What are the features and dimensions of the Ella Front Entry walk-in tub?

The Ella Front Entry is the shortest walk-in tub in the Ella lineup. Its actual size on the current spec sheet is 32 inches wide by 40 inches long by 40 inches high, with a 25 inch wide molded seat and an outward-swing U-shape door mounted on the 32 inch end, so you walk into the tub from its front rather than from its side. That end-entry layout is what lets it fit rooms that were never framed for a full tub, which is why it closes the list in Which walk-in tubs or tub shower combos fit a space 55 inches or shorter?

Dimensions, Weight and Water Capacity

These figures come from the Front Entry spec sheet dated 6/7/23, and the inch values are the authoritative ones.

• Actual size: 32 inches wide, 40 inches long, 40 inches high.
• Shipping size: 35 by 43 by 43 inches, so plan the route from the curb to the bathroom around the crate, not the bare tub.
• Net weight 200 pounds; shipping weight 280 pounds.
• Seat width 25 inches, with a seat length of 13.5 inches per the spec sheet.
• Water capacity 70 gallons unoccupied and 25 to 55 gallons occupied. The occupied figure is the water you actually use, because the tub fills after you are seated and your body displaces part of it; a smaller bather lands near the top of the range and a larger bather near the bottom.

What those numbers mean for your room: length is the dimension that disappears. A Front Entry needs 32 inches of width and only 40 inches front to back, but because the door is on the end you need clear floor in front of that end to stand and to swing the door open. The 40 inch height is tall for a tub this short, which is what gives it a seated soak rather than a shallow one. One caution on the sheet itself: the metric line prints the width as 815.34 cm, a typo for 81.34 cm, so quote the inch value when you talk to your contractor.

The Door on the End

The Front Entry belongs to the U-shape outward-swing family alongside the Capri, Monaco, Mobile, Lounger, Shak, Big4One, Tub4Two and Big4Two. Its door is plastic composite and tempered glass, it swings outward away from the tub interior, and it locks with a 3-latch gear and shaft mechanism. The door is on the end rather than on a side, and the tub is still ordered as a left-hand or a right-hand version, which sets the end the door, drain and faucet sit on as you face the tub. The door opens outward 165 degrees. Which Door Does My Ella Tub Have? compares all five Ella door styles if you want to see this one next to the stainless steel inward door.

The outward door video on this page shows the gear and shaft lock in action: rotating the handle drives tapered pins into the jamb, so the seal is as tight when the tub is full as when the door is first closed, and engaging and disengaging the handle stays easy. The low threshold video shows the step-in height and the textured slip resistant floor that every Ella walk-in tub shares, including this one.

Front Entry Next to the Other Outward-Door Tubs

If you are searching for a compact tub with an outward door, the Front Entry is one of several candidates. The table uses actual sizes where the spec sheets print them and nominal sizes where they do not, and it marks figures the sources do not give.

Two things stand out. The Front Entry has the widest seat in this group at 25 inches even though it has the shortest basin, so it suits a bather who wants seat room more than leg room. If the question is a longer basin behind an outward door, the answer in this group is the Transfer60, while the TransferXXL adds width rather than length. The Monaco also uses an out-swing U-shape door, but its current dimensions are not in these sources, so ask the team for its spec sheet before comparing it. The Mobile is the other compact U-shape tub in the table, and it trades the Front Entry's width and seat for a narrower doorway fit. The transfer tub size ranking covers the L-shape models in more depth.

Therapy Packages, Standard Features and Options

Every Front Entry starts with the Soaking build: an acrylic shell in gloss white, fiberglass gelcoat reinforced, on a stainless steel frame with adjustable leveling legs, the outward swing door, two access side panels, and the drain assembly. The drain is one of this model's differences from most of the line. The Front Entry has a single 2 inch 2-port PVC drain with one end cap, two overflows, and two stainless steel operated openers with extended handles in chrome, where most Ella tubs carry two drains. The faucet is the 2-piece set: up to 16 GPM at 60 PSI under ideal in-home plumbing conditions, two 5 foot 3/4 inch water supply lines, and a pull-out hand shower in chrome with a 5 foot retractable stainless steel braided hose. Shut-off valves and PVC drain connections are not included.

Jetting is offered four ways, numbered on the sheet as printed:

• Air + Hydro. Hydro pump 7A with an intensity dial air control, 13 jets (11 seat jets and 2 calf jets), in-line water heater 6A 650W, and ozone sterilization at 0.04A, plus a 3 speed air pump at 4.5A 500W with 16 jets (10 seat jets and 6 foot jets) and auto-purge that activates 20 minutes after pump shutdown.
• Hydro Massage + Microbubble. The hydro system above plus a 1 HP microbubble pump at 7.3A, a pressure vessel, an agitator valve and its own on/off push control.
• Hydro Massage. The hydro system alone.
• Soaking. No jets.

Two things the sheet rules out: no Front Entry package includes the LED chromatherapy light, and there is no Hydro + Hydro Foot option for this model. Optional features are the heated seat and backrest and the digital controller. Every electrical fixture connects to a dedicated GFCI protected outlet or GFCI protected circuit breaker at 110/120V 60Hz, and the sheet writes line(s) in the plural, so packages with more than one pump can call for more than one dedicated line. Share your package choice with your electrician early. The sheet also warns that the AMP value for each pump may change based on availability, so confirm current figures with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before purchase. The warranty is the lifetime limited warranty on shell, frame and door plus a 5-year parts warranty on supporting equipment, to the original purchaser and address. Labor and installation are not covered, and a local licensed plumber and electrician do the work.

If You Searched for the Ella Deluxe

Searches for the Front Entry often arrive alongside searches for the Ella Deluxe, and the two are very different tubs. The Deluxe is a 30 by 55 inch nominal tub, 29.5 by 55 by 39 inches actual, built for deeper, more upright soaking, and it has the stainless steel inward-swing door rather than an outward door. It is the model to look at when your opening is exactly 55 inches. Walk-in Tub Model Highlights profiles the Deluxe alongside the Longer, Monaco and Transfer XXL. If you are still deciding whether a walk-in tub suits the bather at all, What is a walk-in tub and who is it designed for? covers the basics first.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tub's Low Threshold, Easy Entry Makes Bathing Safer with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Outward U-Door Tubs on Video: Capri, Monaco, Lounger, Front Entry, Mobile, Big4One and ShaK
• How does the outward U-shape door latch and seal against the water?
• Planning Floor Space for the Outward-Swing Door: The 165 Degree Swing Envelope

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