![]() It’s also a good idea to keep the battery in a dry area. If a battery is exposed to extreme temperatures, this can affect its life. There are a number of other factors that could negatively affect battery life. Other causes of premature battery failure If it is less than 12.1 volts, this is a sign the battery is aging and could fail prematurely during a rain storm. If you own a multimeter (also known as a volt-ohm meter or VOM meter), you can measure the voltage between the positive and negative terminal on the battery. ![]() In wet-cell batteries, the most common type of lead-acid batteries used with sump pumps, this often happens because the lead plates within the battery become corroded over time and lose their ability to hold a charge.Īs a battery ages, there will be a decrease in voltage which will effectively means there is less power and the battery will fail sooner. Often times homeowners assume their battery has a charge, but don’t realize it is close to dying and only find out after their basement has flooded. If your battery when new could run for around 7 hours continuously, after time passes it may only run for 2-3 hours or even less before losing power. Many homeowners have found out the hard way that as a battery ages, its capacity to hold a charge also decreases. Backup sump pump systems can be several years old and still in use, which means the battery will likely perform below its optimal level. ![]() However, these run times are the best case scenario. It will not run out of power like battery backups. Water Commander’s pumping rates can exceed the pumping rates of standard battery backup pumps, but will maintain this pumping capacity for as long as it’s needed. This system runs using your home’s municipal water pressure (see How Does it Work), so no batteries or electricity in any form is used. Water-powered backup sump pump installationīecause battery backup sump pumps have a limited life-span during a power outage, an alternative backup solution is the Water Commander ™ water-powered sump pump. This decline in battery power continues until the pump is completely overwhelmed by the water flowing into the sump pit and your basement floods. The longer the pump runs, the less power it has. Run-time of a new fully-charged batteryĪs a general rule of thumb, during a power outage most new fully-charged batteries will last roughly 5-7 hours of continuous pumping and roughly 1-3 days of non-continuous pumping depending on the frequency. Your backup sump pump is the last line of defense against basement flooding when there is a power outage or your primary sump pump fails, so it’s important that it protects your basement in an emergency (see our article, Why You Need a Backup Sump Pump). So before you invest in a backup sump pump system, it’s important to understand exactly how long the battery in your system will last and consider alternative backup sump pump options, such as a water-powered backup sump pump. More often than not, the culprit is a dead battery. We have talked with hundreds of homeowners over the years who have had their basements unexpectedly flood due to a failed battery backup sump pump system. ANd, some motors don't like the square waves or stepped waves, and a true sine-wave version is again, LOTS more expensive.Before you buy a battery-powered backup sump pump, consider how long it will run during a severe rainstorm. Needing longer-term (maybe) constant power means MUCH more money. Those are designed to let it run for a bit, then gracefully turn the computer off. And, with the way most people do maintenance, the batteries will have maybe a few minutes left in them when the need arises, and you lost all your backup.Īgreed that APC makes good stuff, but to run a 1/2-1Hp pump for awhile means much more than the typical UPS you might put on your computer. ![]() The batteries don't last forever, and if you don't monitor them, neither will work, but the dedicated battery backed up pump system's batteries are probably cheaper to replace. the only advantage is the UPS only takes a few seconds to install: unplug the cord, plug in the cord of the ups, then plug the pump's cord into the ups. A UPS big enough to run a decent sized pump long enough to make a difference during a power outage costs way more than a dedicated new battery backup pump system. ![]()
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