Tell me about back-up sump pumps..

[Barbara]

Ok, found a weak point..got home yesterday to power outage and an inch of water on the basement floor.

I have well-water, so backup will have to be battery-powered.

Any features I should look for? I see some run on marine batteries, others run on specialized batteries.

I'm wondering if this isn't the first thing I should try to have converted to solar power.

[lwoper]

I just replaced my pump that went out doe to old age. I upgraded to a better pump with a battery backup, Not cheap but well worth it. I will get the name off the pump and post it. A plumber that i really trust reccomended this system. The kit comes with a battery box and a battery charger to keep the battery charged while the power is on and then when the power goes out an alarm comes on to let you know that your backup system is on.. The total system cost was like $350 and he got me a heck of a deal on it. here is a link to the pump i bought http://www.zoeller.com/ Hope this helps

[dave5339]

We had a sump pump with battery backup when we lived in the land of basements, (Kansas). Now that we live in the DFW area we have no need of a sump pump as they have yet to discover basements here.

We had a power outage one night during a heavy thunderstorm. Our battery backup for the sump pump was a deep cycle marine battery on a 12 volt trickle charger.

The lesson we learned was that when the power goes out, that battery will only drive the sump at maybe 1/4 of it's normal capacity.

If we'd not checked on it at 0'dark 30, we would have had a basement full of water. We ended up bucketing out water from the sump to help keep things under control, it was a less than fun several hours.

If I were to do it over again, I would have a much larger battery bank, something designed to at least operate the pump at something approaching maximum capacity. Either that, or I would have a generator handy.

Semper Fi

[lwoper]

second that dave5339 the battery back up is really just a crutch but it should get you by until you can fire up a generator. The battery back could at least buy you a little time.

[Sarge45]

Hello. This is actually my first post and I saw the opportunity to help so, here I go. Nice site, BTW.

There are actually water powered pumps which don't rely on electricity. These pumps work off of water supply pressure so power outtages are no problem. The link below is one example of a water powered pump. Typically more expensive but worth it. Thanks.

http://www.radonseal.com/pumps/water-powered-pumps.htm

[LOKNLOD]

Hello. This is actually my first post and I saw the opportunity to help so, here I go. Nice site, BTW.

There are actually water powered pumps which don't rely on electricity. These pumps work off of water supply pressure so power outtages are no problem. The link below is one example of a water powered pump. Typically more expensive but worth it. Thanks.

http://www.radonseal.com/pumps/water-powered-pumps.htm

That's pretty slick but may not be a good option for those on well water like the OP -- if you're relying on an electical pump to pull your water from the ground.

[Sarge45]

Well heck. If that's the only source of water, I guess you are absolutely correct.

[Barbara]

Yeah, not much help for me but others are probably going to read this and until last year, I wasn't aware that a backup system could be run off a municipal water supply...appreciate the input.

[lwoper]

i also saw those but i would have to do a lot of plumbing to get it to work, if it was a new construction or remodeling i would have jumped on that idea, guess the battery will have to do for now. It is gettin into the stormy season round here and we usually loose power out here in the stix

[Lightning Struck]

A better option is just get a generator. About 15 years ago I was coming back from Farm and Fleet with a new backup pump(we have two sumps in the house). After installing it, and running a hose, we had a power outage that lasted for roughly 20 hours. This was also accompanied with about 10 inchs of rain. I don't really want to do the math, but I doubt that a battery powered sump would have lasted long enough, or kept up with the water.
My solution probably isn't feasible for most, I bought a drawbar mounted generator and ran it off the PTO of one of my Farmall tractors. The generator puts out 10,000w rated, and is more than enough to power everything needed in the house. A more feasible solution to everyone, would be a self contained generator, with the proper wiring, to power all necessary circuits.
Another issue, especially if you have kids, is the fact that once your pressure vessel runs out of water/pressure, you'll be "roughing it" as far as the toilet is concerned. A generator solves that issue, if it's tied into the well pump.