In this blog, I answer one of our customers’ most frequently asked questions about Bentley Baths Medical Hydrotherapy® walk-in tubs, namely, how to deal with a potentially cold tub while waiting for it to fill and empty. From time to time I will answer more such questions in this forum.
Name: Shoshana
Question: Will I freeze my ass off waiting for a Bentley Baths® Medical Hydrotherapy® walk-in bathtub to fill and drain?
The Big Fill
Answer: Hi Shoshana. These are serious “quality of life issues”. A bather must wait in the water well for the tub to fill and also to drain. Water pressure is a factor, but so long as a customer has normal city water pressure, we can do a good job. But your specific question relates more to the user experience – it would indeed be a cold wait on either end of the process, even if only for a few minutes. That’s why we suggest having us install a heating lamp over the tub in the bathroom at the same time we put in your new walk-in bathtub. That way you can turn on the lamp 10-15 minutes prior to getting into the tub. By the time you sit down your seat will be toasty warm.
Draining the Swamp
As for the second part of your question, draining is the opposite of filling, obviously, but the issue is only slightly different. You want an ADA compliant steel cable operated rapid flow drain system (very few manufacturers use these but, of course, we do). This should drain in 3-4 minutes depending on your specific sewer system functioning properly. Our suggestion is to wait to use soap and/or shampoo until just before you’re ready to exit the tub. Then you can start the draining process, soap up, and use the hand-held shower wand to sluice away the soap and shampoo while the tub drains. It will almost certainly take you longer to wash your hair than it does to empty the tub!
One of the last tasks our installers do on the job site is to teach our customers how to use the fill and drain times to their benefit, and to remain comfortable while doing so. We rarely have anyone express any later concerns if he or she follows our guidelines.
Please let me know if this was helpful, and how we might be of further service. My mother taught me that “the only stupid question is the one you don’t get answered!” We look forward to helping you.
Best regards, George.
For more information about this and all of our other products, please don’t hesitate to call us at 303-388-8887 or email me personally at George@BentleyBaths.com.
Stay tuned for the next installment of the Bentley Baths blog, in which I continue the discussion of cutting-edge techniques that are used to help rejuvenate both body and mind as we age.
