Document And Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Nov. 06, 2018
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Registrant Name	Ellington Financial LLC
Entity Central Index Key	0001411342
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Small Business	true
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		30,013,574