How Long Will My Sump Pump Last?

How long will my sump pump last?

This is a question that I am asked a few times every week and the answer is very simple; 7 years, 3 months, 17 days, 6 hours, 53 minutes and 19 seconds.  I'm sure you will agree that this answer is ridiculous. Except for the answer "I don't know", every answer to that question is a guess and is just as nonsensical. This applies to you whether your sump pump is connected to a French drain or not.

Your Sump Pump will quit; it’s just a matter of when

The better question would be: "How can I protect my basement for when my sump pump fails?"  What is needed is redundancy. Think like a boater. In a boat you need to be very sure of the capability of pumping water from the bilge, which is the lowest part of the interior of the boat.  While a flooded basement may not be as dangerous as a boat taking on water, the degree of preparation should be taken just as seriously if you want to prevent flooding.

What we are talking about is having a plan “B” in place, having a primary pump and a backup pump. At the Home Show this past weekend a lot of folks talked about getting a generator for when the power goes out. That’s just fine, generators are good, but that’s not what we are talking about here. We are talking about the life of you primary electric sump pump. The sump pump usually dies with full electrical power in the house. (If the pump died during a power outage how would you know?) So if the power is on, and the pump reaches the end of its life, how will a generator help you to stay dry?

Let’s get back to redundancy. We need a belt AND suspenders. If your primary electrically powered sump pump fails you want to have a secondary pump in place to be able to evacuate the sump pit with or without electricity. The A-1 Basement Solutions 7 Day Battery Backup Sump Pump System will pump 35 Gallons Per Minute (GPM) when fully charged and average 20 GPM over the 7 Days. There is an alarm that will sound if the Backup System is being used while the electricity is on. This indicates a primary pump failure and tells you with an auditory alarm that it is time to get e new primary pump.

So while we can’t actually answer the question; “how long will my sump pump last?” the better idea is to make the question irrelevant by having adequate backups and redundancies for each sump pump. That is how you can have peace of mind and sleep better at night.

Should I get my Sump Pump  Inspected?

A-1 Basement Solutions provides free sump pump inspections to New Jersey homeowners. Contact A-1 Basement Solutions at 908-322-1313, or info@A-1Basements.com for a free in-home inspection and detailed quote.

A-1 gives full service guaranteed work and competitive pricing every day.

We do everything for you. By taking care of all the details, A-1 Basement Solutions makes the job worry free. Our motto is No Problems…Just Solutions.

Knowledge is power. Learn everything you need to know about your basement: Subscribe to our blog and get our FREE E-BOOK “Basements 101” 

Was this information useful?  We would like to know. We welcome your thoughts and comments.