Yes! If you have a pump that runs even occasionally, you should have a backup system (powered by either a battery or self-starting generator). When (not if) an electric pump fails, you can have substantial seepage and water damage. An adequately sized backup system is cheap insurance against this type of catastrophe.
Most people realize they need a back-up sump pump a day too late – after the basement has flooded due of a power outage or sump pump failure. Then, they find out that home insurance does not cover flood damages to the finished basement (say $20,000). Nor does it cover mold remediation (say $12,000), should that become necessary. So, they pick up a pump in a store but nobody warns them that:
•it cannot keep up with the primary pump although it will be called on during the year’s worst storms.
•it is less reliable than the not-so-reliable primary pump it is supposed to back up.
•it may interfere with the primary pump float or its check valve, causing basement flooding.
•its short useful life is only 2–5 years before it needs replacing.
Click on the leak below to find out how to have a guaranteed and professionaly sized Atlas Battery-Backup Sump installed.