Tom Kraeutler: This is The Money Pit’s Top Products Podcast coming to you from National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
Leslie Segrete: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
Tom Kraeutler: One of the questions that we get very frequently on the show is how to handle water infiltration in your basement. It’s really a multi-step approach, right. You got to stop the water from coming in from the outside. Once it does get in, you want to evacuate as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Leslie Segrete: I think basements, by their nature, will at some point have water in them, so you’ve got to be prepared. You have to have a plan.
Tom Kraeutler: They have a lot in common with pools.
Leslie Segrete: Yeah, except one you want the water in and one you don’t.
Tom Kraeutler: You don’t, exactly. We’re going to talk about sump pump technology right now with Jeremy Cantor. Jeremy is the vice president of sales and marketing for Wayne Water Systems, one of the very best manufacturers of sump pumps in the country. Welcome, Jeremy.
Jeremy Cantor: Guys, thanks so much for having me today.
Tom Kraeutler: You guys have taken sump pump technology to a whole new level now. Everything is so smart today. All the products get smarter and smarter and smarter. You now have developed a system whereby your pump can essentially talk to you and tell you its status. I think that’s really important because if your basement is flooding, you want to make sure your pump is working.
Jeremy Cantor: That’s really the ironic thing. You do want to know that your pump is working and not all of us are sitting at home by our sump pit watching our pump move …
Leslie Segrete: Making sure.
Jeremy Cantor: … and cycle the water, right. The newest technology that we have out on the market right now is called, AdvanTEXT. AdvanTEXT is actually a notification device that’s almost like a first responder. It will text message up to 3 numbers at one time and let you know if there’s a high level water alert in your sump pit.
Tom Kraeutler: Now if the pump wasn’t working, power failure or something like that, does it have the ability to tell you like that?
Jeremy Cantor: Yeah, Tom, I’m really glad you asked that question. It does. We have the ability to actually text notify you via AC and DC power.
Leslie Segrete: That’s great.
Jeremy Cantor: It runs off of AC power at all times, but you know what? Sometimes the power does go out in your house. When that power goes out, it will actually run off 4 AA DC batteries for an extended period of time, and it will actually send you a text message and notify you that the power is out.
Tom Kraeutler: It’ll say, come home quickly.
Leslie Segrete: Immediately.
Jeremy Cantor: It won’t say, come home, but it will say, there’s a high water level and maybe Max, the dog is in the basement, you should go check.
Leslie Segrete: If I were you, I’d go home right now. I think you should be able to customize it from the immediate return to the expletive filled one with, get the bleep, bleep, bleep back to your house.
Tom Kraeutler: You mentioned batteries with the AdvanTEXT system. What about battery backup for the sump pump itself? Where are we at with the technology for that?
Jeremy Cantor: We are currently always progressing and continuously improving our battery backup technology. I will tell you for any home owner that’s out there, please invest in a battery backup system. It’s really important to have that peace of mind and that secondary pump option on your system. I’ll tell you right now, we have the ability with Wayne Water Systems to take the AdvanTEXT technology and add it to a battery backup system. We have multiple systems you can use at battery backups [crosstalk 00:03:04].
Leslie Segrete: When we’re talking about a battery backup, what is generally the duration of that backup? Is it an extended power outage we’ll have coverage for or is it just a quick fix?
Jeremy Cantor: It’s an extended power outage. It can last quite a long time. It can be days.
Tom Kraeutler: Really?
Jeremy Cantor: Yes, absolutely.
Tom Kraeutler: I didn’t realize your battery could last that long.
Leslie Segrete: I didn’t think it would be that long.
Jeremy Cantor: No, it does. The battery can last an extended period of time.
Tom Kraeutler: Is that because the batteries have gotten more efficient, and the power required has become less demanding on the batteries?
Jeremy Cantor: Absolutely. The batteries are more efficient. We were actually using a deeper cycle battery that triple charges the battery, so it gives it a longer life. What you’re going to find with the Wayne Water battery is you’re not going to have to add acid to that battery to keep it going. That’s actually …
Leslie Segrete: Interesting.
Jeremy Cantor: … something that you have to do. Believe it or not, there are manufacturers that enable you to put acid in your battery.
Leslie Segrete: It sounds dangerous.
Jeremy Cantor: It can be dangerous. I wouldn’t advise it.
Tom Kraeutler: We’re talking to Jeremy Cantor. He’s the vice president of sales and marketing for Wayne Water Systems. When you’re choosing a sump pump, and you really don’t know what you need, they’re obviously sold at different horsepower capacities, how do you determine what size pump you need for your house?
Jeremy Cantor: Yeah, that’s a great question. When you’re using a sump system, and you’re trying to determine, what should I go buy, it’s really the amount of volume of water that you have, and the amount that potentially going to come in. Some pumps are like car engines. You have a third horsepower, which is your traditional, entry level sump pump in the market. Then it goes up to a half and even a 1 horsepower. Do you need a half horsepower? Do you need a V6 in your car? You don’t necessarily need it but if you’re trying to speed up in the lane, you might want a 6 cylinder and if you’re trying to move more water at once, you might want a half horsepower sump pump.
Leslie Segrete: I personally like an 8 cylinder car. I’ve had one for years. I really enjoy it.
Jeremy Cantor: Go out and buy a 1 horsepower. I’d be happy to see it to you.
Tom Kraeutler: All right. Jeremy Cantor from Wayne Water Systems. Thank you so much for stopping by The Money Pit Podcast and filling us in on the AdvanTEXT product from Wayne. If you’d like more information on Wayne Water Systems and their fine line of sump pumps, go to WaynePumps.com.
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