What is the difference between the Ella Tub4Two and Companion tubs?

The Ella Tub4Two and the Ella Companion share one footprint, 32 by 60 inches, and both are true two-seat walk-in tubs with a molded seat at each end and jets at each seat. What separates them is the door and the seats. The Tub4Two has an outward-swinging U-shape door with a tempered glass panel in a white composite frame and a 3-latch gear and shaft lock, while the Companion has an inward-swinging brushed stainless steel door with frosted glass that lifts out for cleaning, and the Companion's seats are 23 and 25 inches wide against 20 and 22 inches on the Tub4Two. The same door split runs through the whole two-seat family, which What is the difference between the Ella Tub4Two and Big4Two? lays out from the size side.

The Four Two-Seat Tubs Side by Side

Ella builds four two-seat tubs in two footprints, and each footprint comes with one outward-door model and one inward-door model. The Tub4Two figures come from its current spec sheet, the Escape figures from its spec sheet and the Escape video, and the Companion and Big4Two figures from the published model guides. Where no figure is published, the cell says not listed.

What the table means: the Tub4Two and the Companion are the 60 inch pair, and the Escape and the Big4Two are the 36 inch wide pair, with the Big4Two the longer of the two. Within each pair the door decides. If the door has to swing in, the Companion or the Escape is the answer; if you want the white outward door, it is the Tub4Two or the Big4Two. Seat widths follow the model rather than the door, so a bather who wants more hip room in a 60 inch opening gets it from the Companion, and the widest seats of all are on the Escape.

Door Swing Is the Real Difference Between the Tub4Two and the Companion

The Companion only comes with the inward door. Its brushed stainless steel door with frosted glass swings into the tub and lifts out for cleaning, which is why the Companion is the pick when there is no floor space in front of the tub for a door to swing out into. If you want a white outward door in the same footprint, that tub is the Tub4Two. Its door is the U-shape outward-swing door of plastic composite and tempered glass, closed by the 3-latch gear and shaft mechanism, and it fits a standard 60 inch opening. One caution when reading paperwork: the Tub4Two spec sheet is titled for an outward swing door, and if a printed copy lists an inward swinging stainless steel door in its feature list, that line is a misprint. The Tub4Two door swings outward.

The same rule holds for the larger pair. The Escape does not come with an outward door; its custom crafted brushed stainless steel door is removable for easy cleaning, and the Escape video on this page shows that door along with the tub's two seats. The Big4Two is the outward-door tub at 36 inches wide, and the second video shows how its 80 inch length is used, with dual rain shower heads at both ends so one bather can stand while the other sits, and a four-fold glass screen that combines with a three-fold screen as an alternative to a shower curtain. Common Model Questions collects the door answers for all four models in one place.

Seats, Soaking Room and Water

The Tub4Two stands 40 inches tall, holds 100 gallons unoccupied and 65 to 85 gallons with two bathers in it, and weighs 230 pounds net and 325 pounds crated in a 34 by 62 by 50 inch crate. Its seats are 20 and 22 inches wide. The Companion's seats are 23 and 25 inches wide in the same 32 by 60 inch footprint, so the Companion gives both bathers a little more hip room behind its inward door. The Escape is the roomiest of the four for the bathers themselves: the video gives a full 27 inch wide seat on one side, 29 inches on the other and 60 inches of overall soaking length, and the spec figures are 145 gallons unoccupied, 85 to 135 gallons occupied, and 286 pounds net and 398 pounds crated. The Big4Two's seats are 22 and 24 inches wide, and its advantage is the 80 inch length rather than seat width. When you plan the path into the house, measure doorways and hallways against the crate rather than the tub.

What All Four Two-Seat Tubs Share

Every Ella two-seat tub is built around the digital controller and always includes at least one massage system, so there is no two-seat soaker among the Tub4Two, Companion, Escape and Big4Two. The controls split the same way on all four: each bather has their own foot hydro massage, driven by a separate pump with its own on/off button and intensity dial, and with the heated seat option each seat has its own heater box and keypad, while the air massage, the seat and back hydro jets and the LED chromatherapy light run from one digital controller shared by both bathers. Can each bather in an Ella two-seat tub control their own therapies? explains that split, and all four models appear in the Available On box of the Air + Hydro + Hydro Foot digital controller schematic.

The Tub4Two spec sheet shows what that equipment looks like on the 60 inch tub: a 9 amp hydro pump feeding 18 upper seat jets, 9 on each seat, from the digital controller; a 7 amp hydro pump for 4 foot and 4 calf jets with its own push control and a 6 amp 800 watt in-line water heater; a 4.5 amp three-speed air pump with Auto-Purge feeding 12 seat jets, 6 on each seat, and 6 foot jets; a 0.5 amp multicolor LED light; and ozone sterilization. Microbubble therapy and the heated seat and backrest are options. The two-seat family uses two 2 inch 4-port drains with two overflows and two cable-operated openers, which Ella calls Dual Drain Technology, and a 5-piece or 2-piece fast-fill faucet with a pull-out hand shower; the Escape video shows the twin two-piece set with dual hand showers. The two-seat brochure callout diagram names every jet group and control on a Big4Two.

Watch: Big4Two: 2 Person Walk-In Tub Accessories For Couples | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

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