ELI5 sump pump battery backups

January 3, 2023 1:57 PM

Big storm coming to the Bay Area threatening power outages. Basement protected by two sump pumps powered by the electric grid. Clueless homeowner (myself). Any help?

I've spent all day researching and calling plumbing places and haven't gotten far. Any tips on what I might do at this point? Ideally something I could get quickly via Amazon or still in stock (ha) at any store.

Idea 1: Install a nice backup pump with battery backup. Problem: seems to cost $1500 just for the labor and everyone is backed up several weeks.

Idea 2: Assume the pump will work if I can keep power to it (probably a reasonable assumption). Find some sort of backup battery system that can sit between the plug and pump. Complications: the sump pits are outside (though I could run extension cords to a weather-tight shed).

Idea 3: Get some sort of battery-powered handheld pump and go out there myself in the event of a power failure. Maybe one that runs on DeWalt batteries? Complication: I have to sleep sometimes.

Idea 4: Invest in a bucket, rain gear, and a waterproof headlamp lol.

While I'm trying to quickly get prepared for what I need to do now, I'm also interested in what the right thing to do longer term is. Apparently storms might keep happening all month, and while I'm off work this week, I won't be available to hand bail next week. Thanks for any advice!

posted by slidell to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

Buy a small generator? You can get a good one for less than 1,500, as long as you don't expect it to power a whole house.
posted by mareli at 2:03 PM on January 3, 2023

Long term you might want to look into a back up sump pump that runs on water pressure rather than electricity. This video is a good overview of how they work.
posted by phil at 2:14 PM on January 3, 2023

Any chance you know what kind of power draw those pumps have? I honestly have no experience with those, but I know a bit about pond and aquarium pumps and the wattage is pretty modest.

You might be able to pull this off with a Jackery or similar portable power station. There's two important components: the amount of Watt Hours it supports, and the maximum wattage the power outlets offer. The one I linked, for example, is rated for 300w, where a laptop is maybe 150w and a space heater or hair dryer is around 1500w. A box fan on high hits about 75w. (more on figuring out the math here). These units can charge relatively quickly off home AC power, slightly less quickly off car DC, so you do not need solar panels to charge them (not useful in storms anyway), so you'd ideally want one that could give you several days of power.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:27 PM on January 3, 2023

Seconding the Jackery or similar. Or a generator. These seem the most feasible and available.
posted by bz at 2:37 PM on January 3, 2023

I have a water powered backup pump. It has saved me a couple of times. It doesn't have the capacity of my main pump (1/2 hp) but it does work. The main drawback is that it is fairly inefficient (uses a lot of water per amount pumped) and for an extended outage your water bill can get pretty large.
A generator is probably the best idea, although your sump pump can still fail, leaving you with nothing.
You can get dual fuel generators (LP gas + gasoline). If you run it on LP you don't have to worry about gasoline going bad.
posted by H21 at 2:45 PM on January 3, 2023

Thanks for all the advice! The jackery looks like maybe the best option, at least for the moment. Also, when I search "battery backup for sump pump" I see a few products like this that'll also send you wifi alerts, which would be great for keeping me from worrying about it if we go out of town, and which purport to be easy to install (unlike the 15 person-hours I was quoted) -- anyone have opinions?
posted by slidell at 3:15 PM on January 3, 2023

I have this Zoeller 12 volt battery back-up for my sump pump and can attest that it kicks on when the power is out and emits an audible alert. If it gets dire, you can also siphon out like this, assuming you have a drain or someplace to move the water to. You can technically start that siphon with a hand pump, but of course it's easier with a powered pump. If you have the Jackery, you could start the siphon with that, and once the siphon is flowing you can shut off the power and save it for other needs.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:41 PM on January 3, 2023

And to address the labor issue, I had an older battery back-up installed professionally, but replaced and re-wired that new Zoeller myself.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:44 PM on January 3, 2023

Those ‘wifi alerts’ will be of use only while your internet modem/router still has power, unless you have those on battery backup as well.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 5:28 PM on January 3, 2023

Given the imminence of the storm, if you need that immediate solution then I saw Jackery kit in Harbor Freight last week. (An odd place to find it, plus it's mostly an online brand, but there you go.)
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 6:35 PM on January 3, 2023

once the siphon is flowing you can shut off the power and save it for other needs.

Note that a siphon will only work if you can get the discharge end of the hose lower than the top of the water in the sump.
posted by Mitheral at 8:27 PM on January 3, 2023

Ok, thank you! The update is that as I started to get serious about the Jackery, I looked up sump pump power requirements and found that they can need up to 2000 watts at their peak, so the appropriate Jackery would be expensive. I'm not that interested in buying a generator because I want something I can leave hooked up when I'm at work. Might be my only option as a stopgap for this week, though. I'm also back to researching these systems that run off 12v marine batteries like cocoagirl's Zoeller link and trying to find one rated for outdoor use.
posted by slidell at 1:52 AM on January 4, 2023

I'm also back to researching these systems that run off 12v marine batteries like cocoagirl's Zoeller link and trying to find one rated for outdoor use.

I don't know what the options are for outdoor use, but this is what I have setup for my emergency sump pump backup system:

A 1500w Raybend Backup Power Supply that is plugged into a Marine Battery. The total cost was around $800-900 I believe.

Depending on how much the pump is cycling, the estimate is about 3 days backup. It's been tested during a power outage a few times and has given me a lot of piece of mind.
posted by jeremias at 8:07 AM on January 4, 2023

Beware that a battery power supply may turn itself off automatically.

I have a friend using a Jackery Explorer 2000 as his backup for his sump pump. It's been working fine except it shut itself off after 12 hours. (Pump plugged into Jackery, Jackery into wall, utility power has been working the whole time.) The pump had been running every few minutes. The Jackery has an auto-shutoff if it's not used after 12 hours, I'm wondering if the pump's occasional usage isn't enough to keep it turned on? There's instructions in the manual about disabling the auto-shutoff and a comment on Reddit suggests "Press the AC SWITCH and DISPLAY buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds to disable or re-enable the auto-shutoff."
posted by Nelson at 8:36 AM on January 10, 2023