Does Ella Make a Walk-In Tub With a Seat That Raises and Lowers?

No. Ella's Bubbles does not make a walk-in tub with a seat that raises or lowers. Every Ella walk-in tub is built around a fixed seat and a low step-in threshold, so there is no powered seat, no lowering function and no lift-up or drop-down door. Does Ella Offer Auto Fill or Emergency Lowering Features on Walk-In Tubs? explains why those powered features are absent, and this page covers what Ella offers instead for a bather who transfers from a wheelchair or needs the lowest possible step.

What a Fixed Seat Means in Practice

A seat that raises or lowers belongs to powered bathing systems, where a control fills the tub to a preset level on its own and a powered seat lowers or raises the bather. Ella walk-in tubs take a different approach. You open the door, step over a low threshold, sit on a seat that stays at one height, and bathe seated. You can shower safely while seated, enjoy a hydro foot massage, or take a full body air and hydro massage, depending on the therapy package. Seat height, soaking depth and threshold height vary by model, and the published figures include a 23-inch seat on the Monaco and an oversized 24-inch seat on the Front Entry.

The seat can be warmed, even though it cannot move. The optional heated seat and backrest is shown in the video on this page: push the button once and the heated seat activates, turn it on 10 to 15 minutes before you enter the tub for maximum comfort, and it turns off automatically after 20 minutes. Push the button again if you would like it back on.

How Wheelchair Users Get in Without a Lift Seat

The bathers who most often ask about a lift seat are transferring from a wheelchair, and Ella answers that need with its Transfer models rather than with a moving seat. Wheelchair users usually transfer across the seat of a Transfer model rather than stepping over the lip, so on those tubs the L-shape door opening matters as much as the threshold height. The Transfer32 threshold is about 4 to 4.5 inches. If you are weighing a Transfer tub against a powered bathing system for a specific bather, talk with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 about how that person moves from chair to seat, because the transfer is done by the bather or a caregiver, not by the tub.

The Low Threshold Is the Accessibility Feature

Every Ella walk-in tub has a low step-in threshold, running roughly 3.5 to 7 inches depending on the model and how the drain is set up, compared with the 18 to 22 inch wall you would swing a leg over on a standard bathtub. Which Ella Walk-In Tubs Offer the Lowest Step-In for Seniors? lists the current lineup, lowest first:

• Monaco: 3 5/8 inches on the drawing, with a 23-inch seat and an outward-swinging U-shape door of PVC composite and tempered glass.
• Mobile: about 3 3/4 inches.
• Transfer32: about 4 to 4.5 inches, with the L-shape door for wheelchair transfers.
• Big4One and ShaK: about 5 inches.
• Ultra: about 6 inches.
• Elite: about 6.5 inches, and the Ultimate about 6 to 6.5 inches.

The Front Entry is a compact tub for a smaller bathroom that still provides an oversized 24-inch seat, an easy entry low threshold, a textured floor and an outward-swinging U-shaped door secured by a three latch gear and shaft mechanism. If you want to lie down rather than sit, the LayDown 30x60 and LayDown 32x72 let you recline at full length while stepping in through a low glass side door. The legacy S-Class came in 6 inch standard and 3 inch low-threshold versions.

Lowering the Step at Installation Instead

Because the seat does not move, the way to make entry easier on an Ella tub is to bring the threshold down. The threshold height is really the height of the tub floor above the finished bathroom floor. The tub sits on adjustable leveling legs, and the spec sheet drawing shows the factory frame height at the standard leg setting, so the drawing figure is the starting point and your installation decides the final height. What Is the Step-In Threshold on a Walk-In Tub? explains how the figure is measured.

• A recessed drain lets the tub sit lower, and a different leg setting raises or lowers the frame.
• Thresholds can be reduced to about 3 to 3.5 inches by setting the tub lower with the drain below the subfloor.
• Cutting the apron or end panel to make that work voids coverage on those altered panels only.
• After installation, keep every leveling leg touching the floor, because a leg that loses contact can warp the frame and throw the door out of alignment.

If a lower step matters, talk with your installer before the tub goes in. If you contact the team about threshold height, have your model name, your serial number and a tape measurement from the finished floor to the top of the lip.

Filling and Draining Without Powered Controls

The absence of a lift seat goes together with the absence of other powered bathing functions. Ella tubs fill through a deck-mount fast-fill faucet that the bather or a caregiver opens and closes: the 2-piece faucet flows 16 gallons per minute and the 5-piece faucet flows 18 gallons per minute, both with 5-foot supply lines, and fill time depends on the tub size and your home's water supply. Tubs equipped with an Ella thermostatic faucet package include a built-in thermostatic control valve that mixes hot and cold to the temperature you choose. That valve carries a 1-year limited warranty, and an inline filter or mesh must be fitted and cleaned periodically to protect the cartridge.

To get out, the bather opens the drain from inside the tub and the water leaves by gravity through 2-inch drain ports with an overflow. There is no pump drain to fail in an outage, and the door opens once the water is out. If a facility specification or grant checklist lists auto fill, emergency lowering or a powered seat, those items cannot be met with an Ella tub. Hydromassage can be met, since the Ella Standard and Standard60 ship as hydromassage tubs with 18 hydro jets and other models offer hydro and air packages. Automatic sanitizing can be met, because the ozone sterilization generator runs whenever the hydro system runs, and on air systems Auto Purge starts on its own 20 minutes after the air pump is turned off and runs for 120 seconds. A shower can be met with the pull-out hand shower on the 5-piece faucet, and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm shower column options for the model you are considering.

Related Guides

• How Do You Transfer From a Wheelchair Into an Ella Walk-In Tub?

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