We bought this companion walk-in tub because my wife was having trouble getting in and out of our old tub. We also wanted the hydro-therapy massage jets. We have been enjoying it now for about a week and I must say that it has met all my expectations.
I Installed this tub myself. I don't recommend it unless you have experience with construction, electrical, and plumbing. I had 30 years of this experience before I retired and feel that I was qualified to do the job.
This tub is big. It's heavy, and hard to maneuver. Plan on having lots of help getting it from the delivery truck to wherever you need to put it. I had 5 people helping me and it was still a struggle, but then, we did have to get it up a few stairs. When you set it in place, it HAS to be level and the floor has to be able to hold the weight of the tub, water, and occupant(s) of the tub.
If you are not handy with electrical and plumbing, you need to hire qualified people to do the work for you. The tub requires a 120 Volt 30 AMP dedicated circuit. That means running #10 wire from your electrical panel to the tub. Not only that, but it needs to be fed from a 30 AMP GFCI circuit breaker. It's pretty easy to find a 15 AMP or 20 AMP GFCI, but 30 AMP is not common. It also has to be rated to work in your electrical panel. That means that it needs to be the same brand or rated to work with the brand of your panel. In my case, I got lucky and found a new unused one on ebay.
The plumbing is pretty straightforward. The tub comes with braided hoses and 3/4" fittings. They are color coded for hot and cold, so you shouldn't get them mixed up. If you are replacing an existing tub, you may even be able to re-use your existing water lines and shut-off valves. The tub comes with 4' hose extensions that you can use if you need them. The biggest problem with the plumbing is the drains. There are 2 of them, both 2-inch. The tub comes with 2 90-degree PVC elbows with swivel fittings to tie into the drain. Be very careful with these, this is another uncommon item. If you damage or lose them, you will probably have to get replacements from Ellas Bubbles. If your waste pipe is ABS like mine, you will need to get threaded adapters because you can't glue ABS directly to PVC. The most difficult part for me was actually connecting the PVC elbows to the tub. There is very little room under the tub to make the connection. I also had to run the two drain lines into a wye and tie them both into my existing 1-1/2 inch waste pipe. I was concerned about doing this, but the installation manual said it was ok. In fact, this tub holds more water than my old tub did and it still drains faster than the old one (about 90 seconds). I was very pleased.
The next project will be to replace my 18 year old 40-gallon water heater with a new 80-gallon one. The old heater manages to fill the tub up to the bottom of the seats before running out of hot water. Another 8 or 10 gallons of tepid water gets the level above the water jets so we can turn on the pump (and thus the tub heater) so the tub stays warm while the water heater recovers enough to finish filling the tub. This was not unexpected. If your water heater is less than about 60 gallons, you will probably also have to get a larger one in order to enjoy this tub.
| Color | White |
|---|---|
| Material | Acrylic |
| Brand | Ellas Bubbles |
| Product Dimensions | 60"L x 32"W x 40"H |
| Style | Air and Hydro |
| Finish Type | Brushed |
| Item Weight | 220 Pounds |
| Installation Type | Drop-In |
| Capacity | 100 Gallons |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Manufacturer | Ella's Bubbles |
| Part Number | 93085 |
| Item Weight | 220 pounds |
| Item model number | 93085 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Size | 30"x 60" |
| Finish | Brushed |
| Voltage | 120 Volts |
| Wattage | 1.5 KW |
| Horsepower | 1.50 |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Special Features | Integrated SeatIntegrated Seat |
| Included Components | Companion Walk-in Tub, Thermotstatic Faucet, Inward Swing Door, Center Dual 2" Drains, Air and Hydro Massage Jetting |
| Batteries Included? | No |
| Batteries Required? | No |
