How warm does the walk-in tub heated seat get, and can I adjust it?

Ella does not publish a surface temperature for the heated seat and backrest, and the control has no temperature setting. The keypad turns the seat on with one press and off with a second press, the pads warm the seat and backrest gradually over 10 to 15 minutes, and the system shuts itself off after 20 minutes. It is a 4A radiant surface heater that warms the acrylic you sit and lean against rather than the bath water, as What Is a Heated Seat and Backrest on a Walk-In Tub? explains. This page covers what the control actually does, how to get the warmest seat on bath day, and where the warmth of the bath itself comes from.

What the Control Does, and What It Does Not Do

The heated seat has its own small keypad, separate from the therapy push buttons on the deck. Press it once and the seat activates. Press it again and the seat turns off. That is the whole control. No dial, no high and low setting, and no digital temperature readout is published for the heated seat on any Ella model, so there is nothing to turn up or down. The heated seat video shows exactly this: one push to start, a 10 to 15 minute head start before you enter, and an automatic shutoff after 20 minutes that one more push restarts.

Because the control is on and off only, the way you manage how warm the seat feels is timing rather than a setting. A seat switched on as you step in will still be warming while the tub fills. A seat switched on 10 to 15 minutes earlier is already at its working warmth when you sit down. On the invoice the option appears as HSB, and on the Standard and Zen platform the manual page for it is stamped optional and not included, so check your order if you are not sure the seat was added to your tub.

How the Seat Makes Heat

Radiant heater pads are sealed into the seat and the backrest and are driven by a heat box under the tub. The system is rated 4A, uses less energy than a light bulb, is hermetically sealed and splash resistant, and is made in the USA. Since it heats surfaces rather than water, it works whether the tub is empty or full, which is why it is useful during the fill at the start of the bath and after the drain at the end.

• The pads warm the acrylic gradually rather than instantly, so the first few minutes after pressing the button can feel like nothing is happening.
• The heat box and keypad are fed through the tub's control box on jetted tubs, and two-seat tubs carry a heat box and keypad for each seat, so each side is controlled on its own.
• A soaking tub whose only electrical item is the heated seat needs a 15A/120V line.
• The heated seat is completely separate from the in-line water heater that runs with the hydro jets. One warms the seat, the other holds the water temperature during hydro massage.

Getting the Warmest Seat on Bath Day

The order that gives the best first touch follows the fill sequence in How high should you fill a walk-in bathtub before your bath?, with the seat heater as the very first step.

1. Press the heated seat button 10 to 15 minutes before you plan to get in, so the surfaces warm while you get ready.
2. Step into the empty tub, sit fully in the seat with your back against the backrest, then close and lock the door.
3. Close every drain handle completely before you open the faucet.
4. Set the water temperature at the faucet before the water reaches you. The manuals warn that water above 100.4 F may be harmful, so the mix is set first and the seat heater has no part in that.
5. Fill until the water is above the highest jets and never above the center of the drain handle.
6. If the seat goes cool at about the 20 minute mark during a long soak, press the button once more to restart it.

Where the Warmth of the Bath Actually Comes from

The heated seat is one of four answers Ella gives to the question of staying warm, laid out in Will I Get Cold While the Tub Fills or Drains?. The fast-fill faucets shorten the wait, with a published fill range of 7 to 15 minutes depending on the tub size and your home's water supply. The glossy acrylic shell acts as an insulator and helps the inside walls hold a comfortable temperature. The in-line water heater, on hydro packages that include it, works with the water pump to maintain a consistent warm temperature while the hydro massage runs. And the heated seat warms the surfaces before and after the water is there. At the end of the bath, the dual 2 inch gravity drains empty an average tub in approximately 80 seconds under ideal conditions.

Two things the seat does not do are worth stating plainly. It does not warm the bath water, so fill hot from the faucet and let the in-line heater do its job during hydro massage. It also does not warm the air massage, which has no heating element at all. The air pump breathes the air under the tub, so a cold floor means cooler air at the jets, as Why Does the Air Massage Blow Cold Air? explains. A warm seat and backrest offsets the feel of that moving air, and warming the bathroom before the bath helps too.

When a Cool Seat Is a Fault Rather Than a Setting

Since there is no temperature setting, a seat that never seems warm enough is either still warming, already timed out, or not working. Give the pads the full 10 to 15 minutes. If the seat was warm and then went cool, time it: a cutoff at about 20 minutes is the normal shutoff, and one press restarts it. If the keypad shows no light, or the pads never warm after 15 minutes, or a keypad light flashes while the seat stays cold, follow Why Isn't My Heated Seat Working? and check the heat box and its cord at the dedicated port. On a two-seat tub where one side heats and the other does not, that side's heat box and keypad are the place to look. For a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support, or a call to your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, have your serial number, a photo of the keypad showing its light, and a photo of the heat box with its cords.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles: In-line Water Heater Maintains Comfortable Water Temperature with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Heated Seat and Back Not Warming Up: Checking the Control Box LED and the Button Prongs
• Heated Seat Not Warming Up: What to Check First and Which Parts Support Ships
• Heated Seat and Back: How It Works, Which Tubs Offer It, and How to Add It to Your Order

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