Why Buy a Backup Sump Pump?
A backup sump pump, whether powered by batteries or your home’s water pressure, is an important component of many homes’ water damage prevention systems. Here’s why so many people rely on them.
Sump Pumps Can Fail
Although primary sump pumps are admirable workhorses, pumping through countless cycles over their lives, they do fail. This can occur for a variety of reasons:
- The pump motor could reach its limit, burning out from overuse.
- Individual components of the pump could break, disabling the pump. Without a functioning drive shaft, impeller, float switch, etc., your pump will be useless.
- Debris or mud in the sump could create a jam or clog the water intake. The float switch could also get stuck.
- The discharge line could get clogged or freeze, which would keep the pump from being able to discharge the sump pit water.
- Simple things could wreak havoc: The pump could get unplugged or de-activated from a tripped circuit breaker.
- Last, the power could go out. For some people this is an extremely rare event, while for others, it seems to happen every week. In either case, no power means no sump pump. And to make matters worse, the storms that cause power outages often also fill your sump pit with water.
Costs
When a sump pit overflows, flooding the basement, there can be severe consequences. Even unfinished basements, containing nothing of value, can suffer serious water damage, requiring expensive and time-consuming clean up. The results can snowball into disaster, when expensive finished basements and valuable family property are destroyed. Unfortunately, insurance companies sometimes restrict their coverage, or apply high deductibles, when water damage occurs due to groundwater, leaving homeowners shouldering huge repair bills on their own.
Compared to the cost of cleaning up and repairing water damage, backup sump pumps are a bargain - and that’s without factoring in the additional benefit of peace of mind.
Generators
Generators can be a lifesaver during power outages, especially when heavy storms are involved. However, when it comes to sump pits, generators do have drawbacks. Unless your generator is fully automatic (a very high end generator), you will need to be at home to run it. If you’re at work, running errands, or on vacation when the power goes out, your sump pit is unprotected until you get home.
In contrast, the backup sump pumps we sell (Basepump water powered sump pumps and Hydropump battery backup sump pumps) are fully automatic – they start pumping when needed, whether you are home or away.
Finally, if you have a generator to run your refrigerator and other essential systems in your home, it can be extremely helpful for that generator to not have to expend electricity keeping your basement dry. Having a backup pump allows the generator’s electricity to be diverted to the other critical items that it powers in your home.
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This article is intended for informational purposes. Before beginning any construction project at your home, please ensure that you take necessary safety precautions and consult construction professionals whenever necessary.