What is a heated bathtub and how does the heated seat work?

A heated bathtub, in Ella's lineup, means two different things, and it helps to separate them. Every Ella walk-in tub with a hydro massage package has an in-line water heater that holds your bath at the temperature you filled it, and the optional heated seat and backrest adds radiant warmth to the surfaces you sit and lean on, whether or not the jets are running. Because you sit inside a walk-in tub while it fills, as How Do You Use a Walk-In Bathtub Step by Step? explains, the heated seat is the feature that keeps those first minutes comfortable.

Two Different Features Keep an Ella Tub Warm

When people ask whether a walk-in tub is heated, they are usually picturing one of two things, and Ella tubs can have both.

• The in-line water heater. Tubs with a hydro massage package include an in-line heater that turns on and off with the hydro pump. It only maintains the temperature you filled the tub with, so it will not warm up water that started out cool, and it does nothing while the hydro massage is switched off. Your home water heater decides how hot the bath is.
• The heated seat and backrest. This is an optional add-on with radiant heating built into the seat and the backrest. It warms the acrylic you sit on and lean against rather than the water, and it works whether or not the jets are running, so it can be warm before a drop of water is in the tub.

The two features do different jobs, and the heated seat is the only one of the two that warms you before the water arrives. If a bath cools down, the cause is the fill temperature or a hydro massage that is not running, never the heated seat.

How the Heated Seat and Backrest Works

The heated seat and backrest uses radiant heating built into the seat and the backrest of the tub, so the warmth comes up through the surfaces that touch your body. There is nothing to program and no temperature to choose. Operation is a single button on the tub deck:

1. Press the button once and the heated seat activates.
2. For the most comfort, turn it on 10 to 15 minutes before you get into the tub, so the seat and backrest are already warm when you sit down.
3. The heated seat turns itself off automatically after 20 minutes. That is by design, not a fault.
4. If you would like it back on, press the button once more and the cycle starts again. Pressing the button while it is running turns it off.

The short video on this page is Ella's own demonstration of the option: one press to activate, a 10 to 15 minute head start before you enter, and the automatic shutoff after 20 minutes with a second press to restart. Because the heating is in the seat rather than in the water loop, it does not depend on the hydro pump or on the water level, and it runs the same whether the jets are on or off.

Where It Fits in the Fill-And-Drain Sequence

A walk-in tub is used in a fixed order because the door is part of the tub wall and has to stay closed while there is water inside. You open the door, step over the low threshold, sit on the built-in seat, close the door, and only then fill. After the bath you open the drain, wait for the water to leave, then open the door and step out. That means you are seated in an empty tub at the start and again at the end, which is exactly where the heated seat earns its place.

Ella shortens both waits in other ways too. The fast-fill faucet is rated 16 GPM on the 2-piece set and 18 GPM on the 5-piece set at ideal home plumbing, the glossy acrylic shell acts like an insulator, and most models drain through gravity-driven dual 2 inch drains. Walk-In Tub Versus a Regular Bathtub walks through how that sequence differs from climbing into an open basin, and its video on staying warm shows the fast-fill faucets, the heated seat and the dual oversized drains working together. A practical routine looks like this:

• Press the heated seat button 10 to 15 minutes before your bath so the seat is warm when you sit down.
• Step in, sit, close the door, then open the faucet and fill hot. The heated seat keeps you comfortable during the fill.
• Once the water is above the highest jets, run the hydro massage if your tub has it, and the in-line heater holds the bath at the temperature you filled it.
• When you drain, the seat warmth helps again while the water leaves, and a second press restarts it if the 20 minutes have run out.

Heated Seats on Two-Seat Tubs

On Ella's two-seat tubs, the Companion, the Escape, the Tub4Two and the Big4Two, the heated seat option is duplicated for each bather. With the option, each seat has its own heater box and its own keypad: a Heat Keypad and an HSB (heated seat and back) box for each side, each box driving the surface heater pads on that seat. One bather can have a warm seat while the other leaves theirs off. That is different from the air massage, the seat and back hydro jets and the LED chromatherapy light, which run from one digital controller shared by both bathers. Can each bather in an Ella two-seat tub control their own therapies? lays out the full split between per-seat and shared equipment.

Ella's two-seat walkthrough videos make the same point from the bather's side: these are true two-seat tubs with two separate seats, each with its own jets and the same heated seat, rather than an extra-large single tub. The two-seat tubs on video page collects those walkthroughs, including the habit of kicking your feet up on the second seat when you bathe alone.

What to Know as an Owner

• The heated seat and backrest is an optional add-on. If you want it, settle that with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 as part of your order.
• It warms surfaces, not water. The in-line heater, which comes with hydro massage packages, is what holds the bath temperature, and only while the hydro pump runs.
• The 20 minute shutoff is normal. Press the button again to restart it.
• Preheating is the habit that makes the biggest difference: 10 to 15 minutes ahead of the bath.
• If the seat stops warming or the button does nothing, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your model and serial number and a note of which other functions still work, so the team can tell you the next step.

Watch: Heated Seat Option for Your Walk-In Tub: Relaxed Bathing | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Does the in-line water heater warm up my bath? What it does and does not do
• How the optional heated seat and backrest works, and why it turns off after 20 minutes
• Two-Seat Tub: Only One Side Massages, One Heated Seat Is Cold, or One Foot Well Has No Jets

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