt pump drives 4 foot jets and 4 calf jets on its own on/off push control, with a 6 amp, 800 watt in-line water heater and ozone sterilization rated at 0.04 amps. Because the foot circuit has its own pump, you can run a foot and calf massage without filling the whole tub, which is what the independent foot massage video on this page shows.
• Three-speed air massage. A 4.5 amp, 500 watt three-speed pump feeds 18 seat jets, 9 on each seat, plus 4 foot jets, controlled from the digital controller. Auto Purge starts on its own 20 minutes after the air pump is turned off and runs for 120 seconds to blow residual water out of the air lines. It cannot be stopped, and it is normal even if it begins while you are still in the tub.
• LED chromatherapy. A multicolor 0.5 amp LED bulb on a transformer, switched from the digital control pad.

The brochure drawing breaks the jets down by where they reach you: back hydro jets and hip and thigh hydro jets in each seat, upper and lower air jets, bidet air jets in the seat, and foot hydro jets in each footwell. It also shows the single Digital Push Control that runs hydro, the three air speeds, the light and the foot jets, with the hydro intensity dial beside it. That one pad in place of separate buttons is the main operating difference from Ella's single-seat tubs.

Two options are listed for the Big4Two: the MicroBubble Therapy System, which adds a 1 horsepower, 7.3 amp pump with a pressure vessel, an agitator valve and its own on/off push control, and a heated seat and backrest. The accessory video on this page shows the other add-ons: a four-fold glass screen combined with a three-fold screen as an alternative to a shower curtain, dual rain shower heads that give a soft rain shower at both ends of the tub so one bather can stand while the other sits, and dual extendable multi-function hand showers.

Faucets, Showering and Electrical

People searching for a Big4Two walk-in shower are usually asking whether the tub can be used to shower, and it can. The spec sheet lists two two-piece fast-fill faucets, one for each end, each with a pull-out chrome hand shower on a 5 foot retractable stainless steel braided hose. The fill rate is designed for up to 16 gallons per minute at 60 PSI with ideal in-home plumbing, the hand shower is limited to 1.9 gallons per minute, and each faucet comes with two 5 foot supply lines with 3/4 inch connectors. Shut-off valves are not included. The faucet installs through a 2-1/2 inch hole with a 7/8 inch hole for the hand shower, so your plumber should have the spec sheet in hand before cutting anything. With the optional dual rain shower heads, both ends get an overhead shower as well.

Every pump runs on 115 volt, 60 hertz power, and the spec sheet requires dedicated GFCI protected lines with all fixtures on a dedicated GFCI outlet or GFCI breaker. A licensed electrician does that work, and with three pumps plus a heater, the electrical plan should be settled before the tub is ordered rather than on installation day.

How It Compares with the Other Two-Seat Tubs

The Big4Two and the Escape hold the same amount of water, but they spend their room differently. The Escape puts it into seat width, so it suits broad-shouldered bathers, while the Big4Two puts it into length, so it suits bathers who want leg room and a lounging position. If your bathroom is built around a 60 inch alcove, the Companion is the two-seater made for it. If you want the inward door in a large tub, look at the Escape. The Big4Two is the choice when the length is available and you want the biggest shared soak Ella makes, with two independent faucets and hand showers as part of the package.

Watch: Big4Two: 2 Person Walk-In Tub Accessories For Couples | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Your Two-Seat Tub Owner's Manual, Section by Section (Tub4Two, Companion, Escape, Big4Two)
• Installing the Two-Seat Family, Part 1: Delivery, Toe Kick Plates, Water Test and Leveling (Tub4Two, Companion, Escape, Big4Two)
• What the Two-Seat Full Package Schematic Shows: Two Foot Pumps, Two HSB Boxes and Three Dedicated Lines (Companion, Escape, Tub4Two, Big4Two)

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