Is Your Home Protected from Floods? Make Sure Your Sump Pump Stays Online
As Vancouver’s leading electrician, we don’t generally spend much time talking about water and plumbing here at TCA Electric. Water and electricity don’t mix, after all! However, one area where water (or at least getting rid of it) and electricians do go together is providing backup power to your sump pump.
A sump pump is a key safety feature of most homes that protects your basement and home from flooding during periods of heavy rain and high moisture. However, it can’t do its job if it isn’t receiving power—and power outages often go hand-in-hand with sudden severe storms.
At TCA Electric, one common service we provide is installing backup generators in Vancouver homes. These lesser-seen—but incredibly useful—devices can not only keep your lights on during outages, but protect your home against major damage, too. Here’s why you should make sure your sump pump has a backup power source.
What is a sump pump?
Despite its funny-sounding name, a sump pump is actually a key device that all homes should have installed—especially those in areas more prone to flooding. A sump pump is a device installed within a pit dug at the lowest point of your home, typically a basement, cellar, or crawlspace. Its function is to detect when water levels are too high near your home and pump water away to prevent flooding.
Sump pumps remain on standby at all times. When the soil near your home starts to collect water during rainy periods, some of that groundwater may start to flow toward your home, where it can seep into your basement if left unchecked. When the sump pit around the sump pump begins to fill with water, the pump will switch on and divert water toward a designated drainage area.
Why it’s critical to provide backup power for your sump pump
The bottom line is this: sump pumps prevent your basement and home from being flooded. The times when your home is most likely to be flooded is during severe thunderstorms during the summer and periods of heavy snow accumulation and melting during the winter.
As it happens, both summer and winter storms commonly wipe out power in our area. Since sump pumps rely on electricity to detect water levels, this means an outage can leave your home vulnerable to flooding if your sump pump has no backup power source. A backup generator ensures your sump pump will always have the power it needs to function properly and protect your home, especially at the times when you’ll need it most.
Other key functions of a backup generator
Generators do much more than just provide backup power to your sump pump, of course. They can keep all electrical systems in your home running, or just critical portions depending on the size of your generator and how you’ve chosen to set it up.
Keeping your power on is a major concern at any time, and the reasons why are almost countless. Once installed, a backup generator can:
- Keep the lights on in your home
- Prevent food from spoiling in your fridge
- Allow you to continue charging phones and other electrical devices
- Allow you to stay connected to the internet via Wi-Fi
In the cold of winter, backup generators are especially critical. While a brief power outage won’t cause your home to become too cold, outages lasting longer than a day or two can lead the temperature to drop far too low in your home. This is not only a problem for your safety and comfort, but also for your home’s entire plumbing system. If pipes freeze, they can rupture, causing catastrophic—and expensive—damage to your home.
Install Your Backup Power Generator Before Your Sump Pump Is Needed Again!
While summer storms have largely passed, winter will be here before you know it. It’s important to keep your home protected during periods of high precipitation, as damage from flooding can be one of the largest expenses you’ll face as a homeowner.
At TCA Electric, we’ve installed backup generators in countless homes throughout Vancouver. Our licensed and qualified electricians will be able to help you choose the right generator for your needs and ensure you can keep your lights, heat, and sump pump running even through the worst winter storms. Contact us today to get started!