Sump pumps are one of the most boring parts of home ownership. Until that one storm comes and suddenly they’re interesting.

After losing power one time this summer, I got paranoid and decided to build a battery backup. Home Depot had the basement watchdog systems, but they seemed high maintenance and I wanted something that would let me be lazier. I went with a LifePo4 battery system, that will (hopefully) get me 10 to 15 years. The battery charger has a float/storage mode so it can stay on 24/7. Doing some test runs, I think I can get about 400 cycles out of the battery before it hits 0%. I added some additional safety features (DC circuit breaker, GFCI with auto-on, Lithium fire extinguiser, etc), and added some battery powered lights and a basket of hand tools, so in the event the power goes out in the dead of night, something goes wrong, and I have to get my feet wet, everything is there ready to go.

  • urvonEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    If you’re on city water that doesn’t lose pressure during power outages they also make water powered sump pumps.

    • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      Venturi pumps are awesome, but with the risk of basement flooding, i’ve never trusted them enough. the risk of no flow+power out is low, but not zero. I have a 12v bilge pump and a float in a tackle box for emergencies and 2 cars of fully wokring 12 batteries :)