Backup Sump Pump Systems and Battery Backup Pumps For a Dry Basement
Like any mechanical utility within your home, your sump pump can eventually fail. A sump pump contains moving parts that can wear out or malfunction over the years. This is why your backup sump pump is vital to your basement’s moisture problems.
The best way to make sure your home is protected from a sump pump failure is to make sure that you have a battery backup pump and secondary sump pump ready to operate in an emergency.
At Indiana Foundation Service, we install sump pump systems that are equipped to handle your basement water problem.
Battery Backup Sump Pump Systems
Common Battery Backup Designs
Sometimes, a homeowner will tie their sump pump system into their generator to keep it powered during outages. However, this only works if you are home (and awake) to turn the system on. Automatic systems typically cost $7,000-$10,000 to install. Because there is only one pump, you will have no secondary system to address heavy rains or primary pump failure.
Some sump systems include a battery that converts DC battery power into AC power to charge your primary pump. Transforming DC power to AC is a highly inefficient process, and these battery backup systems often lose their charge within an hour’s time. Because there is only one pump, you also will not be protected from pump failure or overwhelming water volume.
Water-powered sump pumps use your water supply to run your sump pump system. Thus, they can operate without power. Unfortunately, water-powered pumps pump very slowly and require you to have very high water pressure. They are also wasteful systems, discharging three to five gallons of good water for every gallons of groundwater pumped out of your home.
Battery Backup Sump Pumps use a battery and a separate battery-powered sump pump to operate. When a high-quality battery backup is installed, you can pump out thousands of gallons of water on a single charge. Once you have a second pump installed, you’re covered during sump pump failures and during overwhelming rains, as well as during power outages.
Sump pumps lose power for a variety of reasons. Aside from the obvious power failure, it’s possible for a circuit to trip, especially for pumps plugged into GFI outlets.
At Indiana Foundation Service, we’ve also seen many cases where the pump was unplugged by someone who needed to use the outlet, but forgot to plug the sump back into the outlet. In some situations, this has led to water damage to nearly everything stored in the basement.
We recommend installing the SafeDri™ Battery Backup System.
The SafeDri™ Battery Backup System can pump out an excess of 11,500 gallons of water on a fully charged battery— that’s enough water to fill a small swimming pool!
To alert you of power failure, the SafeDri™ Battery Backup System sounds an alarm when it runs and silences when the pump cycles off.
SafeDri™ Battery Backup System Specifications
- Long-Lasting Protection — The SafeDri™ Battery Backup System can outlast generic backup pumps many times over, pumping an incredible 11,500 gallons of water out on a single fully charged battery.
- Advanced Alarm System — The SafeDri™ Battery Backup System sounds off whenever the battery back up pump cycles on, letting you know so you can respond. Optionally, it hooks up to your home alarm system.
- Additional Battery Life — For added protection, an additional battery can be attached to a single SafeDri™ Battery Backup System, allowing for more than double the pumping time.
Backup Sump Pump Systems
If you have a primary sump pump and a battery backup sump pump, your basement is already well on its way to being protected.
However, if your primary sump pump fails due to mechanical failure, your basement waterproofing is only good as long as your battery backup can last. And if your sump pump is being overwhelmed due to an unusually high volume of water, it’s best to have a secondary sump pump that can kick in and help keep the water down.
What’s Keeping Your Basement Dry? | |||
| The Problem | Primary Sump Pump | Secondary Pump | Battery Backup Pump |
| Normal Rainfall |  |  | |
| Heavy Rain Overwhelms Primary Pump | | | |
| Complete Power Failure |  | | |
| Primary Pump Failure | | | |
| Primary & Secondary Pump Failure | | | |
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