Back Up Battery to Plug in Sump Pump

Spring brings more than sunny days and blooming flowers. This is also the season of rapid snowmelt, swollen rivers, and frequent rainstorms that raise the groundwater table and floods basements and crawlspaces with alarming regularity. It takes only a couple of inches of standing water to ruin household items, cripple mechanical systems, rust metal fixtures, and rot wooden posts.

Any home that regularly experiences even the slightest water penetration into the basement or crawlspace should be equipped with a sump pump. A sump pump is a submersible electric pump that sits in a hole, called the sump pit. The pit is located at the lowest corner of the basement or crawlspace so that when flooding occurs, water drains directly into the pit. When water in the pit reaches a predetermined level, the pump automatically kicks on and pumps the water into an indoor drain or outdoors through a PVC pipe.

Electric sump pumps are very effective and relatively affordable. But they have one serious design flaw: The pumps don't operate during a blackout. Severe rainstorms often knock out the electricity, leaving many sump pumps inoperable when homeowners need them the most.

There's a simple way to ensure that your sump pump continues to operate even when the power goes out: Install a battery-backup sump pump. This two-stage system includes a 120-volt electric sump pump connected to a 12-volt backup pump that runs off a deep-cycle marine battery. During normal operation, the electric sump pump will pump water from the pit. But if the electricity goes out, the battery-powered backup pump will automatically start up when the pit fills with water. An electric charger keeps the battery-backup pump fully charged so it'll be ready at any time.

Sump pumps with battery backup come with easy-to-follow installation instructions and cost about $300 to $500, depending on the capacity of the pump. Most homeowners can install the system themselves in 2 to 4 hours. Here are a few installation tips:

• Be sure to install a check valve to prevent water from flowing back into the sump pit. Seal the threaded ends of the valve with Teflon tape.

• Place the marine battery in a protective plastic case and set it on a wall-mounted shelf—not on the floor.

• Make the water-discharge pipe from 1 1/2-inch-diameter PVC pipe. • You'll need an electrical outlet close to the sump pit for plugging in both the electric sump pump and the charger for the battery-backup pump. If necessary, hire a licensed electrician to install a new outlet. Don't use extension cords to power the system.

• When pumping the water outdoors, it's critical that the water is released onto a downhill slope and away from the house so that it can't drain back into the basement or crawlspace. Another option is to pump the water into a drainpipe that leads away from the house.

Joseph Truini Joe is a former carpenter and cabinetmaker who writes extensively about remodeling, woodworking, and tool techniques.

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Back Up Battery to Plug in Sump Pump

Source: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gear/reviews/a8998/install-a-battery-backup-sump-pump-15450167/

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