I recently had a dry-basement waterproofing system put in a couple months ago and have had no problems. With the recent hurricane that hit the east coast last week (I am in PA) it put me to thinking about what would have happened if the electric would have gone off. We were lucky and the electric never went off.

I took precautions before this storm and bought a deep cell marine battery along with an inverter. Apparently the inverter was not the right wattage and blew when I tested it. My sump pump is 1/3 hp.

Another storm is on it's way and I want to be prepared. At this point, I am not even worried about other appliances in the home (refridge, etc). I was thinking of a generator but could easily be stolen (for I live in a townhome community). Also, if the electric goes off in the middle of the night, either one of these options are useless.

Your thoughts/input is appreciated!

Hey there... I live in PA too and where I am, losing power is common and so is my basement flooding. My basement is only 10x10 but it houses my furnace, water heater, and well water pressure tank. This is no lie... I take on water all year long... the basement is stacked stone, below ground level, and I have a huge hill right behind my house, literally 4 feet from my house. All water constantly runs into the basement. We lost power during Irene and I was taking on 10-12 inches of water every 2 hours!

So, with all that said, here is what I have learned over the years. I started with a single pump and that was fine until the pump went bad one day and I didn't know it. The basement got 4 feet of water before I knew there was a problem. I got a second back up pump in case the first one failed. That worked but then we lost power one day during a heavy storm. Took on so much water, I could have dived into it. Got a generator to run the pumps but as a side bonus, it will also run the refrigerator as well. The only thing I needed was some way to know if I was taking on water to a dangerous point in case anything failed. Well, I found that too. Home Depot sells a battery operated water alarm.

For your situation, I think all you're talking about needing is a way to keep your pump running. An inverter won't do that but they do make a battery operated back up sump pump. I have heard it's a life saver, though it is costly. On the other hand, it's worth spending the money to keep from ruining things in the basement.
Basement Watchdog Battery Operated Sump (http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100067307/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053)

Here is the water level alarm I mentioned. It's worth the money simply for peace of mind.
Water Level Alarm (http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202216508/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053)

Hope I was able to help you out.

I think instead of a inverter I would have opted for a battery operated back up pump, (see image) that would kick on autoimaticly when the power goes off. Check it out at: Basement Watchdog Battery Operated Backup Sump Pumps Home Page (http://www.basementwatchdog.com/)
Good luck, Tom

Radon Seal Model RH 1400 backup sump pump might help you out, it does not go in sump pit and can sit above floor on a shelve, only the suction pipe and float goes into pit and outlet pipe ties into the primary sump pump outlet above the check valve.It works off a 12 volt marine deep cycle battery. Total cost of pump and battery without labor about $500. It comes with easy installation instruction if you are at all handy with piping PVC or other piping materials. It is also very good if you have a small pump pit.

Are you on a well or city water? If city that will keep flowing and there are a few backup pumps that run off the water pressure in your pipes, no juice at all. Home Guard® Max 503 | Zoeller Pump Company (http://www.zoellerpumps.com/ProductBenefit.aspx?ProductID=65)

Water pressure pumps are limited to 600 gph. I've replaced 3 of these units for customers in the last year. They all had flooding during power outages.
I replaced with the Nexpump 5600 units - 4000gph in backup mode

Hi Joe and welcome to The Plumbing Page of AMHD.
Pretty impressive back up pump.
The advertisement says 5600GPH at a 8.5 head but the specs, call for the same discharge at a 5' head.
Still pretty impressive. Of course the price is at a tad under $ 1700.00 plus material and installation is pretty impressive also. What size discharge pipe does it use?
Tell us a little about yourself Joe. What's your location and what code do you work under and any personal details,( you profile didn't say much) that you feel comfortable sharing.
We are a group of plumbers from all over that have banded together to share some of the knowledge we've picked up over the years. Please feel free to post and answer questions. Hope you like us and decide to stick around and help. Once more, welcome, Tom