What Electrical Wiring and Breaker Does an Ella Walk-In Tub Need?

Every Ella walk-in tub with pumps needs its own dedicated 20 amp, 120 volt GFCI protected circuit for each labeled power cord, installed by a licensed electrician and shared with no other appliance. The number of circuits follows the therapy package rather than the model name, from no outlet at all on a plain soaking tub to three lines on the ShaK, the Big4One and the two seat tubs with the full package. The ground fault protection itself is explained in What Is a GFCI for a Walk-In Tub?, and this page gathers the wiring, breaker and outlet requirements in one place for you and your electrician.

The Rule Behind Every Ella Electrical Plan

Ella labels every electrical line at the production facility, so each cord leaving the equipment compartment carries a sticker. On a two line tub the stickers read Line 1 20 Amp and Line 2 20 Amp. Each labeled cord equals one dedicated 20 amp, 120 volt circuit with ground fault protection, and that circuit may not be shared with a bathroom outlet, a light, a fan or any other appliance. The breaker box must use GFCI protected breakers, or the protection can sit at the receptacle instead. One GFCI device per circuit, at the breaker or at the receptacle, is sufficient, so there is no need to double up protection in both places.

The reason the standard is 20 amps is the load. On a hydro package the pump and the in line heater run together, and a 15 amp line can overload when both draw current at once. The published guidance is that a 15 amp line can work on some lighter packages, but 20 amps is the published standard. Two exceptions are spelled out: the Flow is the one Ella tub specified at 15 amps, and a soaking tub whose only electrical item is the heated seat and backrest needs a 15 amp, 120 volt GFCI protected line because it has no pumps.

How Many Circuits Your Package Needs

Count the labeled cords on your tub, or read the package sheet packed with it. Each cord is one dedicated circuit. The table lists the published line counts by therapy package.

What the table means in practice is that two tubs of the same model can have different electrical requirements. A tub ordered with hydro only needs one line, and the same model ordered with hydro plus microbubble needs two, so settle the therapy package before the electrician plans the panel. If you want no electrical work at all, a soaking package has gravity drains, no pumps and no controls, so there is nothing to plug in. The trade off is that the in line water heater belongs to the hydro system, so a soaker has no heater and the bath is as warm as the water you fill it with. That choice is covered in Does a Soaking Walk-In Tub Need Electrical Wiring or Keep the Water Warm?, and the model by model counts are in How Many GFCI Circuits Does My Walk-In Tub Need?.

Where the Outlets Go and What Plugs into Them

Place the receptacles under the seat area, inside or directly behind the equipment compartment, so the pump and heater cords reach without extension cords. Installers often put the GFCI receptacle inside the equipment compartment so it can be reset without opening the tub. Check the plug type before the electrician buys receptacles, because some master control boxes carry a 20 amp plug with one blade turned sideways, which needs a 20 amp receptacle. Keep other appliances at least 3 feet from the tub.

Small details on the diagram matter. On a hydro tub with chromatherapy, the short power cable for the LED control box plugs into the same circuit as the hydro pump on Line 1, but into the other receptacle of the duplex outlet. Every jetting configuration has its own published electrical diagram, found on the Therapy Options tab of your model's page at ellasbubbles.com, and the team will email it on request; Can I Get an Electrical Diagram or Parts List for My Tub? explains how to find the one that matches your package. Ella has no factory wiring diagram for the inside of the tub, because internal wiring is done by the assemblers, and the published diagram covers what an installer needs on site.

What to Give Your Electrician Before Rough in

1. Your model, serial number and therapy package. The package is on your invoice or proposal, and the serial label sits behind the magnetic access panel next to the door.
2. The electrical diagram for that package, downloaded from the Therapy Options tab or emailed by the team.
3. The line count from the table above, so the panel has the right number of GFCI protected breakers or GFCI receptacles.
4. The outlet location: under the seat area, inside or directly behind the equipment compartment.
5. The plug type, so a 20 amp plug with a sideways blade meets a 20 amp receptacle.

Ella does not send technicians. A licensed electrician does the wiring, and the technical support staff answers questions you or your installer have along the way. A dedicated GFCI breaker is one of the items your installer initials on the warranty activation checklist, so keep that paperwork with your tub documents. The video on this page walks through the same requirements, showing the labeled components, the dedicated GFCI protected outlets and breakers, and where on the website the amperage and line counts for each jetting package are listed.

If the GFCI Trips After Installation

A tub that trips only when everything is running is describing an overload: a 15 amp line where 20 was specified, a circuit shared with another outlet, or two labeled cords plugged into one line when the package calls for two. A tub that trips with the pumps unplugged from the control box points at the control box or its cord. Press the test button on the GFCI. If it fails to trip on test or will not reset, leave the power off, because ground current or a device fault is a shock hazard that an electrician must correct before the tub is used. Check for water under the tub as well, since a damp outlet trips a GFCI on its own. The full order of checks is in Why Does the GFCI Trip When the Jets Turn On?.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles: Proper Electrical Installation For Your Walk-In Tub with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Common Electrical Questions: 15 or 20 Amps, One Circuit or Two, GFCI at the Outlet or the Breaker, Cord Labels and Diagrams
• Breaker or GFCI Keeps Tripping: Circuit Sizing, Component Loads, and When to Stop Using the Tub

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