by Jacques Bouchard

Homeowners can go years without using their battery backup sump pump system. But, as is being discovered in the Northeast these past few months, when you DO need a battery backup — you really need it!

Between Hurricane Irene last August and the freak snowstorm that knocked out power for more than three million homes this week, residents from Maryland to Maine have seen firsthand just how easily a major storm can shut down the power for hours, days, or more.

Once your sump pump system loses power, there is nothing protecting your basement from groundwater flooding. It’s not impossible to have several feet of water in your basement in several hours’ time — which can destroy furniture, damage utilities, and damage personal belongings.

Protecting Your Sump Pump System From Power Outages

To protect your home from flooding during power outages, homeowners have several options:

• Generator-Powered Sump Pumps: Many homeowners will count on their portable generator to power their sump pump, lights, refrigerator, and more. And this works — provided that the homeowner is home (and awake) when the time comes, and you can bring it outside in the rain and fire it up.
• Automatic Generator-Powered Sump Pumps: For about $9,000-$10,000, a homeowner can opt to install an automatic generator — one that turns on automatically during a power outage. This will keep your sump pump system running during the power outage, which is great. But even with this system, we find that basements can still flood when a fuse is blown, or a sump pump is accidentally unplugged when the outlet is needed. If you want your basement protected all the time, even this is not the option for you!
• Battery Backup Sump Pumps: Alternatively, a homeowner will choose a battery backup sump pump for their home. This is a secondary battery powered system that is designed to kick on when water levels rise too high in the sump pit, such as during a power outage.

Other Uses For A Battery Backup Sump Pump

Along with protecting your home during a power outage, a battery backup sump pump can be useful in many other situations:

1. Your Primary Sump Pump Fails: Sump pumps are made of mechanical, moving parts — and like other systems that use moving parts, they will eventually break down and fail. Whether they clog, overheat, or experience some other kind of failure, the results are the same — a wet basement. However, if your system includes a battery backup, it will kick in, sounding off to let you know something is wrong and managing the flooding for you.
2. Your Primary Sump Pump Is Overwhelmed: During unusually heavy rain events, a primary sump pump may be overwhelmed by heavy water volumes. In this scenario, your battery backup system will also turn on, adding to your system’s pumping power.

In both these situations, the primary sump pump fails, and a generator solution will not solve the issue.

How Long Do They Last?

The lifespan of a battery backup sump pump is measured in gallons pumped — not by the hours operating. This is because of the fact that only in the rarest of cases will a sump pump system run continually for hours on end. Instead, it will typically turn on as the sump pit fills, then shut itself off afterwards. The frequency of the on/off cycles will determine its operation time, meaning that a system can run for hours, or days, depending.

That being said, a reliable battery backup system can pump out more than 10,000 gallons of water on a single charge — about the size of a small swimming pool, and usually more than you need.

We Install Battery Backup Sump Pumps!

Our TripleSafe Sump Pump system can pump out just over 12,000 gallons. If additional power is desired, multiple batteries can be connected to a single pump. As an added feature, our system can be connected to many home alarm systems — so you receive a phone call if your system fails.

Don’t wait to protect your home! For more information about installing our battery backup sump pump system in your home, contact us!

Posted via web from basementsystemsinc’s posterous

In May, Badger Basement Systems held a contest open to anyone who sustained damage to a basement as a result of last summer’s record floods. There were many entries in the contest, but the Smiths received the most nominations due to the severity of the damage to their home, as well as their active involvement and volunteering in the community. Staff from Badger surprised the couple at their Fort Atkinson home with balloons and presented them with the free basement renovation.

Neighbors wrote in nominating the couple explaining that the flooding in the basement was so severe, pumps couldn’t keep up. Water from the ground was seeping in through the walls of the 100-year-old house. They had to stop pumping out water or the walls would collapse from the pressure. Within a few hours they had 42 inches of water in the basement and they were forced to evacuate the house for a couple of weeks. Although neighbors pitched in to help out, the basement was still ruined.

With a crew of eight Badger staff members, construction began the morning of August 28. They installed a 145-foot perimeter system with some Trench Drains, a SuperSump sump pump, and a buried discharge. The crew started at 8 a.m. and finished cleaning up at 2:30 p.m. After going through the harrowing ordeal of a flooded basement, the Smiths were extremely happy that their basement was fixed again and that Badger was able to finish in just one day.

Badger Basement Systems, the basement waterproofing contractor in Milwaukee and Madison, WI and surrounding areas has had a lot of rain and their company, prepared for these events from their more than 30 years of experience, is ready, handling emergencies and drying wet basements.

East of Badger is Sure-Dry Basement Systems, the wet basement contractor in Green Bay, WI and surrounding areas. Sure-Dry has been the local Basement Systems dealer for 14 years, and really know waterproofing.

Complete Basement Systems of Minnesota is another local basement waterproofer in St. Paul, MN and Minneapolis, MN and surrounding areas, including Mankato, that has their machine up and running.

Just north of these three Basement Systems dealers is Northern States Basement Systems, the local waterproofing contractor in Duluth, MN and northern Wisconsin. Northern States is one of the first Basement Systems dealers since 1991, and owners Dwight and Nancy Gruetzmacher are well-known in their area.

Expect all of these dealers to be busy. With the amount of referrals they get when it rains from home owners with existing systems, Real Estate agents, and Home Inspectors, they really help a lot of people. So although they may not be able to get out to your house for a couple days or even a week, it’s worth the wait to work with the best.

But what if a waterproofing company isn’t that busy after a rain? What does this mean? Should you feel comfortable working with a waterproofing company that doesn’t have business when it’s wet? I would think the answer to be: NO!

We have a basement waterproofing company in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Badger Basement Systems, that we recently heard was very busy as they’ve had a lot of rain. Now Badger’s been in business for over twenty years and has a great reputation and gets lots of referrals from their customers, so when it rains in the greater Milwaukee-Madison, WI area, it’s no surprise that Badger Basement Systems gets busy. They’re the best, long-established waterproofer in the area. Who else would you want to use?

It’s worth the wait.

You wouldn’t want to spend money on a short-term fix. And a warranty is only as good as the company behind it. If you have to wait for a basement waterproofing contractor to come to your house after big rains, that’s a good thing. Hang in there with the knowledge that you’re probably going to get the best solution, and your money will be well spent.