How to Choose an AC or DC Main, Backup, or Combination Sump Pump: The Best Deals Under $200, $400, and $600

The best gear isn't cheap to buy, but it's much cheaper than cleaning up after lesser gear.
The best gear isn’t cheap to buy, but it’s much cheaper than cleaning up after lesser gear.

When installing sump pumps for homeowners, we’re often asked about insiders’ secrets or tips about sump pump selection and maintenance. People basically want to know how to keep their basements dry and spend as little time and money as possible on plumber house calls. We don’t blame them. However, we’ve noticed that the problem isn’t so much the advice we give as people not wanting to spend money on following it. We strongly advise against being penny wise and pound foolish. The time saved, peace of mind earned, and money needed to clean a flooded basement (and replace damaged furniture, electronics, and other treasures within) is far more costly than a few hundred dollars on pumps that will last for decades.

When it comes to the best AC sump pump on the market, we recommend the Zoeller M267 over and over again. However, an AC sump pump isn’t enough; we always recommend a backup, and the best dedicated DC backup sump pump is the Wayne WSM3300. For people who want both together, the best combination AC/DC-backup unit is the Wayne WSSM40V. Any of these units will cost you at least $300. We’d like to make things cheaper, and if you’re willing to compromise, there are good (but not great) versions below, but if you’re just looking for the best, you’ve just read it.

That said, lots of people try to skip steps and go with cheap gear, and they inevitably return to us with flooded basements wondering why they didn’t follow our advice to begin with. Unfortunately, we can’t turn back time. But if you follow our recommendations, we can help keep your basement dry and additional plumbers out of your home.

The Best High-End AC Sump Pump

Zoeller M267 – Review here. Buy here.

If you want a sump pump that will give you up to 20 years of worry free service, you’d be hard pressed to find one better than the Zoeller M267. We noted its longevity and water removal power in our review and have yet to find a better AC sump pump under the $400 mark. With a max flow rate of more than 7,600 gallons per hour, the ability to grind solids up to 2″ in diameter, and an estimated lifespan of 10-20 years, this is a sump pump you’ll be able to set and forget. We’ve yet to have a dissatisfied customer involving this sump pump, and the fact that it’s used in sewage applications with equal reliability is a testament to its construction.

The Best Sump Pumps Under $200: AC Units

  

Zoeller M63 – Review here.  Buy here.
Zoeller M57 – Review here. Buy here.
Wayne CDU1000 – Review here. Buy here.

If you don’t have $300 to spare on the Zoeller M267, the good news is that there are still several sump pumps out there that will give you good levels of water removal while lasting several years longer than anything you’re going to find in the big box stores. The Zoeller M63, Zoeller M57, and Wayne CDU1000 are powerful and reliable AC sump pumps that we’ve seen last through a variety of difficult conditions. The M63 and M57 are better choices for reliability, while the CDU1000 is a better choice if you need a much higher water removal rate.

The Best Sump Pumps Under $150: AC Units

  

Zoeller M53 – Review here. Buy here.
Wayne CDU980E – Review here. Buy here.
Wayne CDU800 – Review here. Buy here.

If $200 is still out of budget, you can still find a few decent sump pumps on the market that will do better than the budget offerings in the local Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Menards, and Lowe’s-type stores. The Zoeller M53 is the little sibling of the M63 and M57 profiled above, and offers similar levels of reliability at the expense of a slower water removal rate. The Wayne CDU980E and CDU800 clear water much more quickly, but aren’t quite as reliable in the long term, although both are still far better than box store options.

The Best DC-Only Backup Sump Pumps

 

Wayne WSM3300 – Review here. Buy here.
Wayne ESP25 – Review here. Buy here.

As we’ve noted above, having a DC backup to your AC sump pump is essential, no matter how reliable your AC system appears to be. The best DC-only backup sump pump we’ve found so far is the WSM3300. With the ability to call a range of numbers if it starts running or runs into problems, it’s the smartest DC sump pump on the market. If it’s out of budget, the ESP25 is a decent, if less intelligent substitute. The key factor is to have a backup so your basement doesn’t start to flood in the middle of a power outage (because no AC sump pump will be able to save you then).

The Best Combination AC/DC All-in-one Sump Pump

 

Wayne WSSM40V – Review here. Buy here.
Wayne WSS30V – Review here. Buy here.

If you don’t have a functional AC or DC sump pump, you can either buy them separately or you can look into a combined package. There are a lot of cheap combinations out there that tend to fail together when you need them most. Spend a bit more and consider either the Wayne WSSM40V or the WSS30V. The WSSM40V is the best combination AC/DC sump pump system on the market; it features the WSM3300 smart DC backup sump pump (which runs monthly self-tests and can call up to 5 numbers to report a range of problems before your basement starts taking on water). If it’s out of budget, the WSS30V is another good alternative. Both use the Wayne CDU800 as an AC sump pump base while the WSS30V uses the ESP25 as its DC base.

The Best Laundry / Sink / Drain Pump System

Zoeller 105 Package – Review here. Buy here.

Finally, if you’re looking for a good drain pump for your laundry tub, dishwasher, washing machine, basement sink, or any other system that involves low level water removal, we’d recommend steering clear of the cheapest pumps you can find and spending a bit more on the Zoeller 105 laundry pump package. The core pump is the Zoeller M53, which, as we’ve noted above, is one of the most reliable and affordable sump pumps on the market.

Remember: the goal shouldn’t be to spend as little money as possible, but to figure out which tools will a.) keep your basement dry for as long as possible while b.) keeping you or paid plumbers out of your sump pit for as long as possible. Your basic box store budget sump pump is always going to be cheaper than anything we recommend, but for us, it all comes down to prevention being cheaper (and less insanity-inducing) than the cure.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can put our relentless reviewing of every pump and fixture on the market to the test by shopping via our links above for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.