What size walk-in tub fits a five foot or six foot person?

For a bather around five feet tall, the Ella walk-in tubs to compare first are the ones built on the lower 35 inch platform, the Petite, Elite and Royal, along with compact models such as the Flow, while a bather around six feet or taller fits the long-seat Big4One and ShaK, or the LayDown 32x72 for a full-length recline. Height alone never picks the tub, though: your seated hip width, shoulder width and head-to-feet length decide the fit, and a tub sized for a tall bather can be uncomfortable for a shorter one. What size walk-in tub fits a six-foot-tall person? covers the tall end in detail; this page puts both heights side by side so a household with one of each can compare.

Measure Yourself Before You Look at Tub Sizes

Ella's measuring video does not ask how tall you are. It asks you to sit in a chair facing a wall, in a relaxed position, and take three measurements:

1. Your hips while seated. The tub seat must be wider than this number.
2. Your shoulder width while seated, so the tub has the proper shoulder room for your body size.
3. Your length from head to feet while seated, to gauge the tub length that fits you.

Compare those numbers with the drawings and specifications for each model, and be exact, because different body sizes require different size tubs. Ella seat widths run from 19 inches on the Petite and Transfer26 to 29 inches on the TransferXXL, so the seated hip figure narrows the field quickly. Bigger is not automatically better: the extra-large tubs with very long seats are designed for taller bathers, and they can be uncomfortable for an average or shorter person.

Ella Walk-In Tubs by Size, from Shorter Bathers to Taller

What the differences mean: the first three rows are the natural short list for a bather around five feet, because they combine the lower 35 inch platform or the shortest seat length with narrow seats that suit a smaller seated hip measurement. The last three rows are the tall list, where the seat and the interior are long enough for a bather around six feet and up. The Deluxe and the Ultimate sit in between, giving an average to taller bather more legroom than the 52 inch tubs while staying at 30 inches wide. Read across a row rather than down the height column, because two tubs of the same height can carry very different seats.

If You Are Around Five Feet Tall

The shortest seated tubs, the Elite, Petite and Royal at 35 inches tall, carry the lower seat that shorter bathers often find easiest to settle into. The 19 inch seat on the Petite and Transfer26 is the narrowest Ella offers, and the Flow is the shortest seated tub front to back with the shortest seat length listed at 13 inches. A small footprint and a small seat do not always come together, so decide which matters more to you before you compare drawings. What is the smallest walk-in tub for a petite bather? lays out the compact models in one table.

Depth works in a shorter bather's favor. The soaking depth of an Ella walk-in tub is determined by three factors: the interior length of the tub, the length of the seat, and the depth from the top of the seat to the overflow drains. That seat-to-overflow figure runs roughly 15 to 18 inches across the mid-size models, and a tall bather with a long torso sits higher in the water than a shorter bather on the same seat, so a five foot bather sits lower and deeper in the same tub. Water rises to the overflow and then runs out, so the published depth is the real depth you can fill to; How Deep Is the Water Really in a Walk-In Tub? shows how to read that figure and how to compare it with your seated torso length.

If You Are Around Six Feet Tall or Taller

The Ella tubs built with long seats and long interiors are the Big4One and the ShaK. The Big4One is 33 1/8 inches by 66 inches with a 24 inch seat and an outward-swing U-shape door for a wide entry, and it holds 127 gallons unoccupied and 75 to 100 gallons when occupied. The ShaK is 36 inches by 72 inches with an extra-wide 28 inch seat and a 145 gallon unoccupied capacity, and in Ella's video bathers up to 6 feet 10 inches fit comfortably. The wider two-seat models, the Escape and Big4Two, give a single tall bather an exceptional amount of room to stretch out with feet up on the second seat. If the room cannot take a 66 or 72 inch tub, the Deluxe offers 46.5 inches of interior length in a 55 inch footprint, and the Ultimate is the full-length 60 inch tub Ella's video presents for taller bathers. For lying down rather than sitting, the LayDown 32x72 has a 61 by 28 inch interior and a 15 inch soaking depth and fits bathers over six feet tall.

The same length that suits a six foot bather makes the Big4One and ShaK uncomfortable for an average or shorter person. If a shorter partner will share the tub, compare both sets of seated measurements against the seat width and the seat-to-overflow figure before you decide, rather than choosing the tub for the taller bather alone.

Tub Height Is Not the Same as Water Depth

The exterior height of a walk-in tub tells you little about fit, because you step through a door over a low threshold rather than climbing a wall. The Petite and Elite are 35 inches tall, the Ultimate is 35 3/4 inches, the Deluxe is 39 inches and the LayDown 30x60 is only 21 inches, yet what you feel is the seat height and the water around you. Ella's LayDown video makes the depth comparison plainly, 15 inches in the LayDown against 11 inches in a standard tub. How Tall Are Walk-In Tubs Compared to Standard Tubs? lists the heights by model. Weight is not a separate hurdle: Ella does not publish a single bather weight limit across the lineup, because every shell sits on a rustproof stainless steel frame that carries the load to the floor, and if you can sit comfortably inside the tub, the tub holds you. What is the best walk-in tub, and how do I compare models? takes the measurements on to door style and therapy options. For a fit check before ordering, send your model and your seated measurements through ellasbubbles.com/support, and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 will confirm.

Related Guides

• Seat sizes and soaking depth: how to measure yourself for a comfortable fit
• Interior Length, Seat-to-Overflow and Seat-to-Footwell by Model: The Soaking Depth Table

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