How Long Does the Ella HomeCare Tank Take to Reheat Between Baths?

The Ella HomeCare tank does not run a separate reheat cycle between baths. Its 80 gallon tank refills in about 11 minutes under ideal or normal plumbing conditions, and because the water enters through thermostatic mixing valves at the temperature the caregiver preset, the tank is ready for the next bath as soon as the refill stops on its own. What Is the HomeCare Transfer Bathtub? introduces the tub itself; this page covers only what happens between one bath and the next.

Refill, Not Reheat: What the Tank Is Doing

The published system description for the HomeCare 32x60, model HC3260L or HC3260R, lists the water tank system as a 9A 900W pump, an 80 gallon water storage tank, thermostatic mixing valves and an on-screen control panel. The feature list calls it a fast-fill 80 gallon water tank with thermostatic control that pre-fills at the set temperature. Nothing in the published description holds a tank of water at temperature after the fact. Instead, the caregiver sets the temperature, the mixing valves blend the home's hot and cold supply as the tank fills, and the fill stops automatically once the tank is full. The video on this page shows exactly that sequence: the temperature is preset to prevent scalding, the internal tank fills at that temperature with a touch of a button, and filling stops on its own once the tank is full.

That is why the wait between baths is a refill time rather than a reheat time. Once the tank has been emptied into the tub, the next bath is ready when the tank has refilled, and the figure the spec sheet publishes for that is 11 minutes.

The Timeline Between Two Baths

Put the published figures in order and the between-bath cycle looks like this.

1. The first bath ends and the tub drains in about 150 seconds under normal draining conditions.
2. The caregiver starts the tank fill. Tank filling and injection can never run at the same time, and starting one disables the other, so the fill button is out of play while the tank is refilling.
3. The tank refills in about 11 minutes and stops automatically at the set level.
4. The next bather is seated, the door is closed, and one press of the fill button moves the pre-heated water into the tub in about 90 seconds. The video shows the tub filling in less than 90 seconds and the water shutting off automatically once the tank is empty and the tub is full.

The spec sheet publishes the drain time and the tank fill time as separate figures, so plan on both rather than assuming they overlap. The tub itself holds 78 gallons unoccupied and 35 to 55 gallons occupied, so a single 80 gallon tank fill is sized for one bath, not two.

Why a Refill Can Take Longer Than 11 Minutes

The 11 minute figure carries a footnote: ideal or normal plumbing conditions. The tank draws from the same house supply as any other fixture, so the factors that stretch a walk-in tub's faucet fill also stretch the HomeCare tank refill. How long does it take to fill a walk-in tub? lists them: house water pressure, pipe size, the distance from the water heater to the tub, and hot water being used elsewhere at the same time. Three quarter inch supply lines with accessible shut-off valves are the recommendation.

Hot water supply matters at least as much here as on a faucet-filled tub. The same principle applies: a fast fill only helps if the water stays warm for the whole fill, and a tank fill draws up to 80 gallons of blended water. The team's general guidance for a walk-in tub is a 75 gallon or larger water heater, with the maximum capacity heater available for the house as the recommendation, and a tankless heater should be rated at 11 GPM or more. Ask your contractor to assess pressure, pipe runs and heater capacity before installation day, and again if refills between baths start running noticeably long.

Power is the other prerequisite. The HomeCare has two power cords: the grey cord powers the tank and the black cord powers the hydro pump, and both go to a 20A dedicated GFCI circuit. If the circuit feeding the tank cord has tripped, the tank will not refill at all, however good the plumbing.

The One Hour Shutoff and the Self-Draining Tank

Timing between baths also has an upper limit. The system shuts itself off after 1 hour, and one hour after it is off a drain solenoid empties any water left in the tank. A tank that drains itself is normal, not a fault. In practice this means a tank filled well ahead of a bath that is then delayed may need to be refilled from scratch, adding the 11 minute refill to the wait. For a care schedule with several bathers, start the refill as soon as the previous bath is finished, so the tank is ready without sitting full long enough to time out.

What This Means for Choosing the HomeCare

The HomeCare's advantage is where the waiting happens. On a Transfer tub or the HoistAssist, the tub fills from the home water heater through the faucet after the bather is seated, so the bather waits for the whole fill. On the HomeCare the roughly 11 minute wait happens while the bather is being prepared, and the seated bather waits about 90 seconds. Assisted Bathing Options Compared sets the systems side by side, and Which Ella Walk-In Tub Works With a Hoyer Lift or Patient Lift? covers the case where the household already has its own way of moving the bather. The HomeCare is designed exclusively for assisted bathing and its printed warning requires a caregiver or trained professional, so the refill is always managed by the caregiver, never the bather.

If the tank will not refill, or refills but will not inject, note which keypad light is lit, whether the tank was filling when the problem started, and the serial number, then open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850.

Watch: The Best Walk-In Tubs for Seniors in 2025 - Assisted Bathing Walk-In Tub | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Ella HomeCare 32x60 Transfer Tub: Assisted Bathing With a Pre-Filled Tank
• HomeCare 32x60 Troubleshooting: Tank Will Not Fill, Will Not Inject, Drains on Its Own, and What the Keypad Lights Mean

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