Backup Sump Pump
Posted by nathan on 17 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: my life., random.
Last week, I installed a battery backup sump pump. This pump will go off only when the power is off (meaning, the normal sump pump won’t be pumping).
In doing this, I noticed my other sump pump pit (ejecting washer machine water) isn’t working, and it is overflowing (via an overflow pipe)into the sump pump. So I need to replace the other pump, too.
This battery sump pump was the first step to finishing our basement. We weren’t going to invest in finishing if there was a chance of a basement flood (I’ve had two basement floods since I’ve been there–both due to electrical outage (and of course, I have NIPSCO power, so not only do I have really frequent outages, but it takes forever to fix–and on top of it all, I also pay incredibly high rates–about twice that of Auburn Electric.)
Next project up: washing machine sump pump. Then, either stair treads or windows, not sure which we’ll do first.
2 Comments »
on 18 Mar 2008 at 10:26 am 1.
Penny said …
How much was your battery backup?
on 18 Mar 2008 at 12:07 pm 2.
nathan said …
In all, I spent about $280. This includes a couple new fittings and a check valve. I had spare pipe on hand. About $130 for the pump and apparatus to trickle charge the battery and alarm, $130 for the deep cycle battery (you can’t use a car battery for this function).