How high should you fill a walk-in bathtub before your bath?

Fill a walk-in tub until the water is above the highest jets and never above the center of the drain handle. You are seated inside with the door closed and locked while it fills, so you watch the level rise around you and shut the faucet exactly where you want it, above the jets but comfortably below the drain handle. How do you fill a walk-in tub after you get in? prints the complete sequence; this page explains the two limits, why you sit in the tub while it fills, and what to expect during the short waits at both ends of the bath.

The Two Limits: Above the Highest Jets, Below the Drain Handle

The lower limit protects the therapy systems. Before you run any hydro or air massage, the water has to cover the highest jets in the tub, so the fill is never finished until every jet is under water. The upper limit is the center of the drain handle, and the manuals are firm about it: never fill above that point. Between those two marks the choice is yours. Because you are already seated, your body displaces part of the volume and the level rises around you, which means you reach the jets sooner than the unoccupied capacity would suggest and you can stop exactly where the soak feels right.

One fill has a fixed height. Before first use, and then once a month, fill the tub with water to one inch above the highest jets, add a mixture of 2 cups of white vinegar and 2 cups of water, run the tub for 10 minutes, then drain. Flushing after every bath is not necessary.

Why You Sit in the Tub While It Fills

Yes, you sit in a walk-in tub while it fills. The door is part of the tub wall, it only seals once it is closed and locked, and it must stay closed for as long as there is water inside. Never enter a tub with water in it. The order is the same every time:

1. If your tub has the heated seat and backrest, press the heater button before you get in so the surfaces have time to warm.
2. Step into the empty tub and sit fully in the seat with your back on the backrest.
3. Close and lock the door. On an inward-swing door, keep your feet and knees clear of the door's path as it closes.
4. Close the drain completely. Most Ella tubs have two 2-inch gravity drains, and each drain handle should be fully closed before the faucet is opened.
5. Set the water temperature before the water reaches you. The manuals warn that water above 100.4 F may be harmful, so adjust the mix at the faucet first.
6. Fill until the water is above the highest jets, and never above the center of the drain handle.

The wait is short. Ella pairs its seated tubs with a fast-fill faucet rated 16 GPM on the 2-piece set and 18 GPM on the 5-piece set at ideal home plumbing, and the fill page puts the Ella faucet at a fill rate of about 16 gallons per minute. The glossy acrylic shell acts like an insulator, and the optional heated seat and backrest keeps the surfaces you sit and lean on warm through the fill. It switches itself off after 20 minutes, and one press of its keypad restarts it. Walk-In Tub Versus a Regular Bathtub explains why this fill-and-drain order is the single biggest change from a conventional tub, and How Do You Use a Walk-In Bathtub Step by Step? puts the whole bath in sequence.

How Much Water It Takes to Reach That Level

Because you are in the tub during the fill, the amount of water you actually need is the occupied figure, not the unoccupied capacity printed for the shell. Most standard-size Ella walk-in tubs hold 65 to 107 gallons unoccupied, and you will typically use 30 to 75 gallons per bath once you are seated. The largest models, such as the ShaK, Escape and Big4Two, hold up to 145 gallons unoccupied. Filling only to just above the highest jets uses the least water and the least hot water, while filling toward the drain handle gives the deeper soak, so the fill height is also your water-use control.

The Exception: The HomeCare Tub Fills from a Tank

The one Ella tub that changes the waiting is the HomeCare Transfer Bathtub, model HC3260L or HC3260R. It has an 80 gallon internal tank that pre-heats water, so once the bather is seated and the door is closed, the fill button moves the pre-heated water into the tub in about 90 seconds. It is designed for caregiver-supervised bathing only, never for self-bathing, and the point of the tank is that the bather is not left sitting in an empty tub while it slowly fills. It drains in about 150 seconds and the tank refills in about 11 minutes for the next bath. What Is the HomeCare Transfer Bathtub? covers the keypad and the caregiver sequence.

At the End: Drain First, Then the Door

Turn the therapies off, then open the drain while you are still seated and leave the door alone. On an inward-swing door the water itself presses the door into its seal, so it will not open until the tub has drained, which is by design. With both 2-inch gravity drains open the level drops fast: Ella's video on staying warm puts it at approximately 80 seconds for an average size tub under ideal conditions, and the general figure is two minutes or less once the tub is connected to a proper 2-inch drain line. Once the water is gone, open the door fully, stand up with the grab bar, and step out over the low threshold. How do you get out of a walk-in tub safely after your bath? walks through that exit. If your tub fills far slower than the faucet rating suggests, or the drain takes much longer than two minutes, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850 with your model name and a timed fill.

Related Guides

• What Size Water Heater Do I Need for My Walk-in Tub?
• How long does it take to fill a walk-in tub?
• How Much Water Before Turning On the Jets: Fill Levels for Hydro, Air, Foot, and Microbubble

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